 |
Science Fiction Dictionary: Ideas, Terms and Technology
(
3946 Inventions Available)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Device Name | Book/Story | Author | Date |
| Gait-Cam A surveillance camera system that analyzes the unique way in which people walk, to identify them. |
Little Brother | Doctorow | 2008 |
| Galactic Damping Field A vast field of force emanating from the center of the galaxy. |
Brain Wave | Anderson | 1953 |
| Galactography Geography on a galactic scale. |
Second Foundation | Asimov | 1953 |
| Galactovue Star display. |
Citizen of the Galaxy | Heinlein | 1957 |
| Galaxy Superbrain The idea that the galaxy itself is a conscious entity. |
Short-Wave Madness | Castle | 1939 |
| Games Machine A vast computer system. |
World of Null-A | van Vogt | 1945 |
| Gansas Migratory birds that fly all the way to the Moone. |
The Man in the Moone | Godwin | 1638 |
| Garbage Device Autonomous garbage collection device. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Garbage Mine The idea that recycling can spawn entirely new industries. |
Earth | Brin | 1990 |
| Garbage Screen Use of bits of metal to confuse radar targeting of space stations. |
Space Tug | Leinster | 1953 |
| Garbage-can Banger An elaborate noise-based weapon. |
The Zap Gun | Dick | 1965 |
| Gas Giant Large planet consisting primarily of gas with a solid core. |
Solar Plexus | Blish | 1952 |
| Gate A opening through spacetime to other worlds. |
The Gate to Xoran | Wells | 1931 |
| Gateway A device that opens a portal to another dimension. |
Wanderer of Infinity | Vincent | 1933 |
| Gaussrifle Projectiles driven by electromagnetic forces. |
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge | Harrison | 1970 |
| Gauzy A feather-light tent, made of a fabric just one molecule thick. |
This Immortal | Zelazny | 1965 |
| Gee Using the standard letter designation in physics for gravity. |
Sacred Martian Pig (Idris' Pig) | St. Clair | 1949 |
| Gee Bath Essentially a waterbed designed to help older or untrained people cope with high acceleration aboard spacecraft. |
The Mote in God's Eye | Niven (w/J. Pournelle) | 1974 |
| Genejack A genetically-modified human ideally created for menial work. |
Alpha Centauri | Meier | 1999 |
| General Bodies Tortoise A passenger vehicle genetically engineered from tortoise DNA and controlled by implanted electronics. |
Sparrowhawk | Easton | 1990 |
| General Intelligence Machine News and information from one device. |
When the Sleeper Wakes | Wells | 1899 |
| General Products Hull Nearly indestructible outer skin for spaceships; pick your hull size and put what you want inside. |
Neutron Star | Niven | 1966 |
| General Strike of the Robots All over the world, robots cease their labors. |
Rex | Vincent | 1934 |
| Generate New Phone Number A software program that creates a new phone number for each call. |
Press Enter | Varley | 1984 |
| Generation Ship A spacecraft that carries a complete social group over many years. |
Star Ship | Tubb | 1955 |
| Genetic Ark Enormous, multi-habitat enclosed spaces, used to conserve the animal gene pool. |
Earth | Brin | 1990 |
| Genetic Engineering Direct manipulation of genetic material |
Dragon's Island | Williamson | 1951 |
| Genoprinter A device that does a 'live capture' of a biometric skin sample. |
The Ophiuchi Hotline | Varley | 1977 |
| Geodesic Inflexors Propulsion provided not by pushing against matter, but against spacetime. |
Star of Dreams | Williamson | 1941 |
| Geodynes Spacecraft propulsion that pushes against the very fabric of space itself. |
The Cometeers | Williamson | 1936 |
| Geofractor Device provides instantaneous teleportation of selected objects over vast distances. |
One Against The Legion | Williamson | 1939 |
| Geofractor Shield Protects the bearer against unwanted geofractor use. |
One Against The Legion | Williamson | 1939 |
| Geometric Modeling The first recorded use of geometric figures to directly represent, or model, living beings. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift | 1726 |
| Geopeller An atomic powered, miniaturized means of propulsion. |
One Against The Legion | Williamson | 1939 |
| Geosynchronous Satellite A communications satellite that appears to "hover" over one spot on the earth's surface; it goes around the earth in twenty-four hours. |
V2 for Ionospheric Research | Clarke | 1945 |
| Geotect A person who creates landforms and physical environments |
