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"Every scientist worth his salt that I know of has read science fiction."
- Greg Bear
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| Hydropathic bed | ||
| A heated bed that used something more comfortable than water. |
Something less sloshy than water would be a useful innovation - even though waterbeds can be outfitted with compartments or big sponges to cut down on the waves.
| He lay quietly in the hydropathic bed while his heart shuddered and his eyes focused at random on objects in the room, simulating a calm he could not feel. The walls of green jade, the nightlight in the porcelain mandarin whose head nodded interminably if you touched him, the multi-click that radiated the time of three planets and six satellites, the bed itself, a crystal pool flowing with carbonated glycerin at ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit. |
| From The Demolished Man,
by Alfred Bester. Published by Vintage Books in 1996 Additional resources -
|
The only downside is that, if some of the current concerns over the availability of potable water cease to pass, you may want to have a bed you can drink from - just in case.
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'The world ... is drenched in unfamiliar information all the way to the horizon.'
'He saw one hiss by him as he rounded the corner, trailing a short whip antenna...'
'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.
