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 space defense initiative drove the USSR bankrupt, and it originated at my house in Tarzana."
- Larry Niven

Space-Phone  
  A device for communicating with space ships, both ship-to-ship and ground-to-ship.  

THEN, jarring my sleeping brain, came a loud, impatient clanging of the space phone bell, while the indicator light continually flashed on and off, showing that someone was at the other end of the line. My first thought was that the power impulses had resumed operation and that the call was either from Astrax or from the ship ahead of us.

"This is Prixlon Lestex in charge of inspection flier #X65U39. Who is speaking?"

Technovelgy from The Message From Space, by David M. Speaker.
Published by Amazing Stories in 1930
Additional resources -

The space-phone is assumed to have a virtually unlimited range:

I will send twenty-five messages exactly like these which I hope will serve as a warning to any civilization which some of them may reach. Tf it were possible, I would give complete descriptions of our atomic energy production plants and our magnet-ray machines, but these were known only to the government and the inventors. If there exists a race whose science has enabled them to construct a space-phone like this or some similar instrument capable of receiving any of these messages, then my work has not been in vain.

This term is used the following year in Creatures of the Comet (1931) by Edmond Hamilton:

Out in the pilot-house of the speeding rocket Kirk was making much the same comment to his companion, as with deft fingers on the firing-levers he kept the rocket roaring out from earth through the black void of space, exchanging sharp words on the space-phone with the pilots of rockets that crowded them in the space-lane.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Message From Space
  More Ideas and Technology by David M. Speaker
  Tech news articles related to The Message From Space
  Tech news articles related to works by David M. Speaker

Articles related to Communication
Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA
Will Whales Be Our First Contact?
NYC/Dublin Portal Fails To Meet 'Guardian Of Forever' Standards
Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram?

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>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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

Science Fiction in the News

JAXA Int Ball 2 Coming Right Along As Star Wars Remote
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'

Robot Bricklayer Or Passer-By Bricklayer?
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'

Robot Gas Station Attendant Pumps Gas For You
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'

Engineer Creates Crazy Motorized Track Hospital Bed
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!

Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'

Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'

TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'

Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'

SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.

Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.