The Diamond Age | Stephenson | 1995 |
| Geriatric Rooming-House An apartment building with rooms built especially with the very senior citizen in mind. |
Galactic Pot-Healer | Dick | 1969 |
| Gesture-Controlled Device An electronic device that is controlled by hand gestures. |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Adams | 1979 |
| Gesturing Robot A robot that uses gestures to communicate. |
Robbie (Strange Playfellow) | Asimov | 1940 |
| Ghola A living, functioning person who is regrown or recreated from the tissues of a dead person. |
Dune Messiah | Herbert | 1969 |
| Ghost Trap Device for capture and temporary storage of ectoplasmic entities. |
Ghostbusters | Ramis | 1984 |
| Ghostsmoke An advertisement projected onto a fine mist. |
The Ophiuchi Hotline | Varley | 1977 |
| Ghostwheel A sentient computer partially built with magic. |
Blood of Amber | Zelazny | 1986 |
| Giant Flat Panel Display Movie screen-sized flat panel display for live televised images. |
The Shape of Things To Come | Wells | 1936 |
| Gigagnostotron Enormously powerful computing device. |
The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age | Lem | 1965 |
| Gillfluid Breathable fluid that provides oxygen to the lungs, allowing greater pressure on the body. |
The Algebraist | Banks | 2004 |
| Glass Bees Walnut-sized flying automata. |
The Glass Bees | Junger | 1957 |
| Glass Dome Protective cover for cities. |
A Modern Utopia | Wells | 1905 |
| Glass Pistol A clear glass gun that fires poisoned splinters. |
A Martian Odyssey | Weinbaum | 1934 |
| Glassite A transparent material of great strength. |
Brigands of the Moon | Cummings | 1930 |
| Global Climate Control Adjust the Earth's axis so the seasons are more temperate and uniform. |
A Journey In Other Worlds | Astor IV | 1894 |
| Globular Glass Helmet A bowl-shaped space helmet. |
Murder on the Asteroid | Binder | 1933 |
| Glowglobe Floating spherical light bulb with organic energy source. |
Dune | Herbert | 1965 |
| Glowstone A mineral that absorbs light by day and emits it by night. |
Dying of the Light | Martin | 1977 |
| Glow-Worm Living Alternated work, play and slumber without long periods of sleep. |
In the Deep of Time | Lathrop | 1897 |
| Gnome A person who requires so much life support, they are built into the chair. |
Millennium | Varley | 1983 |
| Gnostotron Computing device capable of producing an informational model of absolutely everything in existence. |
The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age | Lem | 1965 |
| Goat/Spider Silk High tensile strength fibers from - goats. |
Oryx and Crake | Atwood | 2003 |
| Gobathian An alien medical technology that enables full body healing in the event of traumatic injury. |
Time is the Simplest Thing | Simak | 1961 |
| Go-Buggy A ground-only vehicle. |
The Godmakers | Herbert | 1972 |
| Gogglelike Televisors A screen technology placed very close to the eyes. |
The Robot and the Lady | Wellman | 1938 |
| Golden Lights Another unusual use of the suspensor field; lights are suspended in it. |
Dune | Herbert | 1965 |
| Golden Ray of Synchronized Vibrations Disrupts matter by hurling electrons out of their energy states and scattering them. |
The Return of the Murians | Schachner | 1936 |
| Golden Shuttles (Mechanical Mice) Very small robots with an appetite for watch parts. |
The Mechanical Mice | Hugi | 1941 |
| Gold-Fish-Bowl World An artificial water planet. |
Star Maker | Stapledon | 1937 |
| Gom Jabbar A needle with deadly poison, used to test for humans. |
Dune | Herbert | 1965 |
| Gourmet Space Cuisine The finest in French cuisine, in outer space. |
From the Earth to the Moon | Verne | 1867 |
| Governing Keyboard A remote-controlled robot responds to keyboard commands. |
The Threat of the Robot | Keller | 1929 |
| Government Data Transparency The idea that all of the information available to the government should be posted online and be easily accessible to everyone. |
The Shockwave Rider | Brunner | 1975 |
| Government Lethal Chamber A legal suicide booth. |
The Repairer of Reputations | Chambers | 1895 |
| Government Machine The automata that constitute the entire government, all in one building. |
Mechanocracy | Breuer | 1932 |
| GPP Genuine People Personalities Giving mechanisms their own unique affect. |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Adams | 1979 |
| GPS Sunglasses Sunglasses that contain both global positioning system components and cell phone services. |
