I recall a short story I read many years ago about a soldier or scientist being sent forward in time to see if man survives overpopulation and if we do, how we solved the overpopulation problem. The answer was a literal "war of the sexes". The protagonist even has to drop his pants at one point to prove he's a man so some guy guarding a library (?) won't shoot him.  I can't remember the title or the author's name but I believe it was in a short story collection about time travel.
40593
Here's what I remember about it:   The protagonist is sent a relatively short distance into the future (maybe a year? I've forgotten). When he arrives in this "future" he finds himself in a completely different world, with non-human inhabitants. The inhabitants use a machine to teach him their torturous language. He tries to return home, and (eventually) finds himself in a realm of chaos/nothingness. He laboriously reconstructs in his mind everything he can remember about his home and finds himself back there somehow. The twist is      that in his "home" reality everyone speaks the language he was taught by the non-human inhabitants at his first stop.
43968
I read the story many years ago. The solar system was being invaded by insectoid aliens who greatly outnumbered Earth's population. All available people were involved in the war effort and all women were encouraged to have as many children as possible. The story centers around an officer who must command a war ship crewed by artificial people. The protagonist was sterile, I think. The crew's bodies were made up of the bodies of corpses of war dead.
82646
I'm sure it was a book, but it could have been a film, or even a video-game plot element. Apologize if I've mixed up any facts – I don't think I've come across this again in the last 20 years!  I read this "book" a long time ago, and a small part of the story refers to the Earth being visited by aliens, who (IIRC) told us that they were disappointed in how we had progressed as a species, and gave humanity the chance to repair their culture…  I believe, they left the Earth and came back after a time to be told that humanity had worked hard and had now declared a full and lasting world-peace and equality. However, the aliens wanted the opposite, they wanted us to be even more vicious to be used as soldiers or something along those lines.  I believe that they then promptly destroyed either the planet or the species!
16211
My dad has been trying to find the title of a short story for ages. According to him, the story goes like this:  A scientist who works on an island manages to create a miniature population with whom he can communicate. As time is proportional to their size, it goes way faster for them than the scientist, which allows the creatures to be able to make inventions humans can't yet.   The scientist, whom the creatures worship as a God, starts asking them to reveal how to make these inventions humans are unable to create. At one point, his miniature people end up developing the transport of wireless energy.  Because of the industrial lobby of the human world, the scientist and his people are under a death threat. He asks the creatures to develop the absolute protection, which they do, but this stops the communication between the scientist and his people. He can only see a grey dome in his microscope.   At the last moment, as missiles have been fired towards the island, a breach opens in the dome. The scientist gets a message from his creatures: they ask for forgiveness as they were not able to reach him anymore until then. He responds that if they want to be forgiven, they must amplify the action of the dome.  In the end, the whole island is covered with an indestructible grey dome that no one can see through.  Some parts might be added by my dad's imagination but if you find anything similar to this plot, we would be really grateful!
50948
I'm trying to help a teacher friend of mine with finding a short story he read when he was a teenager and has not been able to find since.  He described the story in the following way:  In a post-war world there is a setup in which Soviet/Russian soldiers are required to fight against American soldiers in an arena in which both sides have equal setup: a forest, a lake, etc. The winner of the 'game' has the right to govern for the next several years.  It's told from a first person point of view like you're watching the Olympic games and one American soldier gets shot, but is not killed.  He falls and other bodies fall on top of him so it seems the soviets win, however their last two soldiers happen upon him and he kills them first, rendering the United States victorious.  Given that he was the only survivor he has a sort of political amnesty in which he can do no wrong legally. He returns home and he essentially suffers from a form of PTSD.  The story ends with him watching a young girl next door get off the school bus; he walks to the neighbor's home, goes inside and, in front of the girl's parents follows the girl into her room and shuts the door, leaving the reader to assume whatever happens behind the door.  He's been looking for this story in different anthologies for some time.  Can anyone help?  Thanks so much! :)
31794
I may be conflating two separate short science-fiction stories here, so please bear with me. I definitely read this more than 10 years ago and it's likely to be older than that (60's, 70's?)    A man wakes up one day to discover that the world is subtly different. His wife acts strangely and there's a weird "groundhog day" vibe.    He discovers that his house is actually made entirely of painted metal, including things that should be wood (a boat that he made by hand, for example). He comments that in the real world, it's the fact that stuff doesn't work properly that shows you that you're living in reality (a wobbly doorhandle may have been mentioned?) He's constantly beset by advertising; brands of washing powder, political messages, etc. and people keep asking him what he thought about them. At one point, the advertisers start getting very aggressive, literally invading his house to dirty his clothes and driving around with megaphones to shout slurs about their political competitors. He finally breaks out of the town (with the assistance of his secretary?) and they discover that they're...      ...actually robots living in a simulated town used by advertisers to test slogans, etc.   The final twist is that...     ...the town fits onto a desktop and is encased in glass. Even if he could escape, he could never live in the real world since he's very tiny.
