Science Fiction
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Our World Formed In A Bubble?
Interesting speculation by University of Chicago researchers that it's possible that our solar system might have formed within the dense shell of a bubble within a giant star.
(Stellar winds make bubbles inside material surrounding a giant star over eons)
... this conundrum can be resolved if the solar system was formed by a triggered star formation at the edge of a Wolf–Rayet (W–R) bubble. 26Al is produced during the evolution of the massive star, released in the wind during the W–R phase, and condenses into dust grains that are seen around W–R stars. The dust grains survive passage through the reverse shock and the low-density shocked wind, reach the dense shell swept-up by the bubble, detach from the decelerated wind, and are injected into the shell. Some portions of this shell subsequently collapse to form the dense cores that give rise to solar-type systems.Triggered Star Formation inside the Shell of a Wolf–Rayet Bubble as the Origin of the Solar System
Science fiction writers can't resist the image of the "island galaxy" or "bubble galaxy". For example, in his classic 1937 short story Fessenden's Worlds, early science fiction great Edmond Hamilton paints a picture of a miniature universe:
It consisted of two twelve-foot metal disks with grid-like surfaces, one on the floor and one on the ceiling directly over the other...Between the two disks, floating unsupported in the air, hung a cloud of tiny sparks of light. It looked like a swarm of minute golden bees, countless in number, and the swarm was lenticular in shape...
"Fessenden's eyes had been following my stupefied change of expression. He said calmly, "Yes, Bradley, it is true. That is a tiny, self-sustaining universe, with its own suns, nebulae and worlds. Everything in it, down to the atoms which compose it, is infinitely smaller in scale than our own. But it is a real universe, like our own."
(Read more about Hamilton's miniature universe)
Philip K. Dick had some fun with this idea in his 1953 short story The Trouble With Bubbles:
The Worldcraft bubble glittered, catching the light...Lora turned on the bubble. It glowed, winking into brilliance...
She increased the magnification, bringing the microscopic central planet into focus...
Again Lora increased the magnification. The central planet grew, showing a pale green ocean lapping faintly at a low shoreline.
(Read more about Phil Dick's Worldcraft bubble)
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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Current News
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'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
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I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
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'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
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