All Tomorrow's Parties | Gibson | 1999 |
| Graffiti-Eating Finish A wall covering that maintained itself, eating any graffiti placed on it. |
All Tomorrow's Parties | Gibson | 1999 |
| Graluz A contained, concealed breeding pond for the frog-like Gowachin. |
The Dosadi Experiment | Herbert | 1977 |
| Grantline Comptometer Key-driven computer/calculator that easily solves even calculus problems. |
Beyond the Stars | Cummings | 1928 |
| Granton Motor Spacecraft propulsion system based on gravital radiation. |
Into the Meteorite Orbit | Kelly | 1933 |
| Grapple Tracks A means of automating the process of parking and releasing passenger vehicles from a parking garage. |
The Dosadi Experiment | Herbert | 1977 |
| Grapple-Ray A version of the tractor beam idea. |
Exit From Asteroid 60 | James | 1940 |
| Grass Carpet An indoor home or office floor covering - living grass. |
The Sirens of Titan | Vonnegut, Jr. | 1959 |
| Gravanol A medicine or supplement that helps astronauts deal better with high accelerations. |
QRM - Interplanetary | Smith | 1942 |
| Gravital Unit Device that maintains Earth-comparable gravity on an asteroid. |
Accidental Flight | Wallace | 1952 |
| Gravitation Paralysis Dread illness of space travelers striking when changing from very weak to very strong gravities. |
The World With A Thousand Moons | Hamilton | 1942 |
| Gravitation Screen Shields a spacecraft from the gravity of a planetary body. |
On The Martian Way | Bishop | 1907 |
| Gravitational Disks Maintain your footing on those low-gravity celestial bodies. |
Revolt on Io | West | 1940 |
| Gravitational Wave Viewer A device used to see at astronomical distances. |
Two Planets | Lasswitz | 1897 |
| Gravitic Relating to gravity. |
A Question of Salvage | Jameson | 1939 |
| Gravitic Generator A device that produces an artificial gravity field. |
Meddler's Moon | Smith | 1947 |
| Gravitic Lift An elevator with no visible means of support. |
Prelude to Foundation | Asimov | 1988 |
| Gravitic Repulsion Elevator The elevator was of the new sort that ran by gravitic repulsion. |
Foundation | Asimov | 1951 |
| Gravitics The science of using gravity as a technology. |
Tricky Tonnage | Jameson | 1944 |
| Gravito-Statoscope An instrument used to detect the gravitational influences on a space ship. |
The Emperor of the Stars | Schachner (w. AL Zagat) | 1931 |
| Gravity Assist Using the gravity and orbital speed of a celestial body to change speed and course of a spacecraft. |
Brigands of the Moon | Cummings | 1930 |
| Gravity Beam An conical attractive ray, it pulls ships to their doom. |
Wandl, The Invader | Cummings | 1932 |
| Gravity Belt Adds 'weight' for walking on asteroids. |
Venus Mines, Incorporated | Schachner (w. AL Zagat) | 1931 |
| Gravity Centrifuge Used in low gravity environments to build up muscle for visits to Earth, or other high gravity worlds. |
Space Cadet | Heinlein | 1948 |
| Gravity Detector A device capable of detecting the gravitational field of a distant mass. |
The Lunar Chrysalis | Gallun | 1931 |
| Gravity Drive A spaceship propulsion method that uses gravity or gravity waves. |
Star Ship | Anderson | 1950 |
| Gravity Lens An optical lens created using the lightbending properties of gravity. |
Protector | Niven | 1973 |
| Gravity Neutralizers The force of gravity is suspended! |
Pirates of Space | Barry | 1931 |
| Gravity Neutralizing Disks Two plates between which Earth's gravitational influence is cancelled out. |
Fessenden's Worlds | Hamilton | 1937 |
| Gravity neutralizing paint Paint or coating that neutralized the effects of gravity on whatever it was painted on. |
Last of the Masters | Dick | 1954 |
| Gravity Nullification (Gravity Screen) Gravity annulled in its entirety in a small area. |
Ralph 124c 41 + | Gernsback | 1911 |
| Gravity Nullifier Shields a large object from the effect of gravity. |
The Sky Maniac | Juve | 1929 |
| Gravity Planer Device that creates a gravity field. |
The Warriors | Niven | 1966 |
| Gravity Port Used for refueling. |
Shadow Over Venus | Long, Jr. | 1946 |
| Gravity Train An underground railway system that utilizes gravity for acceleration. |
The Ophiuchi Hotline | Varley | 1977 |
| Gravity Tube A special passage way that eases the movement of material within a ship. |
Chindi | McDevitt | 2002 |
| Gravity Web Device for limiting the extent to which a person is subject to gravitational attraction. |
Whipping Star | Herbert | 1969 |
