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"No one has ever produced a statement of fact that was technically true. The most accurate statements of science we have today are accurate to only 15 decimal places."
- Bart Kosko
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| Hostage Gas | ||
| A gas sprayed over a population; to survive, those who breathe it must report to centers for the antidote. |
| What is the enemy trying to accomplish with this gas?"
"It weakens any human who breathes it," Dr. Taka answered. "There was a broadcast an hour ago. The invader announced that affected humans must receive the antidote within one week, or die. Of course they are offering the antidote only in urban areas." "Hostage gas!" Athaclena whispered. "They want all the planet's humans as pawns." "Exactly. We must ingather or drop dead in six days." Athaclena's corona sparked anger. Hostage gas was an irresponsible weapon, even if it was legal under "certain limited types of war. |
| Technovelgy from The Uplift War,
by David Brin. Published by Not Known in 1987 Additional resources -
|
This is a very clever idea; maybe too clever. If not for the documented problems in sucessfully laying down poison gas, I'd be worried that someone might actually try this one.
This idea is reminiscent of the residual poison developed by Piter de Vries in Frank Herbert's novel Dune.
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'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
'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.'
'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.'
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
'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.
