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"There was a time when one old eccentric guy with a notebook could do something important to science. Now even the resources of a major university are often not enough."
- Jerry Pournelle
 |
| Bubble | ||
| An undersea elevator. |
This is real imaginative thinking. We think of elevators as utilitarian spaces; they do not need to offer more, because we only occupy them for a few moments, and space is at a premium. However, what if you were going to occupy the elevator for many minutes?
| His class took one of the dozen bubbles back to the surface: slow-moving pressurized elevators that traveled up and down Xanadu's gigantic tether chains, ferrying work crews, researchers, and students. Each was large enough for ten people to lounge comfortably, with food processors, entertainment centers, Napcaps, and linking facilities. They had spent less than four hours down on the floor; the trip back would be a leisurely lunch. |
| Technovelgy from Saturn's Race,
by Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes). Published by Tor in 2000 Additional resources -
|
I think there are restaurants that start at the bottom of a tall pole, then spiral slowly upward while dinner is served, then back down again during dessert.
I was thinking about the idea that ideally you should be able to state your business idea in the length of time it takes to go three floors. What if you could bribe the elevator to go slower if you realized you had a potential client to talk to?
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More Ideas
and Technology from Saturn's Race
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Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes)
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| Japan Automated Cargo Transport |
| Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany |
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'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
