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"Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Thermalite | ||
| A transparent material that allows almost no heat to escape. |
| "Big domes here have less radiating area for cubic content," replied Norden. "Thermalite domes' material is practically opaque to heat transmission, practically a non-conductor of heat, although transparent to light. |
| Technovelgy from Planet of Eternal Night,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1939 Additional resources -
|
Compare to glassite from Brigands of the Moon (1930) by Ray Cummings, artificial transparent element from Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, neo-crystal from Master of the Asteroid (1932) by Clark Ashton Smith, transparent car roof from Sinister Barrier (1939) by Eric Frank Russell, plani glass from Crystalized Thought (1937) by Nat Schachner and slow glass from Light of Other Days (1968) by Bob Shaw.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Planet of Eternal Night
More Ideas
and Technology by John W. Campbell
Tech news articles related to Planet of Eternal Night
Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell
| Nano-Chainmail 2D Mechanically Interlocked Polymer |
| Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick |
| GNoME AI From DeepMind Invents Millions Of New Materials |
| Omniphobic Liquid-like Surfaces And de Camp's Telelubricator (1940) |
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'... an artificial intelligence equal to the human.'
'Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.'
'Nemourlon armor of reasonable weight resists penetration by most fragments and any bullet that is not both reasonably heavy and fairly high-velocity.'
'Several thousand of them formed the positioning grid on the rubble pile.'
'Its slack walls tightened, bulged, were crossed by ripples and waves of movement.'
'Norman... had never ridden any motorized device that lacked onboard steering and balance systems.'
You will note that HG Wells also figured out the aspect ratio of the future!
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...'
'At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels.'
