New Scientist publishes a special science fiction issue

New Scientist magazine's latest issue features a number of near-future science fiction stories by British writers which have been introduced by this Kim Stanely Robinson essay.

Robinson discusses how we can learn more about our lives today by reading these near-future predictions than by reading historical novels or other types of literature.

The magazine also has a competition where they invite people to write their own flash fiction about the near future.

Given the rapid changes taking place around us, near-future science fiction is one of the hardest things to write. In no time, your ideas are obsolete. I think of Cory Doctorow's novels in a decade or less and imagine they'll look as dated as a Jules Verne story by then.

I think that's why urban fantasy novels are becoming so popular. They are set in the now, or the near future, but use magic instead of technological predictions so the authors don't have to worry about their stories being obsolete so quickly.

That's not to say people are abandoning science fiction. What's happening is that it is divurging from fantasy. Famous physicist Michio Kaku recently observed that every science fiction movie he has seen in the past little while has featured technology that is totally plausible.