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"I realized there was a heavy-duty change coming in biology, and I could write a really compelling novel about catastrophic evolution, punctuated equilibrium."
- Greg Bear
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| Matter Compiler | ||
| A device that builds the desired article (such as a dress) atom by atom according to a specified design. |
The ideal of being able to construct materials molecule by molecule is now being tested with very small nanomachines. However, it is only a matter of time before larger articles are made available.
One example that has a history in science fiction is the idea that customized clothing, like dresses, blouses and ribbons, could be created in an absolutely customized manner.
| Whenever Nell's clothes got too small for her, Harv would pitch them into the deke bin and then have the M.C. make new ones. Sometimes, if Tequila was going to take Nell someplace where they would see other moms with other daughters, she'd use the M.C. to make Nell a special dress with lace and ribbons. |
| Technovelgy from The Diamond Age,
by Neal Stephenson. Published by Bantam Books in 1995 Additional resources -
|
Tired of shopping for clothes, and trying to find something that fits you? You might want to take a look at the entry for customized clothing from Methuselah's Children by Robert Heinlein some fifty years earlier.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Diamond Age
More Ideas
and Technology by Neal Stephenson
Tech news articles related to The Diamond Age
Tech news articles related to works by Neal Stephenson
Matter Compiler-related
news articles:
- Filabot Turns Dull Plastic Junk To 3D Printed Shiny
| DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures' |
| Robot Bricklayer Or Passer-By Bricklayer? |
| Organic Non-Planar 3D Printing |
| Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories |
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'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
