A new sci fi Christmas caper short story

Posted on behalf of Jeff Carlson:

Hi, gang, another heads-up,

Well ahead of the holidays, I have a new story entitled "A Lovely Little Christmas Fire" in one of the top genre magazines in the world. Asimov's Science Fiction is readily available everywhere. And they put me on the cover! And my publisher ran a full-page ad for PLAGUE ZONE inside! Shazammie!

"Christmas Fire" is a jolly biotech-and-special-weapons story set in Missoula, Montana, where our wicked smart heroine Julie Beauchain returns with her sidekick Thomas Highsong for another unique, sexy, mayhem-filled adventure. It's one of my favorites because this is a light-hearted action comedy unlike most of the very dark thrillers I'm known for.

You can see the cover and read more on my blog at http://www.jverse.com/blog/index.html

So run! Run to your nearest book store or news stand! The bugs are coming!!! What bugs? Why, the hyper-active gene-altered Heterotermes aureus machovsky termite swarms! Gaaaah!!! :)

Jeff
www.jverse.com

Video by Steampunk jewelry designer Daniel Proulx CatherinetteRings

Daniel Proulx, a steampunk jewelry designer, introduces the fantastic story behind his creations . See more steampunk jewelry made by Daniel Proulx : http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5785678

Transhumanist film imagines the singularity

This in from KurzweilAI.net: A near future science fiction film that imagines the singularity — human biology merges with machine intelligence and nanotechnology to transcend our usual limitations (aka short lifespans) — premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, New York.

In 2B - The Era of Flesh is Over: "Mankind stands on the verge of reengineering its biology—merging with the incredibly intelligent machines it has created. Mia 2.0 (Jane Kim), the world’s first ‘Transbeman’ and her inventor, the eccentric Dr. Tom Mortlake (James Remar), conduct a bold political experiment designed to prove that human reliance on the fragile flesh body is over and ‘eternal life‘ is at hand."

Futurist Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity is Near (2005), 2B film executive producer Martine Rothblatt, and machine ethicist Wendell Wallach, author of Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong, discussed AI, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering with bioethicist James J. Hughes at the premiere. The panel was called Redesigning Humanity - The New Frontier.

See the movie trailer at 2bmovie.com. It starts with a quote from poet Rainer Maria Rilke, "The future enters in us before it arrives."