• more about #economicdystopia more comments →
    tamoko: Things change.... the european global empires of the 17th through 20th centuries, mainly the British, French and Belgians all crumbled and diminished,... more »
    Skenderbeg: It was out government who caused the crisis, and who are worsening the situation with their continued involvement. I'm just sayin the facts more »
    SprinklesTDD: I just want us to live in a Firefly like universe. A man can dream... A man can dream... more »
    evildead1971: its was our govt who let the crisis happen, but they didnt let it get worse i'm just sayin <_< more »
    ReddHeretic: If you ask me, our government interfering with and manipulating the private market/economy is a big reason behind the current decline of the United St... more »
    ceilingFANBOY: Well, when it opens up a wormwhole to a planet made out of gold this project will totally be worth it. more »
    tetracycloide: i've got it! annalee is actually Sir David King, the former head of the UK government office of science. it all makes sense now. more »
    Annalee Newitz: The upside of the economic downturn is that it will delay the inevitable end of the world caused by the LHC. more »
    corpore-metal: I think IO9 is borrowing a little trouble here. 1) They spent a lot of money to build this thing in the first place. Now that's finished, they have to... more »
    evildead1971: if they turn it on and it ends the world, our economic problems are solved :D more »
    ReubenJiblical: I hope that there is security camera footage of that leak, I bet liquid helium looks really cool when it spills into an enclosed tunnel more »
    Klebert L. Hall: "Can a shrinking global economy support the LHC?" Yes, it can. $21 million is chump change, especially for governments. For example, the current power... more »
  • #politicalsciencefiction

    US National Intelligence Council Predicts Decline of America in New Report

    Lefty types have been predicting the demise of America for the last century, but in 2008 even the most conservative elements of the US government are predicting it too. Every four years, the US National Intelligence Council issues a future-looking report about global trends, and this year one of those trends is the decline of American power in the world. More »
  • #bigscience

    Will the Global Economic Crisis Kill the Large Hadron Collider?

  • #poll

    Will the Neo-Depression Create a Drug Epidemic?

  • #economicdystopia

    The Greatest Depressions (and Economic Recoveries) of Science Fiction

    Science fiction never fails to predict bizarre, unwelcome futures and the current global economic meltdown is no exception. We love to imagine all the ways our world will end not with a bang, but with a flood of hemorrhaged garbage cash. Two of this year's scifi film crop, Babylon A.D. and The Road, predict a geopolitical landscape shredded by scarcity. But unlike most politicians, science fiction tales offer a wide range of solutions to economic peril: everything from time-travel-enhanced investments to interstellar hypercapitalism. And yet at the heart of even the most Utopian solution to financial collapse there lurks a tale of human self-destructiveness, a not-so-buried wish to see the species destroyed or enslaved for its economic choices. Do our fantasies doom us to financial failure? More »