Yes. That is one reason why I decided to read the novel (s). Some outstanding people have recommended his writing also, A. Clarke and S. Carroll amongst others.

When I was younger, a plethora of people believed in a tremendous amount of dreck: Psychic powers, [I]Chariots of the Gods[/I], [I]In search of Ancient Astronauts[/I], [I]The Secret Life of Plants[/I], Kirlian Photography, Crystals Powers, Pyramid Powers, Homeopathy ad nauseam.

I truly believe that things have improved and the speed of which several bad scientific claims have been debunked in recent years is quite impressive.

[url=opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/getting-grief-right/[/url]Getting Grief Right[/url] | NYTimes

This opinion piece rightly takes the "standard Kubler-Ross 5 Stages of Grieving" recipe to task -- Attempting to live one's life according to some canned 'standard narrative' is a fraught thing to do, especially when the narrative comes from as fuzzy an "ivory tower bandwagon" quasi-science as psychology. But after the taking-to-task of the narrative he was indoctrinated with in school, what does the author do? That's right, he immediately foists upon us an alternative pet narrative:
[quote]Based on my own and my patients’ experiences, I now like to say that the story of loss has three “chapters.” Chapter 1 has to do with attachment: the strength of the bond with the person who has been lost. Understanding the relationship between degree of attachment and intensity of grief brings great relief for most patients. I often tell them that the size of their grief corresponds to the depth of their love.

Chapter 2 is the death event itself. This is often the moment when the person experiencing the loss begins to question his sanity, particularly when the death is premature and traumatic. Mary had prided herself on her ability to stay in control in difficult times. The profound emotional chaos of her baby’s death made her feel crazy. As soon as she was able, she resisted the craziness and shut down the natural pain and suffering.

Chapter 3 is the long road that begins after the last casserole dish is picked up — when the outside world stops grieving with you. Mary wanted to reassure her family, friends and herself that she was on the fast track to closure. This was exhausting. What she really needed was to let herself sink into her sadness, accept it.[/quote]
So, if one finds oneself stuck deep in the Chapter 1 footnotes, or not able to finish Chapter 2 because of leftover casserole dishes one is unable to reunite with their owners, is one 'doing it wrong?" And how many hours of paid psychotherapy might be needed to "restore the narrative flow" in such cases?

Only_human, here is something you may appreciate, I've almost finished reading B. Mandelbrot's memoir, "The Fractalist" and on p. 230 he wrote the following regarding Olber's paradox, "A way to avoid this paradox was proposed by a science fiction writer Edmund Fournier d'Albe and developed by astronomer Carl Charlier." Mandelbrot learned about Fournier d'Albe's model [of scaled structure] and identified it as primitive fractal.

Science fiction has its virtues. Cliches like "chance favours the prepared mind" or the observation of a respected Russian scientist (whose name escapes me at the moment) where he stated something like "many people can look at the same thing but it takes a special person to really see it" seem to indicate that curiosity, awareness and a disciplined openmindedness can be keys to better science and science fiction. [And I'm almost finished "Starquake" -good book.]

Interesting. Wikipedia's entry currently doesn't seem to mention any science fiction connection.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olbers'_paradox[/url]
[QUOTE]Fractal star distribution
A different resolution, which does not rely on the Big Bang theory, was first proposed by Carl Charlier in 1908 and later rediscovered by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1974. They both postulated that if the stars in the universe were distributed in a hierarchical fractal cosmology (e.g., similar to Cantor dust)—the average density of any region diminishes as the region considered increases—it would not be necessary to rely on the Big Bang theory to explain Olbers' paradox. This model would not rule out a Big Bang but would allow for a dark sky even if the Big Bang had not occurred.[/QUOTE]
I've always considered science fiction to be valuable but then I also thought that the experiences with Vietnam were recent and compelling enough to prevent similar mistakes. So if history doesn't prepare us, speculative forecasting is going to have a hard time too. But I'm a dreamer and believe that science fiction is actively contributing on many levels. On a less scientific note, other fiction also helps engage people to repare for future calamities or disaster responses as in the popular use of zombie models to discuss epidemiology, infrastructure fragility and survival preparedness.