29603
I read a collection of Sci-Fi short stories back in the 1970's or early 80's that had one about a couple in love who kept losing each other. The book was my dad's so the story itself could be much older than that. I am very fuzzy on the details as I was young when I read it and it was so long ago. I believe the woman/girlfriend was "taken" (by some bad guy aliens??) while she was sleeping. I think it involved time travel and the man had to search through time to find her. After he found her, when he was asleep one time, he somehow was then "taken" and I think transported through time and had to fight his way back to her again. He may have been some sort of police officer. I just remember in the end, at night when they went to bed, the couple always wore handcuffs so they were never separated when they went to sleep ever again. Does this ring a bell with anyone?  (There is a possibility it is in a short story collection that also contained " The Twonky " by Lewis Padgett (1942), as I remember reading that story around the same time)
45959
Trying to recall a short story I read decades ago. As best I recall, in an desperate effort to defeat humanity in a war they are losing, aliens send piloted bombs back in time to destroy the Earth before life has started. Miscalculation causes destruction of planet into asteroid belt and creates conditions for life on Earth.  The story was from perspective of a genetically engineered pilot of the bomb as it flew back in time to its suicidal goal.   I think the title was simply 'T' - the name of the pilot of the bomb - but trying to search internet for a title like that is not working out too well. Even tried 'shortest title for a story'.
54826
I'm trying to identify a short story I read many years ago (early/mid 80s maybe?) where humans who congregated together somehow joined and 'evolved' into new blob multi-creatures - I don't think it was a choice, rather it just started to happen to them. These new blob creatures wandered around trying to learn how to control themselves, and I think they maybe fought each other.  I can't remember much more than that, tbh. I don't think there was much plot or reason for this 'evolution' given. The story was told from the point of view of one person, who was watching and documenting the metamorphosis. At the end I think he realised he had no choice but to join with them.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  (It's not "Four in One", btw)
19662
I read a short story about four years ago and can't remember the title or author. The only thing I know is that it is relatively old -- like Huxley or Asimov era. Can anyone help me?   The basic synopsis is this: a man clones himself and has his clone do the parts of his life that he doesn't enjoy. He deceives his wife about this; she doesn't know he has a clone. Whenever the man and the clone are both home, the clone is locked in the "toolbox" in the basement. The clone starts to treat the man's wife better than he had previously. His wife starts to fall in love the clone, and the man decides he needs to get rid of the clone. When he tries to do so, the clone overpowers the man and locks him in the toolbox in the basement!  I'm hoping to share this story with my English class this school year. Any help is appreciated!
24797
I'm looking for a book that starts with the premise that (once the population size had exceeded a certain number) the future development of mankind (revolutions and wars in so and so many years, colonization of other planets in so and so many years, and so on) could be predicted completely by applied statistics. (IIRC, they used slide rules for those exact predictions, but that is certainly owed to the time the story was written). Next, the predictability was used to take a few tiny measures that would change mankind's fate in a favourable way. After a long time, the predictive system fails(?) because a mutation occurs in some person(s).  And now is the part where I'm not sure if it belongs to this or another story: The mutation results in the ability to "beam" by thinking of a place where one has been before...
