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"I'm a farm boy. It's very interesting; you can detect self-starting characteristics in this society and they are strongest among people who have had some kind of rural upbringing and a very impressionable stage."
- Frank Herbert
 |
| Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic | ||
| A device which senses passing spacecraft; essential tool of interstellar hitchhikers |
You really cannot hitchhike (in the interstellar sense) without one of these. It's kind of like having your thumb out on an on-ramp by the interstate highway.
| Nestling quietly on top of the towel in Ford Prefect's satchel, the Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic began to wink more quickly. Miles above the surface of the planet the huge yellow somethings began to fan out. At Jodrell Bank, someone decided it was time for a nice relaxing cup of tea. |
| Technovelgy from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
by Douglas Adams. Published by Harmony Books in 1979 Additional resources -
|
Note also that Ford Prefect, a hitchhiker par excellence, was of course in possession of his towel.
Jodrell Bank is a wonderful place; they also have a very nice website - see Jodrell Bank Live!, which shows the current state of all of their major instruments.
You're wondering whether or not England makes a good place for observing the stars? You might prefer a nice desert mountaintop? You see, they do radio astronomy there; the 218ft parabolic reflecting aerial built in 1947 was the largest radio telescope in the world of its time. Among the great discoveries made with this instrument was the detection of radio noise from the Great Nebula in Andromeda. This was the first known extragalactic radio source. And they've been making discoveries ever since.
So, it is perfectly reasonable that they should be the first to (not) realize that Earth was about to be destroyed by space aliens.
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'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...'
