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"...in fifty years, do you believe that people will be recognizably human?"
- Greg Bear
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| Ship Hull Thermobatteries | ||
| Solar activated and charged batteries built into the hull of a spacecraft. |
I thought this was a pretty clever "wake up call" for when you've been drifting in space between solar systems for a few thousand years.
| "Do you realize," he demanded savagely, "that if the crew of that ship is in suspended animation, and if their coffins or containers open only from the inside - do you realize that they expect to open them themselves?
"Yes, sir," said Freddy wearily. "Of course. Why not?" "Do you realize that cables from those containers lead to thermobatteries i the ship's outer plating? The monsters knew that they couldn't survive without power, but they knew that in any other solar system they could get it! So they made sure they'd pass close to our sun with what power they dared use, and went into suspended animation with a reserve of power to land on and thermobatteries that would waken them when it was time to set to work? |
| Technovelgy from The Ethical Equations,
by Murray Leinster. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1945 Additional resources -
|
Leinster didn't originate the idea of thermobatteries. In 1897, American inventor Harry Reagan was granted a patent for an application of solar heat to thermo batteries. His invention was a means of collecting, storing, and distributing solar heat as needed.
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| Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed! |
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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.'
