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"The first thing that's wrong with being a science-fiction writer today is that the present has caught up with the future and surpassed it."
- Peter Watts
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| Thought Screen | ||
| A material screen that is worn by the user, upon which are projected the mental images of the user. |
Very handy device for aliens - although you still need to interpret the symbols.
Joe and Al, intrepid space explorers who stumble onto an unknown universe on their way to Pluto, encounter unusual alien beings.
| Two orange, dome-shaped creatures, somewhat like diving bells. The front of each bell was flattened, and in the center was a huge oval opening, covered by a translucent mica-like substance. Directly over and on each side of the opening protruded two antennae, at the end of which were round faceted knobs...
On the translucent mica-like coverings over the orifices, appeared reddish characters. There were four of them, delicate, intricate tracings, lit up by some interior fire. They resembled somewhat the old cuneiform writing of the Babylonians or the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Al was greatly excited, "I believe they're trying to communicate with us..." |
| From The Emperor of the Stars,
by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat). Published by Wonder Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
The thought screen also presented an interpretation of emotion:
The Ruler emanated inuterable sdness, and a host of pallid red glyphs flashed in rapid succession on the thought screen.
You just don’t read this kind of empathy for alien races these days:
“Did the Prostak scientists watch the transcendental spectacle in their powerful telescopes? If so, what joy there must have been in that world, what a waving of tentacles, what a shimmering procession of bright red glyphs across their strange communication disks! How that orange glowing air must have vibrated to emanations of joy and of thankfulness!”
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Emperor of the Stars
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and Technology by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat)
Tech news articles related to The Emperor of the Stars
Tech news articles related to works by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat)
Thought Screen-related
news articles:
- T-Sketch The Whiteboard T-Shirt
- Solar-Powered Bra
- Transparent Thin Film Transistors Fabbed With Nanotubes
| FlyZoo Robot Hotel By Alibaba |
| Implanted Memories Provide Songs To Birds |
| Google Commits To Fighting Deepfakes |
| Mindar The Robot Buddhist Priest Offers A Blessing |
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''... major cities of Earth have free electrical power conveniently processed from their own noise.'
'The appearance was enough like a giant witch's broom to justify the nickname.'
'A vast circle of scarlet stars came up into the greenish desert dusk.'
'He had constructed an organ, a brain, of metal, entirely inorganic and lifeless...'
'I shall never forget the sight... when the yellow gleam of the precious metal appeared under the star dust.'
Oh, and now I suppose someone will develop the robotic porch pirate.
'This thing will start at one end of ...a house and build it complete to the other end, following drawings only.'
