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Machine Stops (version 2)

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Science Fiction, Short Stories
Chapter: 3 | Listen:

Published in 1909, this science fiction short story takes place in a future where mankind, seemingly no longer able to survive on earth’s surface, exists in a vast underground civilization known as “The Machine”. Each individual lives in an isolated, fully-automated cell-like room, connected to global information and communication systems, but cut off from all direct experience. The narrative focuses on Vashti, an “advanced” mother whose total dependence upon The Machine has led her (like most others) to increasingly reverence and even worship it; and her “untechnological” son, Kuno, who has begun to deny The Machine’s omnipotence and even seeks to escape if possible. Kuno’s radical views are validated as the The Machine’s systems begin to malfunction and eventually fail completely. The story has proved to be far ahead of its time, with remarkably accurate predictions of modern technologies, and paints a chilling picture of over-dependence on them. This recording marks the 100th anniversary of the original publishing. (Summary by Jerome Lawsen) [chương_files]

Short Science Fiction Collection 019

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Anthologies, Science Fiction
Chapter: 10 | Listen:

Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired. (Summary by Gregg Margarite) [chương_files]

World Set Free

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Science Fiction
Chapter: 11 | Listen:

The World Set Free is a novel published in 1914 by H. G. Wells. The book is considered a prophetical novel foretelling the advent of nuclear weapons. A constant theme in Wells’s work, such as his 1901 nonfiction book Anticipations, was the role of energy and technological advance as a determinant of human progress. The novel opens: “The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal.” Scientists of the day were well aware that the slow natural radioactive decay of elements like radium continues for thousands of years, and that while the rate of energy release is negligible, the total amount released is huge. Wells used this as the basis for his story. (Summary on Wikipedia) [chương_files]

Edge of the Knife

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Science Fiction
Chapter: 6 | Listen:

The Terro-Human Future History is Piper’s detailed account of the next 6000 years of human history. 1942, the year the first fission reactor was constructed, is defined as the year 1 A.E. (Atomic Era). In 1973, a nuclear war devastates the planet, eventually laying the groundwork for the emergence of a Terran Federation, once humanity goes into space and develops antigravity technology. The story “The Edge of the Knife” (collected in Empire) occurs slightly before the war, and involves a man who sees flashes of the future. It links many key elements of Piper’s series. (Summary from Wikipedia) [chương_files]

Astounding Stories 09, September 1930

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Science Fiction
Chapter: 27 | Listen: 1

This is a collection of short science fiction stories by various writers, circa 1930. Writers include Paul Ernst, Miles Breuer, Ray Cummings, Sewell Wright, and others. Harry Bates, Editor (Summary by BellonaTimes) [chương_files]

Short Science Fiction Collection 017

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Anthologies, Science Fiction
Chapter: 10 | Listen:

Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science or technology. This is a reader-selected collection of short stories that entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed. Summary by Cori Samuel, with Wikipedia input. [chương_files]

Short Science Fiction Collection 016

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Anthologies, Science Fiction
Chapter: 10 | Listen: 1

Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science or technology. This is a reader-selected collection of short stories that entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed. Summary by Cori Samuel, with Wikipedia input. [chương_files]

Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future

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Science Fiction
Chapter: 37 | Listen:

A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future is a science fiction novel by John Jacob Astor IV, published in 1894. The book offers a fictional account of life in the year 2000. It contains abundant speculation about technological invention, including descriptions of a world-wide telephone network, solar power, air travel, space travel to the planets Saturn and Jupiter, and terraforming engineering projects — damming the Arctic Ocean, and adjusting the Earth’s axial tilt (by the Terrestrial Axis Straightening Company). In Astor’s novel, the future United States is a multi-continental superpower. European nations have been taken over by socialist governments, which have sold most of their African colonies to the U.S.; and Canada, Mexico, and the countries of South America have requested annexation. Race conflict is a thing of the past, since the “dark elements” of the American hegemony have died out. Space travel is achieved by linking an airship to a comet. Jupiter proves to be a jungle world, with flesh-eating plants, vampire bats, giant snakes and mastodons, and flying lizards. The Americans discover a wealth of exploitable resources: iron, silver, gold, lead, copper, coal, and oil. Saturn, in contrast, is an ancient world of silent spirits. The spirit beings provide the explorers with foresight of their own deaths. (Summary by Wikipedia) [chương_files]

Short Science Fiction Collection 003

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Science Fiction, Short Stories
Chapter: 10 | Listen:

Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science or technology. This is the third volume of reader-selected short stories originally published between 1941 and 1963, that entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed. Introduction by Cori Samuel with input from Wikipedia. [chương_files]

Creature from Beyond Infinity

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Science Fiction
Chapter: 7 | Listen:

A lone space traveler arrives on Earth seeking a new planet to colonize, his own world dead. At the same time a mysterious plague has infected Earth that will wipe out all life. Can a lone scientist stop the plague and save the world? Or will the alien find himself on another doomed planet? (Summary by Mark Nelson) [chương_files]