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"I love that computer science has made mathematics into something like an experimental science. I was never all that good at proving things, but I love doing computer experiments."
- Rudy Rucker
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| Cloaking Device | ||
| A force field that renders an object invisible to human eyes as well as other sensor devices. |
I can't believe this idea only dates from the 1960's. More recently, this kind of idea has been incorporated in movies like Predator and the last James Bond movie.
When the Enterprise responds to a distress call from Outpost 4, Commander Hansen reports an attack underway by a ship that simply vanished.
| You knew of the cloaking device that we have developed. |
| Technovelgy from Balance of Terror,
by Paul Schneider. Published by Paramount in 1966 Additional resources -
|
The Romulans were the first ones to have it; Kirk and Spock try to steal it in the original series episode titled "The The Enterprise Incident." This episode was first broadcast in December of 1966.
To hide something a bit smaller, like a person, see the invisible cloak from Brigands of the Moon (1930) by Ray Cummings.
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
