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"It is change ... that is the dominant factor in society today... the world as it will be. This means that ... every man must take on a science fictional way of thinking.""
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Smart Bike | ||
| A motorcycle with sophisticated systems for steering and balance. |
Some people are just never satisfied with basic physics.
| Norman, as always, drove like a maniac. Norman was young. He had never ridden any motorized device that lacked onboard steering and balance systems. He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace, as if trying to do algebra with his legs. ...[they] buzzed up along the road shoulder, the smart bike and sidecar scrunching over the oyster shells with oozy cybernetic ease. |
| Technovelgy from Distraction,
by Bruce Sterling. Published by Bantam Spectra in 1998 Additional resources -
|
Once any bicycle or motorcycle gets up to speed, it will tend to stay stable thanks to the considerable angular momentum of the spinning wheels. Some people just want more.
Compare to the gyrocar from Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race (1911) by Kenneth Brown, the Gyro-Hat from An Experiment in Gyro-Hats (1926) by Ellis Parker Butler, the leading machine from Paradise and Iron (1930) by Miles J. Breuer, the tumblebug from The Roads Must Roll (1940) by Robert Heinlein, the Two-Wheeled Ground Car from First Lensman (1950) by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, the Gyro Two-Wheeled Truck from The Sign of the Tiger (1958) by Alan Nourse (w/Meyer) and the Gyrocar (Gyro) from The Ring (1969) by Piers Anthony (w/R. Margroff).
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Distraction
More Ideas
and Technology by Bruce Sterling
Tech news articles related to Distraction
Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling
Smart Bike-related
news articles:
- Ghostrider Robot: Sterling's Smart Motorcycle?
- Terminator Salvation Motorcycle Robot Like Ghostrider
- Google Lobbies For Autonomous Motorcycles
- Lit Motors Self-Balancing Motorcycle
- BMW Self-Balancing Motorcycle - Never Put Feet On Road
- Meet Assist-e Honda's Self-Balancing Motorcycle
- Yamaha MOTOROiD Living Motorcycle Experiment
- Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
- Xiaomi Self-Driving Self-Balancing Scooter
| Nifty Folding Electric Bicycles! |
| Boring Company Drills Asimov's Single Vehicle Tunnels |
| Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said |
| SpaceX Rocket Shuttle Point-To-Point On Earth |
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'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
