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"We're about 20 minutes away from the point where Clarke's law kicks in and technology becomes indistinguishable from magic."
- Peter Watts
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| Thermalite | ||
| A transparent material that allows almost no heat to escape. |
| "Big domes here have less radiating area for cubic content," replied Norden. "Thermalite domes' material is practically opaque to heat transmission, practically a non-conductor of heat, although transparent to light. |
| Technovelgy from Planet of Eternal Night,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1939 Additional resources -
|
Compare to glassite from Brigands of the Moon (1930) by Ray Cummings, artificial transparent element from Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, neo-crystal from Master of the Asteroid (1932) by Clark Ashton Smith, transparent car roof from Sinister Barrier (1939) by Eric Frank Russell, plani glass from Crystalized Thought (1937) by Nat Schachner and slow glass from Light of Other Days (1968) by Bob Shaw.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Planet of Eternal Night
More Ideas
and Technology by John W. Campbell
Tech news articles related to Planet of Eternal Night
Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell
| Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly |
| Nano-Chainmail 2D Mechanically Interlocked Polymer |
| Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick |
| FlexRAM Liquid Metal RAM And One Particular SF Movie Robot |
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'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...'
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
