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"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it."
- Robert Heinlein
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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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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
| First Artificial Memory Formed In Animals |
| China's Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Education |
| France's 'Red Team' Of Science Fiction Authors |
| BrainNet Triple Telepathic Gaming Threat |
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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.
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'The planes flew continuously, twenty-four hours a day...'
'It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.'
'...a single perfectly level platform, which rose so high above the water that it was not splashed by the waves.'
'Is an extra-factual memory that convincing?' Quail asked.
Megastructures have repair robots, which have repair robots, ad infinitum.
‘She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew...’
Perfect for clot-busting in the human brain. No Raquel Welch and no lasers, though.
