Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 00:05:28 -0500
From: Samuel Lubell <samlubell at verizon.net>
Subject: [WSFA] SF Writers Join War on Terror
To: WSFA Forum <wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com>
Cc: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Yes, USA Today covered our book signing, well sort-of, they seem to have
covered the fact that the sf writers are advising the war on terror.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-05-29-deviant-thinkers-security_N.htm

Sci-fi writers join war on terror

By Mimi Hall
<http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=477>, USA TODAY
Looking to prevent the next terrorist attack, the Homeland Security
Department is tapping into the wild imaginations of a group of
self-described "deviant" thinkers: science-fiction writers.

"We spend our entire careers living in the future," says author Arlan
Andrews, one of a handful of writers the government brought to
Washington this month to attend a Homeland Security conference on
science and technology.

Those responsible for keeping the nation safe from devastating attacks
realize that in addition to border agents, police and airport screeners,
they "need people to think of crazy ideas," Andrews says.

The writers make up a group called Sigma, which Andrews put together 15
years ago to advise government officials. The last time the group
gathered was in the late 1990s, when members met with government
scientists to discuss what a post-nuclear age might look like, says
group member Greg Bear. He has written 30 sci-fi books, including the
best seller /Darwin's Radio/.

Now, the Homeland Security Department is calling on the group to help
with the government's latest top mission of combating terrorism.

Although some sci-fi writers' futuristic ideas might sound crazy now,
scientists know that they often have what seems to be an uncanny ability
to see into the future.

"Fifty years ago, science-fiction writers told us about flying cars and
a wireless handheld communicator," says Christopher Kelly, spokesman for
Homeland Security's Science and Technology division. "Although flying
cars haven't evolved, cellphones today are a way of life. We need to
look everywhere for ideas, and science-fiction writers clearly inform
the debate."

Bear says the writers offer powerful imaginations that can conjure up
not only possible methods of attack, but also ideas about how
governments and individuals will respond and what kinds of high-tech
tools could prevent attacks.

The group's motto is "Science Fiction in the National Interest." To join
the group, Andrews says, you have to have at least one technical
doctorate degree.

"We're well-qualified nuts," says Jerry Pournelle, co-author of the best
sellers /Footfall/ and /Lucifer's Hammer/ and dozens of other books.

Pournelle and others say that science-fiction writers have spent their
lives studying the kinds of technologies and scenarios Homeland Security
officials have been tackling since the department began operating in 2003.

"We talk to a lot of strange people and read a lot of weird things,"
Bear says.

At the Washington conference, Bear offered to put biometrics researchers
in touch with movie special-effects experts. The experts might be able
to help the government determine how to match the face of someone
walking through an airport to a grainy photo of a known terrorist.

Bear's latest book, /Quantico/, is a sci-fi thriller that has FBI agents
and a bioterrorism expert racing to hunt down a homegrown terrorist.

"We'll play 'What if?' with anything," says Sage Walker, an emergency
medicine physician turned sci-fi writer and the only woman in the group.
She says the discussions with government officials "tend to be very
intense and far-ranging."

So are discussions between the writers. During a coffee break at the
conference, Walker, Bear and Andrews started talking about the
government's bomb-sniffing dogs. Within minutes, they had conjured up a
doggie brain-scanning skullcap that could tell agents what kind of
explosive material a dog had picked up.

The 9/11 Commission called the 2001 terrorist attacks a result of the
government's "failure of imagination." For this group, Walker says,
there's no such thing as an "unthinkable scenario."

Why offer their ideas to the government instead of private companies
that pay big bucks?

"To save civilization," /Ringworld/ author Larry Niven says. "We do it
in fiction. Why wouldn't we want to do it in fact?"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Sidebar:

'CRAZY IDEAS'

 From laser weapons to test-tube babies, science-fiction writers have
imagined hundreds of futuristic technologies that were or are being
developed and used by the government or produced for the public. Among them:

*From author Robert Heinlein*: cellphones, remote-controlled robot arms,
microwave ovens, water beds.

*From author H.G. Wells*: atomic bombs, airplanes, television, joystick
controls.

*From author Arlan Andrews*: tourist spaceships, downloadable
pocket-sized books.