[QUOTE=only_human;392254]Doctor Emmett Brown should have written down the math to both flying cars and hovering skateboards for 2015. 1.21 Gigawatts doesn't just grow on trees.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but his original documentation was placed in a time capsule in 1885, not be opened for fifty years,
in 2035 (do the math yourself).

[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/science/more-progress-made-toward-learning-contents-of-herculaneum-scrolls.html[/url]

[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30834038"]Memory recall 'better when eyes shut'[/URL]

[URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/16/astronaut-scott-kelly-will-spend-a-year-in-space-while-scientists-study-his-twin-here-on-earth/"]Astronaut Scott Kelly will spend a year in space while scientists study his twin here on Earth[/URL]

[URL="http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/brain-plasticity-fact-or-fiction/medical-allied-healthcare"]Brain plasticity: Fact or fiction?[/URL]

[URL="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/11350689/Natural-genius-myth-deters-women-from-science.html"]‘Natural genius’ myth deters women from science[/URL]

[URL="http://www.livescience.com/49477-human-ancestors-diet-taste-evolution.html"]Different Tastes: How Our Human Ancestors' Diets Evolved[/URL]

[URL="http://time.com/3668616/curiositystream-netflix-john-hendricks-science/"]Now There’s a Netflix for Science Fans[/URL]

[URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/scientists-human-activity-has-pushed-earth-beyond-four-of-nine-planetary-boundaries/2015/01/15/f52b61b6-9b5e-11e4-a7ee-526210d665b4_story.html"]Scientists: Human activity has pushed Earth beyond four of nine ‘planetary boundaries’[/URL]

[URL="http://mentalfloss.com/article/61016/11-historys-biggest-pranksters"]11 of History’s Biggest Pranksters[/URL]

[URL="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/muscle-strength-is-in-the-mind/384361/"]Muscle Strength Is in the Mind[/URL]

[URL="http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2015/01/12/376668385/learning-about-the-human-mind-magically"]Learning About The Human Mind, Magically[/URL]

[URL="http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/videos/2015/01/human-brain-prunes-inaccurate-memories"]Human Brain Prunes Inaccurate Memories[/URL]

[URL="http://www.cnet.com/news/artificial-intelligence-experts-sign-open-letter-to-protect-mankind-from-machines/"]Artificial intelligence experts sign open letter to protect mankind from machines[/URL]

[URL="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/md-researchers-teach-robots-cook-youtube-videos-article-1.2065360"]Robots learn how to cook with YouTube videos [/URL]

[URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/24/smartphone-brain-plastici_n_6377354.html"]Using Your Phone Is Changing Your Brain[/URL]

[URL="http://wtop.com/science/2015/01/nasa-explores-inflatable-spacecraft-technology/"]NASA explores inflatable spacecraft technology[/URL]

[URL="http://www.technologyreview.com/news/533546/the-top-technology-failures-of-2014/"]The Top Technology Failures of 2014[/URL]

[URL="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/first-americans/hodges-text?&sf6351566=1"]Tracking the First Americans[/URL]

[URL="http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/01/05/high-iq-may-protect-against-schizophrenia/79475.html"]High IQ May Protect Against Schizophrenia[/URL]

[url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/living-fossil-shark-australia_n_6524232.html[/url]

[url]http://www.cicret.com/wordpress/?page_id=17920[/url]

[QUOTE=petrw1;393226][URL]http://www.cicret.com/wordpress/?page_id=17920[/URL][/QUOTE]

Uh.....it seems that the battery must have incredible power density, and that the processor uses next to nothing besides. Let's not even get into the needs of a projector which can put out that kind of clarity in daylight.

[url]http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/cicret.asp[/url]