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"The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Transparent, Frictionless Coating | ||
| An absolutely frictionless, impenetrable coating. |
In the book, the Way Station is a galactic transfer point that has been built into an existing building. In this case, an old cabin belonging to a Civil War veteran. The entire exterior surface of the cabin is protected by an impenetrable, frictionless coating.
| It was as if the knob was covered with some hard, slick coating, like a coat of brittle ice, on which the fingers slipped without exerting any pressure on the knob.
He bent his head close to the knob and tried to see if there were any evidence of coating, and there was no evidence... He tried a thumbnail on it, and the thumbnail slipped but left no mark behind it... The rubbing of his palm set up no friction. There was something covering this house which made it slick and smooth - so smooth that dust could not cling upon its surface nor could weather stain it. He pounded the clapboard with his fist, and it was like the pounding of a rock... |
| Technovelgy from Way Station,
by Clifford Simak. Published by Doubleday in 1963 Additional resources -
|
The concept of a frictionless surface is relatively modern. In the 4th century BC, the natural philosopher Aristotle postulated that, to keep a body in motion, a constant force must be applied. Given our daily experience, this seems to be true - nothing keeps moving forever. Following the work of Newton and others, however, the idea of a frictionless surface or environment (like airless space) came to be widely discussed in science.
What solid has the lowest coefficient of friction? As far as anyone knows, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a polymer of fluorinated ethylene, is the slipperiest solid material. PFTE is better known under its brand name - Teflon. It was discovered in 1938 by Roy J. Plunkett at DuPont; it was made available as a commercial product after WWII in 1946.
Compare to telelubricator from The Exalted (1940) by L. Sprague de Camp.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Way Station
More Ideas
and Technology by Clifford Simak
Tech news articles related to Way Station
Tech news articles related to works by Clifford Simak
Transparent, Frictionless Coating-related
news articles:
- Anti-Adhesive Surfaces Of Plants
- Ion Mask - Plasma Coating Waterproofs Electronics, Fabrics
- BAM! It's More Slippery Than Teflon (And Greener)
- Liquid Glass Universal Spray-On Protectant
- Shatterproof Phone Screens Coming Soon
| Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick |
| GNoME AI From DeepMind Invents Millions Of New Materials |
| Omniphobic Liquid-like Surfaces And de Camp's Telelubricator (1940) |
| MXenes - Atomic-Thin Metal Sheets Now Easier To Make |
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
