Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Genetically Modified Food | ||
| Plants that are modified to produce specific combinations of flavors. |
What to eat when you land on an alien planet? If you are fortunate, you will find the planet inhabited by friendly aliens who can read your mind and modify local fruits and vegetables to your taste.
| Several days after the last of them had been landed Lazarus was exploring alone some distance from the camp. He came across one of the Little People; the native greeted him with the same assumption of earlier acquaintance which all of them seemed to show and led Lazarus to a grove of low
trees still farther from base. He indicated to Lazarus that he wanted him to eat.
Lazarus was not particularly hungry but he felt compelled to humor such friendliness, so he plucked and ate. He almost choked in his astonishment. Mashed potatoes and brown gravy! ". . . didn't we get it right? - . ." came an anxious thought. "Bub," Lazarus said solemnly, "I don't know what you planned to do, but this is just fine!" A warm burst of pleasure invaded his mind. ". . . try the next tree . . Lazarus did so, with cautious eagerness. Fresh brown bread and sweet butter seemed to be the combination, though a dash of ice cream seemed to have crept in from somewhere. He was hardly surprised when the third tree gave strong evidence of having both mushrooms and charcoal-broiled steak in its ancestry. ". . . we used your thought images almost entirely . . ." explained his companion. ". . . they were much stronger than those of any of your wives . . ." Lazarus did not bother to explain that he was not married. The little person added, ". . . there has not yet been time to simulate the appearances and colors your thoughts showed does it matter much to you? . Lazarus gravely assured him that it mattered very little. |
| From Methuselah's Children,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1941 Additional resources -
|
Comment/Join this discussion (BACK ON!) ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Methuselah's Children
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Methuselah's Children
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Genetically Modified Food-related
news articles:
- Imagine The Pizzamato
| Hungry? Grow Nutritious Insects At Home |
| Iceberg Harvesting Off Newfoundland's Coast |
| NASA Supports Pizza Printer |
| Never Eat Food Again - Just Soylent |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'Then he saw the geek ... leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
How long ago did Robert Heinlein write about skiing on dry alien worlds?
'There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'
'A cable, here, from the controller to the interface plug... wires from that to the brain.'
'Everything was ready, awaiting the Overlords' pleasure...'
'Five hundred billion gallons worth of Antarctic iceberg had been towed into Santa Monica Bay.'
