Science Fiction
Dictionary
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
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
"The idea I want to push next is that the United States should make Siberia a Protectorate. Pay the Russians off – a hundred, two hundred billion dollars – and simply run Siberia in an ecologically responsible way."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| People-Sorter | ||
| A device able to sort human beings with incredible speed. |
When you've gone back in time, snatched people from an aircraft that will crash in minutes, and want to obtain physical duplicates ("wimps") that are so close to the original that the difference can't be detected, and then send them back to the crashing aircraft, you'll need one of these.
| There was no way to get a grip on anything (that's why they call it frictionless). I slid through a series of chutes and onto a flat surface coated with a sheet of plastic that clung to my skin. It all happened so fast I never did understand the sequence. At some point mechanical hands removed my pants and I found myself wrapped in a tight cocoon of clear plastic. I was straitjacketed, arms at my sides, feet together.
I was tumbled in a blue light. It was frightening, even to me, and I knew what was happening. My body was being studied in minute detail, from the bones outward. The process took two seconds. I was cataloged out to eighty decimal places and the Big Computer began thumbing through its card file of wimps looking for the best match. That took about a picosecond. I knew the process was fast, but I'd never seen it. |
| Technovelgy from Millenium,
by John Varley. Published by Berkley Books in 1983 Additional resources -
|
Compare the experience of Louise Baltimore, time-traveler, with the experience of the fish in the demonstration of the AutoFish sorting system, shown below.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Millenium
More Ideas
and Technology by John Varley
Tech news articles related to Millenium
Tech news articles related to works by John Varley
People-Sorter-related
news articles:
- AutoFish Sorter Now, People Sorter Later
- MAGGIE Mars Aerial and Ground Global Intelligent Explorer
| Your Solar Electric Paint Is Ready, Larry Niven |
| How Long Till We Have These Tattoos? |
| Taza Aya Air-Curtain Tech Protects Turkey Workers |
| CoulombFly Solar-Powered Micro Aerial Vehicle Weighs 4.1 Grams |
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'...great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.'
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
