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
"In science fiction one can say a great many things that are unpalatable, … because it's expressed as science fiction you can slip it past their defenses."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Sun Plant (Solar Motor) | ||
| A huge system of mirrors collects light and focuses it on a boiler for energy. |
This is an early version of this idea. It turns out that there was a civilization in Io, a large moon of the planet Jupiter.
| The thousands of reflecting mirrors of that solar motor, mounted on their slanted, circular frame, were collecting the feeble rays of the tiny, far-distant sun, and concentrating them on the blackened boiler at the center of the frame. The boiler was made like a squatting image of one of those last natives. It had a great beard, carved out of iron, ruby eyes, long goblin nose and ears, and a strange, mocking, secret grin on its lips - a grin that was sinister in itself...
So, we'd polished the reflecting mirrors of the sun-plant. We'd patched and repairs the leaks and dents in the boiler, turbine, and other parts. We'd filled the dried-out boiler from our ship's precious supply of water. We'd applied oil liberally, where necessary. Just at evening we'd got that huge, tip-tilted reflector frame turned around on its pivot, so it would face the sun at dawn. And now, coming back from our ship in the early afternoon, we were flabbergasted to see that the world-old engine already in operation, its throttle evidently opened by an automatic device! ...As the hours went by, a gear-system became active on its pivot and gimbals, keeping the great, iron ring and its mirrors faced toward the sun, so as to collect all the heat possible for the boiler. |
| Technovelgy from The Lotus-Engine,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Super Science Stories in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Lotus-Engine
More Ideas
and Technology by Raymond Z. Gallun
Tech news articles related to The Lotus-Engine
Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun
| TSA 2 - Advanced Thermosensory Stimulator Is A Dune Pain Box |
| Amazing Wheel Shapeshifting In Real Time |
| Mercedes Benz Solar Paint |
| Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)? |
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
'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.'
'... he realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.'
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'
'The spotter descends, and we think it searches the vicinity, looking for the victim’s face...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?'