| Gravity Well If you visualize spacetime as a flat, elastic plane, a planet will deform it, and it sits at the bottom of its own hole. |
Life Cycle | Anderson | 1957 |
| Gravity Whip A roller coaster designe to provide riders with a 'zero G' experience. |
Dream Park | Niven (w/S. Barnes) | 1981 |
| Gravity-assisted Subway The fastest way between continents (that does not entail leaving the ground). |
A World Out of Time | Niven | 1976 |
| Gravity-Plates Reliable, controllable gravity force. |
The Bluff of the Hawk | Gilmore | 1932 |
| Gravity-Polarized Explosive (TDX) A chemical explosive that acts at an angle to the local gravitational field. |
Cities in Flight | Blish | 1957 |
| Gravity-Screen A device that shields an object from the effects of gravity. |
Crashing Suns | Hamilton | 1928 |
| Gravity-Simulator Harness Device that simulates gravity's effect on muscles to keep in shape while in space. |
Space Tug | Leinster | 1953 |
| Gravograph A graphical representation of gravitational fields. |
The Sargasso of Space | Hamilton | 1931 |
| Great Ear An electronic telepathic listening device that monitors thousands of people simultaneously. |
Our Friends From Frolix 8 | Dick | 1970 |
| Green Bullet A very compact (for 1950) radio transceiver, worn in the ear like a hearing aid. |
Fahrenheit 451 | Bradbury | 1953 |
| Green Guk Algae that produces essential oxygen as a byproduct. |
The Beat Cluster | Leiber | 1961 |
| Grill-Screen Adaptor Approved General Electronics Corporation solution for bomb shelters, in response to Soviet bore-pellets. |
Foster, You're Dead | Dick | 1955 |
| Grip Shoes Shoes with velcro soles used to walk in weightless environments. |
2001: A Space Odyssey | Clarke | 1968 |
| Grok To understand fully; become one with (from the Martial verb "to drink"). |
Stranger in a Strange Land | Heinlein | 1961 |
| Groundcar (or Ground Car) A non-skimming, non-flying vehicle. |
Galactic Patrol | Smith | 1937 |
| Groundhog Not a space professional. |
Waldo | Heinlein | 1942 |
| Groundling A person who does not fly, especially into space. |
Exiles of the Moon | Schachner (w. AL Zagat) | 1931 |
| Ground-to-Orbit Ferry A kind of space shuttle craft. |
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | Heinlein | 1966 |
| Group Ego A group mind; a single entity that shares a number of bodies. |
Methuselah's Children | Heinlein | 1941 |
| Group Mind A shared consciousness between a number of individuals. |
Last and First Men | Stapledon | 1930 |
| Guard Robot Early reference to a robot performing the functions of a security guard. |
The Hood Maker ('Immunity') | Dick | 1955 |
| Guide-Beam A wireless means of controlling and directing the movement of a passenger vehicle. |
Time Pawn | Dick | 1954 |
| Guided Missile Control Station An orbital missile base. |
Between Planets | Heinlein | 1951 |
| Gum Tree A huge tree that lashed out with a mind of its own. |
Symbiotica | Russell | 1943 |
| Gundarium A very sturdy, high-tensile composite. |
Mobile Suit Gundam | Tomino | 1979 |
| Gynoid A female android. |
Divine Endurance | Jones | 1984 |
| Gyro Two-Wheeled Truck A gyroscopically-stabilized truck with just two wheels. |
The Sign of the Tiger | Nourse (w/Meyer) | 1958 |
| Gyrocab A flying taxi. |
You Are Forbidden! | Shelton | 1947 |
| Gyrocar A two-wheeled, self-balancing automobile. |
Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race | Brown | 1911 |
| Gyrocar (Gyro) A gyroscopically stabilized car; a one-wheeled vehicle. |
The Ring | Anthony (w/R. Margroff) | 1969 |
| Gyrocar Monorail A self-balancing vehicle. |
The Anarch | Jameson | 1944 |
| Gyrocars with Photo-Electric Braking Force the tires into maximum contact with the road, then use photo-electric sensors to control braking and turns. |
Photo Control | Brown | 1934 |
| Gyrocosmically Stabilized Interplanetary Rocket A mouthful, perfect for trips to the larger asteroids. |
Buck Rogers, 2430 AD | Nowlan (w/D. Calkins) | 1929 |
| Gyro-Hat Hidden in a top hat, this device cures staggering and reeling, for whatever reason. |
An Experiment in Gyro-Hats | Butler | 1926 |
| Gyroscope Seats Your best bet for remaining at the right angle to the force of acceleration. |
The Black Star Passes | Campbell | 1930 |
| Gyrotomic A small gyrostabilized hovercraft. |
Ra For The Rajah | Peterson | 1938 |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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