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
"If you have a gut response to a story, you are not responding to something new ..you are really responding to a story you were told when you were six or seven…"
- Samuel R. Delany
 |
| Isolation Barrage | ||
| Device prevents eavesdropping. |
Very early example of this idea.
| In the dim metal room of Orentino, the Red Spark's manager, where Foley was waiting for us, a barrage was up. We could hear it faintly humming, and see the little line of blue-yellow sparks snapping along the angles of the walls. Now we could talk. |
| From Wandl, The Invader,
by Ray Cummings. Published by Astounding Stories in 1939 Additional resources -
|
It worked both ways:
It works on video as well as audio:
Compare to the cone of silence From Cease Fire (1958) by Frank Herbert, hush corner by Robert Heinlein in Double Star and the Fenton Silencer from an early Arthur C. Clarke story. Also, the anti-spying device from from Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov.
Halsey
killed our barrage to let the outside connections get through to
us. We all crowded around the
mirror-grid which stood here on
Orentino's desk.
...upon our horrified gaze the
insulated door of the room slid
closed — a blank rectangle of darkness, with the silence and invisibility of the barrage upon it!
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Wandl, The Invader
More Ideas
and Technology by Ray Cummings
Tech news articles related to Wandl, The Invader
Tech news articles related to works by Ray Cummings
| IJOP Integrated Joint Operations Platform China's Minority Report? |
| Kuri Robot Roams Your Home, Taking Pictures |
| Nuclear Drones Could Fly For Years |
| China's Drone Fleet Flies In Formation |
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> |
|
|
|
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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'A worker replaced by a nubot... had to be compensated.'
'... forcing the energy transfer which allowed him to regrow his lost fingers.'
'The car surged and lifted, clearing its top by a negligible margin.'
Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
'I had explained," said Nessus, "that our civilisation was dying in its own waste heat.'
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? - any work a human being does around a house.'
SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
