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
"I took the Minnesota multiphasic profile test once, and I tested out as paranoid, cyclothymic, neurotic, and schizophrenic. But I also tested out as an incorrigible liar!"
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Sleeping Plates | ||
| A pair of plates that nullify gravity for the being(s) sleeping between them. Is null gravity the answer to your sleep problems? |
You want the most comfortable sleeping experience known to man? You want to eliminate bed sores forever? Try sleeping plates.
| My face and hands were flaming red, with blisters rising, and I ached as though I'd been beaten. Rest and tender loving care, that's what I wanted.
I was floating between a pair of sleeping plates, hideously uncomfortable, when the nurse came to announce a visitor. I knew who it was from her peculiar expression. "What can get through a General Products hull?" I asked it. |
| Technovelgy from Neutron Star,
by Larry Niven. Published by Worls of If in 1966 Additional resources -
|
Here's a clue to some additional features; this quote is from his 1970 novel Ringworld:
"I really was sleepy, Louis. But never mind..."
"Sleeproom nodes
merge," he said, and something happened to the sleeper field. The two
regions of stable equilibrium, the anomalies which kept Louis and Teela
from falling out of the field, moved together and merged into one. Louis
and Teela followed, sliding "downhill" until they bumped and clung.
There is apparently some science (or good pseudo-science) about the sleep position you most often adopt. The free-fall position, defined as lying on your front with your hands around the pillow and head turned to one side, is adopted by about 7% of those studied. In Sleep Position Gives Personality Clue, Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, assigns these characteristics:
"Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don't like criticism, or extreme situations."
See the gravity neutralizing disks from a 1937 Edmund Hamilton story for an early (the earliest?) reference to this idea.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Neutron Star
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Neutron Star
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
| Sleep Pods At Daxing International Airport |
| Amazon Blimp Parent Drone Concept |
| Tortoise Mobile Smart Stores |
| Sony Pocket Air Conditioner Is Phil Dick's Idea! |
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
'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.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'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...'
