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"One can see the free software movement as a precusor for a "free hardware" or "free wetware" movement--one that will provide free libraries of designs for biological or nanotechnological products that replicators can be programmed to churn out."
- Charles Stross
 |
| Radium-Action Lighter | ||
| A personal device used to ignite tobacco products. |
During the pre-war era, there was a lot of talk about atomic devices of various kinds.
| ...she held out a little cylinder of black metal. It was a radium-action lighter for cigarettes.
"I've got a hunch. This can make a coal of intense heat - like a forge in miniature." Then he switched on the lighter, and held it directly against the little tag of iron. The key grew red, then livid white, finally waxy soft as the heat melted it. |
| From The Worlds of Tomorrow,
by Manly Wade Wellman. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the pocket nucleo-bulb penlight from Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov.
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'...a 2045 convertible with a Hennis-Carleton positronic motor and an Armat chassis.'
'You can hook a Thorsen tube into a control circuit... and the tube will "remember" what was done and can direct the operation...'
Nature is a master of fabricating structured materials consisting of living and non-living components.
'The tiny devices chirped their impulse codes at one another...'
Then some unknown race had chanced upon the dreamers and decided to "help them out."
'Improving man by bringing him close to Nature, while they combine the sensations of coasting with the interest of seeing the country well...'
Um, how about that pension for the humans who serve as the models for robot behavior?
