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"This is a predictive tool I've used: There are goals we've sought for ten thousand years, and we'll go on seeking them. Instant transport and travel, immortality (or at least longevity and miracle cures.), instant learning …"
- Larry Niven
 |
| Spine-Clamp | ||
| A device that constrains the movements of convicted criminals. |
Those not of the avout may be disciplined while still allowed to roam free.
| "...if someone commits a bad enough crime, the Powers That Be clamp a thing on their spine that makes them sort of crippled for a while. Later it falls off and then they are normal again."
"Does it hurt?" "No." A new page. "When you see someone wearing one of those devices, can you tell what crime they committed?" "Yes, it says right on it, in Kinagrams." |
| Technovelgy from Anathem,
by Neal Stephenson. Published by Morrow in 2008 Additional resources -
|
Here's what happens when it goes into control mode:
Readers may also be reminded of Heinlein's security restraint field.
His spine-clamp exploded in light, flashing alternately red and blue... Every muscle in his body had lost tone in the same instant, jammed by signals from the clamp."
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More Ideas
and Technology from Anathem
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and Technology by Neal Stephenson
Tech news articles related to Anathem
Tech news articles related to works by Neal Stephenson
| Flimmer Navy Drone Flies And Swims |
| Indian Court Says Brain Scan Proves Murder |
| Background Draw-a-Secret (BDAS) Makes Graphical Passwords |
| ID-U Biometrics Eye Tracking Signature |
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'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
