Reader's Room ponders the week's most thought-provoking speculative fiction and nonfiction. This week we talk about the influence that science fiction has on science.

Show links:

• H. G. Wells's The World Set Free
• Astro Boy (AKA Mighty Atom)
• Tricorder X Prize
• Linkdump:
  • Vernor Vinge's Fire Upon The Deep free this month.
  • When an AI anticipates itself (video)
  • Autonomous Robot Colonoscopies text

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