113868
As recommended, I'm "migrating"/"duplicate" from  here, to sci-fi.  I can not remember, who is the author, but this seems was Ray Bradbury, however, I've already read couple of his short stories, which would be matched by titles, and nothing found.  So, probably, it is not Ray Bradbury. But this shall be someone like him... ( by date of creation, 1950+ -- somewhere here--  -1990 )    The story starts with one time-traveler, he starts his travel in something like U-boat/Time-Travel-Boat. After a while, another one of him appeared right inside this "Time-Travel-Boat". Okey, they going to travel together.  Thereafter, the third of him - appeared right inside this "Time-Travel-Boat"....  Next one, next one, next one.... etc...  After some time, there were 20+ of him ( may be 600 - six hundredth ). Part of them were from his childhood, and were very young. Another part, opposite, were very old, with beards, etc... Everything mixed up. And such very-very funny chaos happened on this "Time-Travel-Boat".  Please, help!   Q &amp; A:   Q: Is the story a short story, not a novel?  A: Seems, it was short story...      Q: By a "U-boat" do you mean it is literally a boat that goes under water, a submarine? A: No, by "U-boat" I'm meaning environment of action, something like "U-boat", closed / isolated atmosphere, without any chance to exit from it...      Q: What kind of "funny chaos" happens? A: "funny chaos", because all of this 20+ persons - was one man, he knew everything about this place, about himself, about each of this 20+ crew members, about all this story... etc... And everyday life is turning in something very different...   Q: Is the story humorous in tone? A: Yes, it is humorous, and each new "copy of him", makes the story more-and-more fun... Certainly, It was not a philosophical sight on time-traveling, though, i'm still thinking about this concept of duplication of personality.   Q: Is there any sex?  Q: no.   Q: Are there any other characters besides duplicates of the original time-traveler?  A: Seems, not. Only copies / duplicates of main character.
12005
I would like to know the title and author of a short story I read a long time ago. It's about 3 men in space. They were sent to different planets to catch other organisms on different planets. Presumably to bring back to Earth and put in zoos. The ship they are on breaks down. They notice that the animals on the planet, instead of running away, curiously walk up to them. The animals are too friendly and easy to capture. They cannot fix the spaceship and after a few days, one of the men attempts suicide by slitting his wrists. His attempt fails. They look outside on the planet and they find their homes that they had on earth. The men realize that they were captured by aliens and that they were meant to live on this "alien zoo."
89918
Ok. So I read books as a kid, this may have been mid to late 1980s. Definitely before 1993. These details I remember, they might be from the same book or from several:   Slower than light space travel with severe time dilation. There were boardings of space ships, but the fighting odds could be very uneven because a foe could be from your future or your past, depending on when you started your space journey, because of relativistic time dilation. No faster than light travel, no time travel either. Just regular physics. To fight better in melee, soldiers would have (more or less willingly, I think they knew beforehand) false memories or notions implanted of the enemy as horrible human beings so soldiers could kill them more easily without remorse. Towards the end of the story, veterans of the war are described as not quite feeling at home after the war. One planet (home?) or country is described as inhabited entirely of clones, Adams and Eves, I think homosexual, or that sexuality could be switched deliberately. I think the veterans find at the end a refuge somewhere more like the home they are used to. The reason so much has changed is of course the time dilation. They spent maybe decades in the war, while on the planets centuries or millenia passed. I think one moral (there may be many more I missed as a child) of the story was the futility of war. If I recall correctly, the war was resolved in a way that made the efforts of the veterans seem for nothing.
26730
Does anyone remember the title and/or author of a sci-fi book about single-celled organisms that ended up saving the life of some astronauts?  The organisms launched a mission into space and fixed something in the astronauts spaceship.  The book dealt extensively with the concept that time passes much more quickly for single-celled organisms.  I read it in 1984.
121452
This book (pre-1980s?) is about people who are exiled to the distant past for serious crimes. However, men and women are exiled to different time periods. So all men are sent to a certain time, but are separated from the women (who are sent to another period).
48736
I'm trying to find the title and author of the short story that seems to have predicted computer games.  The main character was a macho adventurer who was recruited by a scientist to enter a strange other-dimensional realm in which death came suddenly and unexpectedly.   The adventurer would enter the realm, learn a little bit and then die violently only to reawaken in the real world, to try again repeatedly.