This London Futurists Hangout on Air will feature a live discussion between Ramez Naam and an international panel of leading futurists: Randal Koene, Michell Zappa, and Giulio Prisco.

The discussion aims to cover:

• The science behind the fiction: which elements are strongly grounded in current research, and which elements are more speculative?

• The philosophy behind the fiction: how should people be responding to the deeply challenging questions that are raised by new technology?

• Finding a clear path through what has been described as “the best of times and the worst of times” — is human innovation sufficient?

• What lies next — new books in context.

Live questions

Viewers of the live broadcast on Google+ will be able to vote in real time on questions and suggestions to be discussed by the panelists as the Hangout proceeds. Give ‘+1’ votes to the suggestions you most like.

Event logistics:

This event will take place between 7pm and 8.30pm UK time (2pm to 3:30pm EST) on Sunday January 12.

You can view the event:

• On Google+, via the page https://plus.google.com/+DavidWood_dw2/posts — where you’ll also be able to vote on questions to be submitted to the panelists

• Via YouTube (the URL will be published here 15 minutes prior to the start of the event).

There is no charge to participate in this discussion.

Note: There is no central physical location for this meetup.However, you may consider meeting with a few friends in the same locality, and watching the event together.

Ramez Naam

Ramez Naam is arguably one of today’s most interesting and important writers on futurist topics, including both non-fiction and fiction. For example, praise for his Nexus: Mankind gets an upgrade includes:

• “A superbly plotted high tension technothriller… full of delicious moral ambiguity… a hell of a read.” — Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

• “A sharp, chilling look at our likely future.” — Charles Stross

• “A lightning bolt of a novel. A sense of awe missing from a lot of current fiction.” — Ars Technica.