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"I think engineering will supply our demand for a "spiritual" life after meat death."
- Bart Kosko
 |
| Vehicle Seeds | ||
| A matrix of materials and instructions that allow vehicles to grow themselves when placed in an environment of plentiful materials. |
It does't make sense to carry all of the materials for vehicles and weapons all the way to Titan, when you can find all the materials you could ever want right there, quick to hand.
| These organic compounds will provide plenty of the raw materials used by our weapon and vehicle seeds to double and even triple their present mass...
"These are your rudimentary seed packages," Bueller says. "Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures, like excavators or centipedes. Others will take more time and grow out to full size by themselves, mostly the vehicles supporting big weapons - zap guns, ionics, penetrators. Once placed in their cradles beside the station, all the seeds will dip from the station storage tanks, and they'll also start pulling in gases and liquids from the local atmosphere... ...visuals of seeds sprouting, growing like carnival balloons plumping out, becoming monstrous, making crew and warrior spaces... |
| From Killing Titan,
by Greg Bear. Published by Orbit in 2015 Additional resources -
|
Compare to biological circuit fabrication from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1984).
"Seeds are hungry," she says... "Don't get between them and raw material reserves. Don't mess with anything growing. Half-finished product has been known to absorb whatever it touches. Stay the hell away from developing products."
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| Self-Assembling Bacteria Build A Pressure Sensor |
| Artificial Spider Silk |
| Archinaut Orbiting Robotic Factory |
| Digital Construction Platform Robot 3D Prints A Building |
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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.
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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?
