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"At its best, SF is the medium in which our miserable certainty that tomorrow will be different from today in ways we can't predict, can be transmuted to a sense of excitement and anticipation, occasionally evolving into awe."
- John Brunner
 |
| Concentrated Light | ||
| Beam of powerfully concentrated light pressure. |
Interesting foreshadowing of the ethical quandary of scientists in WWII is shown in this excerpt from a discussion between scientists.
| "I am a physicist, dealing with light and electromagnetic effects. What happens? My practical application of light pressure is now being used to scythe airplanes out of the stratosphere, to annihilate squadrons of men ten miles away... Brains that should have been employed to make the world a better and more wonderful place to live in, have devoted all their talents to annihilation..." |
| From The Shining One,
by Nat Schachner. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1937 Additional resources -
|
Here's a description of the weapon in use, after the attack begins:
Lasers are almost ready as a military device; see this article on laser gunships.
...concentrated light stabbed blinding fingers through the murk, blasted men and planes into crumbling dust.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Shining One
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'It may be organic damage. It may be permanent. Time'll tell, and only after you are off Substance D for a long while.'
It's the polite thing to do, and has been the polite thing to do for about four generations.
'Walking awkwardly in the magnetic boots that held him to the black mass of meteoric iron...'
