Headlines from the Cosmic Era

Androids Demand the Vote

Androids have long been denied many basic human rights, but a coalition of android sympathizers, seibertronians, and cyborgs gathered for a peaceful rally in New Sacramento. The leaders of the rally called for equal rights for robots. Seibertronians and AIs are recognized intelligent beings, but neither is afforded the same level of legal protections and rights under the Pacific Rim Coalition Articles of Government. Many sympathizers have ties to industrial android interests, or pro-robot factions from Japan. Similar but smaller rallies have occuring in cities in the Federation, Alliance and the ACPS. 

Human Pets

A lab in Korea has successfully and controversially created the first 'Teacup Humans'. Rather than being 'midgets' or 'dwarves' as derided by the ableist media, these are humans who do not exceed a pre-pubescent level of development and have an expected lifespan of 15 to 20 years. All the good things about having children, without the financial burdens of college funding, military service, or causing social unrest through rebellious teenage years. The lab in question, remaining anonymous at this point, has already been the subject of several investigations for violations of Human Cloning Laws. Many opponents of the practice point out that android children are easily available and do not create a disposable living being. There is already a lawsuit pending in the World Science and Morals Court that the 'Teacup Humans' are in fact Human - (minus, or negative) and are in violation of the Tycho Conventions.

Designer Pets Reach New Heights

Rather than just cloning lost pets or accepting cybernetic replacement, several science labs have banded together with a major pet/animal retailer to premiere designer pets. Some examples of these designer animals include felines with a full array of colors and body patterns to chose from. According to a source inside the company, they are expecting the soft pink solid and rainbow tabby patterns to be top sellers. Also on the line are designer canines with similar color and marking patterns. There are also a whole new plateau of breeds available, from the teacup dane to the Great Chihuahua.

Ganymede Revolt Put Down

The Ganymede colonies have long been a hot spot for extraterrestrial dissidents. A night club at the Bowman Colony was badly damaged by an explosion. The radical Free Ganymede Society has taken credit for the blast. A 30 second data feed was leaked to the CogNet of an exultant 'Commander Talana' claiming that her organization set the explosives to strike a blow at corporate greed and puritanism. The FGS is better known for it's Nude Blue protests where pro-colonials will paint themselves blue and protest nude. AzureCorp, the makers of blue skin pigmenting gene treatments has seen it stock plummet 16% since the feed was  leaked.

St. Mark's Day

An obscure saint from the 22nd Century, Mark of Zuckerberg is credited with creating the first generation of holotech devices, and most tech companies have found success releasing their newest gadgets and details for coming equipment on the date of Mark's demise. The saint who created the first holonet was according to certain sources exiled from the holonet he created, and then later murdered after toppling a now unknown corporation with strong ties to online technologies and agricultural interests.

QuickScan Handheld

The Tycho Convention is slated to deal with privacy violations and rights in terms to holosimulation in the CogNet late next year. On the heels of that announcement, several companies have rushed their production of handheld visual/digital scanners. In earlier versions of holocasting, a realtime stream was required, but superior algorithyms have allowed for computer generated avatars to be controlled entirely by the system. The prior computer avatars had to be scanned in large booths that took large composite maps of the people being scanned. Now, these now pocket sized scanners can snap between three to ten images to create a rendered model of a person or place to generate in a virtual environment. This has lead to several lawsuits and protests as cutting edge programmers and snapping up replicas of famous people and selling their avatars online. Several of these have been fully modified for sexual use, some are quite imaginative while others are lets be honest, downright disturbing.

The Appalachian Church of Christ Protests Begin

The Appalachian Church, figurehead of Christian and Luddite movements has started a new Rally Revival series and is following up it's anti-android and anti-robot protests of last year with a God Hates Clones and Augments campaign. While legislation protects Personal Body Expression, the organization is going so far as to denounce even routine genetic screening. 

Unicorns Exist!

A small herd of unicorns exist in an unnamed European state. The animals are designer creations from a North American lab, where the animals were recreated from Andalusian, deer, and narwhal DNA. The herd is now five years old, and the first foals have been born. The biogenics community is watching with interest, wondering if something as biologically complex as the chimera Unicorn will become a viable bio organism. In related news, thousands of young girls have changed their demand from I want a pony to I want a unicorn. Fathers everywhere shake their heads in despair.

Solstice Celebration Planning Announced

A small protest, barely a dozen people, marred the annual announcement of the Urban Solstice Celebration Planning Committee. Several members of the committee commented that it was sad that there were still people who were trying to pervert the meaning of a joyous commercial holiday with their bizarre religion and zealotry. This holiday is as much a celebration of our culture and cultural heritage as it is a boon to the economic markets, and sales are expected to grow as much as 2.5% over last year's solid growth.

LAPD Recalls Jetpack Patrol Force

The skies above LA are a little less safe tonight after the megacity comptroller suspended funding for the police jetpack force. The force has been an important part of LAPD and SWAT for thirty years, using their jetpacks to reach the tops of major buildings, as well as rescuing falling people, assisting in fire rescue, and other pretty bad-ass things. The culprit is the Martin Z86 Jetpack. The packs have been recalled by the manufacturer stating faulty turbine blades and overheating problems in the thrust nozzles. After acquiring the Z86s two years ago, there have been 13 engine malfunctions, none more spectacular and tragic than the death of Officer Annie 'Wildcat' Porter, a 15 year veteran of the force.