The Obama Administration, while pumping up funding and incentives to further develop hybrid vehicles, has slashed $100 million (60%) from the budget for George W. Bush’s preferred approach -- hydrogen fueled cars.  Of course, this is one more sign that we are being led by people who want A… Read full post »

First some REALLY important news. Splash! NASA moon strikes found significant water. Having an abundance of water on the moon would make it easier to set up a base camp for astronauts by providing drinking water and the ingredients for rocket fuel. 

No one could be more proud than I am,… Read full post »

A NY Times reporter interviewed me about naming the decade that’s about to end. 

My suggestion? That the “Noughty Oughts” might signify what a zero-time it was, with America, especially, giving in to every bad habit of self-righteous, dogmatic whining - from both ends of the p…

Read full post »

 Last time we looked at one enticingly seductive mind trap that we all fall for, now and then -- because it (a) flatters our own egos and (b) nearly always seems so well-justifed.  Contempt for the Masses seems to come as naturally as breathing.  And you (or I) never happen to… Read full post »

I want to riff upon some common drug-highs that most people partake-of.  One is the alluring condition of despising our pitiably stupid neighbors.  Another is the temptation to believe that history comes and goes in "cycles."

first some news...

 Looking for something to help you through… Read full post »

Okay, time for a commentary that many of you have been waiting for -- my thoughts about the recent Bruce Willis movie, Surrogates.

 I've been (as you might expect) getting a lot of mail about it, so let's start with some facts.  The film is based upon a comic book by… Read full post »

All right, here's the deal. I 'm paid to point things out that others haven't noticed. Not all the under-examined concepts that fizz out of my contrary-cracked mind prove right or even sane!  But I am pretty good at showing that this or that twist should at least be put on… Read full post »

I’ll be posting my long-delayed appraisal of the movie Surrogates, shortly.  But meanwhile, here’s a raft of links and other cool items that remind us that -- despite efforts to turn civilization toward know-nothing foolishness, we still live in an era of enlightenment and wonders.


Se… Read full post »

An article on Salon asks "Why Can't We Have Smarter Right Wingers?"

It's been my own stark plaint for a decade -- and not from any lefty reflex. Rather, as one who openly avows some libertarian and classic "conservative" views, sprinkled in a mostly-progressive goulash.… Read full post »

See a well-balanced and cogent article in SEED Magazine about the “METI imbroglio”... or whether we should allow a few fervent believers shout into the cosmos on all our behalf, based upon a narrow range of highly dubious assumptions.  The fairminded essay cites yours truly, among ot… Read full post »

All right then, you've been warned to expect some of my trademarked "contrariness," this time.  A tendency -- call it a compulsion -- to always turn and point in some unexpected direction, especially if I have been looking one way for too long.  It drives everything from my chosen professio… Read full post »

Intermission note:  Before continuing to give my second part -- this time about some craziness on the left -- I want to say this about Health Care

 It appears that President Obama may have to retreat from the "public option" in his effort to achieve some Health Care Reform, this year. … Read full post »

I've been busy trying to write my next novel.  But two items online spurred my ire.  And so, as "Contrary Brin," I will fairmindedly aim my hot scalpel toward both extremes of the silly, nonsensical "left-right political axis."  

Of course we know what the biggest difference is, between… Read full post »

Sorry to have posted so little, of late.  We have been ensnared by a huge and complex Eagle Scout Project here... plus another kid making Black Belt, and yet another at Screenwriting camp... then the first one showing me endless online photos of "cars it would be cool to buy..."

And so,… Read full post »

Over in the closed discussion group of the Lifeboat Foundation, there's been discussion of the concept of "Disputation Arenas."  Or the notion that the art of argument badly needs an upgrade for modern times.

 Back during the middle ages, there were occasional attempts to bring together th… Read full post »

My brief essay in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the firsr moon landing is now up on Tor.com. A surprising perspective on art, ambition and the problem of ennui

My recent talk for the USENIX Conference is available for viewing online.  A bit nerdier than my usual speeches about the futu… Read full post »

More from More Science High!  Continuing the cornucopia of interesting things....

I'm on the BBC World Service yet again, this time commenting on "geo-engineering"... or proposals to cool the Earth artificially and compensate for global warming.  I'll announce the posted podcast site. … Read full post »

Time for my monthly  cornucopia of cool (and non-political) news from the exciting world around us.

Brinvolved Items:

"FiRe CTO Design Challenge": Author, physicist, and host David Brin leads the challenge of "Water Beyond Tomorrow: Using Technology and Innovation to Provide San Diego (and the Wo… Read full post »

Lighting the political lamp...  Let’s start with evidence that something special is going on. Everybody, you must watch this. Get to know the guy.  And make your conservatives watch, too. 

Of course, if there are folks on the right who remain impervious to reality.  (As the… Read full post »

Keeping my number of political postings to a bare minimum, let’s just make a potpourri-pile of topical observations.

First... that the bankruptcies of both GM and Chrysler seem to be pretty much following a path I suggested earlier, sending them on a path where they’ll likely become largel… Read full post »

See my latest manic comedy story “Gorilla My Dreams” in UNIVERSE Magazine (online).  This is a very different flavor of humor than my more - well - level-headed comedic serial “The Ancient Ones.”  Subscribe to UNIVERSE with this coupon code EE329517B2 and get $5 off!… Read full post »

First - see me blather in the next “Life After People” - Tuesday on the History Channel. 

And now consider this  from page one of the LA Times: “Obama budget puts security first at the border - He'll ask Congress to help curb the flow of arms to Mexico before seeking… Read full post »

This month, we note the 50th Anniversary of C.P. Snow's famous Rede Lecture, "The Two Cultures," whic described the wide and seemingly unbridgeable gulf of language, assumptions and mindset, between people working in the sciences and intellectuals in the literary arts and humanities.  In a a fol… Read full post »

NY Times Columnist - and fellow Asimov fan* Paul Krugman - has my respect at many levels.   But he can sometimes miss the big picture.  Recently, Krugman inveighed against President Obama’s purported lack of courageous leadership on the “torture front.” While Obama h… Read full post »

First: ast year, I was a pundit on "Life After People," the History Channel's top-rated show ever .  Now comes "Life After People: The Series"...  10pm  Tuesday.  I’m in some episodes.  And now...

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry's praise for  tea party protestors,… Read full post »