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"We were essentially being shell-shocked by rapid change. That was one of the things you needed science-fiction writers for back in the Sixties, because we could cope with the future."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Hovercraft | ||
| A vehicle that moves about on a cushion of air. |
Obviously, Gibson did not invent the hovercraft; but I like his description.
| Feeling entirely dislocated now, Komiko watched as Sally made a survey of available vehicles, quickly bribed a uniformed dispatcher, intimidated three other prospective fares, and chivied Komiko into a pockmarked, slabsided hover craft, painted in diagonal bands of yellow and black. The passenger compartment was barren and remarkably uncomfortable-looking. The driver, if there was one, was invisible beyond a scrawled bulkhead of plastic armor. The nub of a video camera protruded where the bulkhead met the roof, and someone had drawn a crude figure there. |
| Technovelgy from Mona Lisa Overdrive,
by William Gibson. Published by Bantam in 1988 Additional resources -
|
The first known design for vehicle using an air cushion was by the Swedish designer and philosopher, Emmanual Swedenborg, in 1716. The craft looked like a small boat turned upside down. The operator of this vehicle would "flap" a pair of oar-like air scoops, forcing compressed air beneath the hull. However, the inventor soon realized that the energy requirements were greater than a person could provide.
The name and concept of hovercraft were created by Sir Christopher Cockrell; the first working hovercraft was built by him in 1959. Hovercraft are today in common use; however, dreams of hovercars and other vehicles never came to fruition, owing to the excessive power requirements of getting a vehicle to "hover" on anything but the smoothest surface. Read more at The Hovercraft History and Hovercraft Museum.
Compare to the flying platform from Locked Worlds (1929) by Edmond Hamilton, the
gyrotomic from Ra For The Rajah (1938) by John Victor Peterson, the
hoverlimo from Steel Beach (1992) by John Varley and the
landspeeder from Star Wars (1976) by George Lucas.
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| CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi |
| Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024 |
| Cheap Drunk Driver Detection From UofM |
| More Like A Tumblebug Than A Motorcycle |
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'Provision had been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere.'
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
