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"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Sparkers | ||
| A device used to deliver small amounts of electric current to chirpsithra, who use it for the same reason humans use alcohol. |
What will you have? Everyone has their favorite drink, I suppose. Electrical stimulation of the appropriate brain area would probably be cheaper for humans, too, when they learn how to do it. As a matter of fact, I seem to recall that Niven and Pournelle have written about this very thing in other novels like Ringworld Engineers (see droud).
| I have to keep facilities for a score of aliens. Liquors for humans; sparkers for chirps; flavored absolute alcohol for thtopar; spongecake soaked in a cyanide solution, and I keep a damn close watch on that… |
| Technovelgy from Niven's Laws,
by Larry Niven. Published by Owlswick Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
In this story, another in the Draco Tavern series, Niven provides a classic alien viewpoint story. Unfortunately, I can't say much more about it without spoiling the story. The quote comes from Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing! From the collection listed below.
The idea of aliens crowding around a bar is older than these stories, and even older than the famous scene from Star Wars. Here's an illustration of an alien bar scene from Asteroid Pirates by Royal W. Heckman, published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1938:
(Alien bar scene from Asteroid Pirates by Royal W. Heckman)
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and Technology from Niven's Laws
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Tech news articles related to Niven's Laws
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Sparkers-related
news articles:
- Mass Production Of In Vitro Meat From One Sample
| SliceIt! Why Not Teach Robots To Use Knives? |
| 3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality |
| Porcine Fat Cells For 3D-Printed Whole Pork Products |
| Microbial Protein Production More Efficient Than Crops |
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'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
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'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
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'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
