![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"If you have a gut response to a story, you are not responding to something new ..you are really responding to a story you were told when you were six or seven…"
|
![]() |
![]() As far as I know, this is the first use of this phrase, which has had a long history in science fiction.
A bit later, you can read the same term in A.E. van Vogt's 1940 story Vault of the Beast:
Another nice use of this idea is found in Robert Heinlein's 1941 story Methuselah's Children. Lazarus Long has a problem. What kind of ship could be used to lift one hundred thousand people off the surface of the Earth in a hurry?
He found his answer in a Diana Freight Lines field just outside of Luna City.
They suited up and left the dome by North Tunnel, then strolled along the grounded ships in the long, easy strides of low gravity. Lazarus soon saw that just two ships had both the lift and the air space needed. One was a tanker and the better buy, but a mental calculation showed him that it lacked deck space, even including the floor space of the tanks, to accomodate eight thousand tons of passengers. The other was an older ship with cranky piston-type injection meters, but she was fitted for general merchandise and had enough deck space. Her payload was higher than necessary for the job, since passengers weigh little for the cubage they clutter - but that would make her lively, which might be critically important.
As for the injectors, he could baby them - he had herded worse junk than this.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Space Freighter-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |