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"The permanent government now is the anchorpeople. They don't get elected, and year after year they're responding emotionally to this or that."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Sonar Pistol | ||
| A device that divers can use to find seabottom and objects in extremely dark or murky water. |
The action in the novel Starfish takes place at extreme ocean depths where no light from the surface penetrates. How can divers find their way around? By using the same techniques as sea creatures.
| They call it a squid: a jet-propelled cylinder about a meter long, with a headlight at the front end and a towbar at the back. Clarke, floating between Beebe and the seabed, checks it over with one hand. Her other hand grips a sonar pistol. She points the pistol into blackness; ultrasonic clicks sweep the night, give her a bearing.
"That way," she says, pointing. Ballard squeezes down on her own squid's towbar. The machine pulls her away. |
| Technovelgy from Starfish,
by Peter Watts. Published by Tor Books in 1999 Additional resources -
|
I don't think that there is anything as sophisticated as this device in a handheld form. Present-day divers can equip themselves with simple handheld sonar devices that look like flashlights. They are used to make a simple depth-check possible from the surface (from a kayak or canoe) or when underwater. These devices are simple, however; you point them at the bottom and press the button and a single result is provided. They do not provide a picture of what is there.
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'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
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'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
