Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"This is a predictive tool I've used: There are goals we've sought for ten thousand years, and we'll go on seeking them. Instant transport and travel, immortality (or at least longevity and miracle cures.), instant learning …"
- Larry Niven
 |
| Lifezone | ||
| An enclosed biosphere; a pod-like greenhouse attached to a space-going vessel. |
These spaces, or devices, could be easily moved. They could be hung in places to take advantage of space or sunlight.
| He puffed heavily as he angled around the bulbous lifezones - huge bubbles extruded from the sleek lines of the Argo, like immense, bruised bodies of parasites. Inside, their opalescent walls ran with dewdrops, shimmering moist jewels hanging a bare finger's width away from hard vacuum. Green fronds pressed here and there against the stretched walls - a sight which at first had terrified him, until he understood that somehow the rubbery yet glassy stuff could take the pokes and presses of living matter without splitting. |
| Technovelgy from Tides of Light,
by Gregory Benford. Published by Bantam in 1989 Additional resources -
|
This approach can be contrasted with the use of large hydroponics farms, which have a more industrial flavor to them. The lifezones are themselves of a lifelike form, rather than looking like a factory.
Compare to the spaceship garden from The Heritage of the Earth (1932) by Harley S. Aldinger,
Martian sawgrass from QRM - Interplanetary (1942) by George O. Smith, the
asteroid garden from Asteroid of Fear (1951) by Raymond Z. Gallun,
bubbleworld from At the Bottom of a Hole (1966) by Larry Niven and the
lunar greenhouse tunnel from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Robert Heinlein.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Tides of Light
More Ideas
and Technology by Gregory Benford
Tech news articles related to Tides of Light
Tech news articles related to works by Gregory Benford
Lifezone-related
news articles:
- Chinese 'Seed Satellite'
- Giant Space Vegetables Now On Earth!
- Space Agriculture For Long-Term Space Exploration
- Harvest-Time On The International Space Station
- NASA Harvests Lettuce On ISS
- Underwater Balloon Gardens
- Tasty Space Lettuce!
- BioPod Inflatable Membrane From Interstellar Lab
| Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin |
| Elegant Bivouac Shelter Produces Water And Electricity |
| AI-THu Shapeshifting Transformer Home |
| With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
