Science Fiction (science + fiction)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Investigating Firefly and Serenity: Science Fiction on the Frontier

THE JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE, Issue 4 2009
Stephanie Eve Boone
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Visions for Regenerative Medicine: Interface Between Scientific Fact and Science Fiction

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 10 2006
C. James Kirkpatrick
Abstract:, This article gives a brief overview of the authors' views on the future development of tissue engineering with respect to the challenges both to the materials and life sciences. Emphasis will be placed on the advantages of three-dimensional bioresorbable polymers in combination with relevant molecular cues and the application of autologous stem or progenitor cells. There is a requirement for much more diversity in the synthesis of so-called "intelligent" materials, which respond to external stimuli, as well as the development of novel drug and gene delivery systems. In addition, much more basic research is necessary in developmental biology and the application of modern cell and molecular biology to biomaterial questions. [source]


Is Cognitive Case Formulation Science or Science Fiction?

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, Issue 1 2003
Peter J. Bieling
As with all systematic models of therapy, cognitive therapy distills a theory to the understanding of particular cases through the case formulation method. This article sets out criteria to evaluate whether cognitive case formulation follows the process of scientific inquiry, and it questions whether the formulation method meets these criteria. In terms of the evidence base for the cognitive theory that underpins cognitive case formulation, the research suggests that although the descriptive elements of cognitive theory are substantiated, the explanatory elements have received less support. In terms of the scientific status of the cognitive case formulation process, current evidence for the reliability of the cognitive case formulation method is modest, at best. There is a striking paucity of research examining the validity of cognitive case formulations or the impact of cognitive case formulation on therapy outcome. Implications for the clinical use of cognitive case formulation within a scientist-practitioner model are discussed, and potential programs of research to evaluate the case formulation method are described. [source]


The Bridge to the ,Real World': Applied Science or a ,Schizophrenic Tour de Force'?*

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 6 2004
Alexander T. Nicolai
abstract This article concerns those publications which have received considerable attention in an academic as well as in a practical context. In these rare cases, it seems that it was possible to transfer scientific findings more or less directly into managerial implications. This widely shared view is contrasted with a socials systems perspective. From this point of view there cannot be a direct application of scientific knowledge. This also holds true for the classic examples of applied science. It is argued that even in these cases there is no evidence of linear knowledge transfer but rather ,Applied Science Fiction' (ASF). ASF comprises all techniques with which the scientific system reacts to external application pressure without having to relinquish its own self-referential logic. Different forms of ASF are introduced. These are retrofitting, reputation, symbolic labels and undisciplined eclecticism. The ASF-concept will be illustrated by Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy. Paradoxically, however, the conventional concept of application and ASF are a barrier for the sustainable relevance of management studies. [source]


ALL THIS HAPPENED, MORE OR LESS: WHAT A NOVELIST MADE OF THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN,

HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 2 2009
ANN RIGNEY
ABSTRACT Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) was a popular and critical success when it first appeared, and has had a notable impact on popular perceptions of "the bombing of Dresden," although it has been criticized by historians because of its inaccuracy. This article analyzes the novel's quirky, comic style and its generic mixture of science fiction and testimony, showing how Vonnegut consistently used ingenuous understatement as a way of imaginatively engaging his readers with the horrors of war. The article argues that the text's aesthetics are closer to those of graphic novels than of realist narratives and that, accordingly, we can understand its cultural impact only by approaching it as a highly artificial linguistic performance with present-day appeal and contemporary relevance, and not merely by measuring the degree to which it gives a full and accurate mimesis of past events. The article uses the case of Vonnegut to advance a more general argument that builds on recent work in cultural memory studies: in order to understand the role that literature plays in shaping our understanding of history, it needs to be analyzed in its own terms and not as a mere derivative of historiography according to a "one model fits all" approach. Furthermore, we need to shift the emphasis from products to processes by considering both artistic and historiographical practices as agents in the ongoing circulation across different cultural domains of stories about the past. Theoretical reflection should account for the fact that historiography and the various arts play distinct roles in this cultural dynamics, and while they compete with one another, they also converge, bounce off one another, influence one another, and continuously beg to be different. [source]


Beta-cell regeneration: from science fiction to challenging reality

PEDIATRIC DIABETES, Issue 5 2010
Massimo Trucco M.D.
First page of article [source]