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

"We'd have most of what we predicted of the conquest of space, if we hadn't ignored parasite control."
- Larry Niven

AM-280 Needle Rifle  
  Device shoots a stream of steel needles.  

Very handy when fighting alien caterpillars the size of buses.

"The rifle was an AM-280 with tunable laser sight. The output was set high in the UV and I had to wear an EV-helmet with retinal-focused eyepieces to see the beam. It spat high-velocity bursts of eighteen-grain needles, as many as three thousand per minute. You pointed the beam at your target and pulled the trigger. The needle burst would tear holes in a steel door. They said you could slice a man in half with a 280. I didn’t want to try."
Technovelgy from A Matter For Men, by David Gerrold.
Published by Simon and Schuster in 1983
Additional resources -

This is probably a deliberate upgrade to a weapon like this one - the AM-180.

Speaking of giant alien caterpillars, I ran across this creature in a 1963 edition of Amazing Stories:


(QUINQUEPEDALIAN by Piers Anthony)

Thanks to Odon for the quote and the video.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from A Matter For Men
  More Ideas and Technology by David Gerrold
  Tech news articles related to A Matter For Men
  Tech news articles related to works by David Gerrold

Articles related to Weapon
Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait
Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones
China's Handheld Electromagnetic Gun

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>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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

Science Fiction in the News

'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'

Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'

Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'

Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions.'

Living Human Neuron Biological Compute Rack
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'

Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'

ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry
'...a synthetic which air-friction would erode.'

Buy A Galaxy? Maybe Start Smaller
'The sky is the limit' just got higher.

The United States Space Academy Is Official
'Is our orbit to Space Academy clear?'

Is There A Global Problem With Who Is Having Children?
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.