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"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
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| Crechepod | ||
| A small, enclosed medical device providing full life support as well as advanced regrowth technologies. |
A continuing theme in science fiction works is the idea that medical knowledge will be increasingly implemented in mechanical systems, rather than in people.
| A label on the crechepod identified the disrupted flesh inside as having belonged to an identity called Lewis Orne... The flesh in the pod bore little resemblance to the photo, but even in the flaccid repose of demideath, Orne's unguent-smeared body radiated a bizarre aura.... "Why'd you bother with the pod?" a medic asked. "This patient's vital tone is too low to permit operative replacement of damaged organs due to the energy drain of regrowth." |
| Technovelgy from The Godmakers,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Berkley Medallion in 1972 Additional resources -
|
There are two main reasons to have medical expertise available in a small package. One is to provide medical expertise without needing to add another character. The other is to bring characters back from otherwise final plot devices.
For more details on how energy redirection can lead to regrowth, see Atlotl/Gibiril Regimen; also, compare this device to autodoc.
Compare to the emergency treatment tank from Agent of Vega (1949) by James Schmitz, the
regeneration tank from Contagion (1950) by Katherine MacLean, the
Gobathian from Time is the Simplest Thing (1961) by Clifford Simak, the surgical homeostatic unit from Now Wait For Last Year (1966) by Philip K. Dick, the autodoc from The Warriors (1966) by Larry Niven, the diagnostat from The Man in the Maze (1969) by Robert Silverberg, electronic body analyzer from The Andromeda Strain (1969) by Michael Crichton and the autosurgeon from Altered Carbon (2003) by Richard Morgan.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Godmakers
More Ideas
and Technology by Frank Herbert
Tech news articles related to The Godmakers
Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert
Crechepod-related
news articles:
- Trauma Pod Battlefield Medical Treatment System
| ErythroMer Artificial Blood |
| MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking |
| Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans |
| Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans |
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
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'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.'
