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
"The way you write science fiction is: you sit down at your writing machine and you open your mind to the first thought that comes through."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Sandsnork | ||
| A device like a snorkel that would provide air to a tent buried by a sand storm. |
The planet Arrakis (or Dune) was covered almost entirely by sand. The Arrakeen natives who were brought as prisoners to this world learned to adapt to Coriolis storms where sand was hurled against objects at hundreds of kilometers per hour. One way to survive such a storm was to pitch a stilltent in a sheltered place, then ride it out. But how do you get air when your tent is covered by a meter of wind-blown sand?
| His mind focused on the storm as he had seen it begin through the transparent end of their stilltent - cold dribbles of sand crossing the basin, then runnels and tails furrowing the sky. He had looked up to a rock spire, seen it change shape under the blast, becoming a low, cheddar-colored wedge. Sand funneled into their basin had shadowed the sky with dull curry, then blotted out all light as the tent was covered. Tent bows had creaked once as they accepted the pressure, then - silence broken only by the dim bellows wheezing of their sand snorkel pumping air from the surface. |
| Technovelgy from Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1965 Additional resources -
|
This device (and the words used to describe it) show more of Herbert's artistry as he gets you to think of Dune, a planet with almost no free water, as being more like a planet covered by a vast ocean - of sand. The mental concept of an ocean is more like Herbert's concept of Dune as an environment that is constantly changing - wracked by huge storms, churned by enormous sandworms. And the social climate - the Fremen culture that had gone unchanged for generations - is changing faster.
And, for the record, the peculiar word snorkel is derived from the German word schnorchel referring to a vague resemblance to the shape of the nose. And people have been snorkeling (breathing underwater with the aid of a tube) since at least the time of the ancient Greeks.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Dune
More Ideas
and Technology by Frank Herbert
Tech news articles related to Dune
Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert
| China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones |
| Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel! |
| Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine |
| Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy |
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 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
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
