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"I can remember when the first pulsars were discovered. I was able to go and sit down and listen to graduate students talking about what their theories, to explain what pulsars really were."
- Vernor Vinge
 |
| Shere | ||
| Destroys cells so that memory cannot be deduced from the cells of the person even in death. |
In the far future world of the novel, it is possible to probe the cells of a dead person and retrieve a substantial amount of information, including emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. People who are in danger of being captured by their enemies use a special drug that causes these traces to be unreadable.
| An Ixian probe can raid the mind even of a dead person," Geasa explained. "Shere is a drug that protects you from the probe. Your cells will be totally dead before the drug effect is gone. |
| Technovelgy from Heretics of Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1984 Additional resources -
|
It does seem hard to believe that it would be possible to probe your cells after you are dead, and retrieve anything like thoughts. However, research done on planaria and other simple organisms suggests that, since particular kinds of training (like finding their way through mazes, or resistance to being photophobic) have an effect on the tissues of the animal, it may be possible to deduce something about the organism's training or experiences from the cadaver.
More information on this topic is available in the entry for RNA Shots, from A World Out of Time by Larry Niven.
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'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
