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

"Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen."
- Larry Niven

Pocket Universe  
  A created, separate space within the normal space of the universe.  

A unique, early use of this term and idea.

He'd evidently put aside the small contrivance I'd last seen him working on, and he'd made a gadget—a diamagnet or whatever it ought to be called—a thing that closed space around itself in a pocket universe when it was turned on—that was extendible.
Technovelgy from Pocket Universes, by Murray Leinster.
Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1946
Additional resources -

A bit of pseudoscience:

So I went over to the table where Santos wrote up his notes and picked up a rubber band and a paper-clip. It was a red rubber band, I remember.

I slipped the paper-clip on it and stretched it between the thumb and forefinger of my hand. Then — feeling very foolish— I made two ink-spots on the rubber. They were a couple of inches from each other, with the paper-clip in between.

The paper-clip represented the copper-glass-wire contrivance, and the ink-spots two arbitrary places on the table. Then I twisted the paper-clip so that it wound up the rubber band about itself. It stretched. The ink-spots approached each other. Presently they touched. Then I let go the paperclip and everything slipped back. They were far apart again, with the clip in between.

That was it, exactly. Einstein has proved that space is elastic. The rubber band was also elastic. When the paper-clip — representing the weird object on the work-table — wrapped the rubber band which represented space about itself, why, presently there wasn’t any rubber band or space between the two dots. But when I released it, everything went back to normal and there was space and a metal object between them.

The diamagnet wrapped space about it- self. It absorbed space. The reason one’s eyes hurt when looking at the place where space had been absorbed was that they tried to focus impossibly. Objects behind the vanished gadget were nearer than objects which weren’t behind it. They hadn’t moved, of course. But a certain amount of space — of distance — had been removed.

This term was used in a spiritual sense in the late nineteenth century.

Compare to the worldcraft bubbles from Philip K Dick's The Trouble With Bubbles (1953).

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Pocket Universes
  More Ideas and Technology by Murray Leinster
  Tech news articles related to Pocket Universes
  Tech news articles related to works by Murray Leinster

Articles related to Space Tech
SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space
Warp Drive Tech Back On The Menu
JAXA Int Ball 2 Coming Right Along As Star Wars Remote
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now

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

Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'

Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'

'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'

Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!

Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'

Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'

Bambot Open Source Cheap Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'

Robot Collective Acts Like A Smart Material
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'

Vipera Electric Skis From Frigid Dynamics
'JOAN strapped on her power-skis...'

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.