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

"I think that self-limitation is the major limiting factor for most people in the world."
- Frank Herbert

Head Cheese  
  Intelligent paste made of neurons; spread upon a substrate for computing.  

Pilot Joel Kita wasn't very happy about being replaced.

The Pacific Ocean slopped two kilometers under his feet. He had a cargo of blank-eyed psychotics sitting behind him. And the lifter was being piloted by a large pizza with extra cheese...

Ray had been in this very cockpit, watching the pizza being installed and no doubt wondering when the term "job security" had become an oxymoron... The techs were playing with a square vanilla box, half a meter on a side and about twice as thick as Kita's wrist.

Humans had always been able to integrate 3-D spatial information better than the machines that kept trying to replace them...

Until now, apparently...

"It's one of those smart gels," Ray said at last... "Head cheese. Cultured brains on a slab. The same things they've been plugging into the Net to firewall infections."

From Starfish, by Peter Watts.
Published by Tor Books in 1999
Additional resources -

Be sure to see the Science Fiction in the News story Rat Neurons In A Dish Play Flight Simulator for an amazing real-life confirmation.

The term "smart gel" is already in use; it refers to a class of liquids that have unusual properties in response to being compressed. Since smart gels expand or contract in response to external stimuli, they could be useful in applications such as an artificial pancreas that releases insulin inside the body in response to high sugar level. Smart gels might someday be used to make exotic foods, cosmetics, medicines, and sensors. See the article Smart Gels and Shake Gels.

I should also mention this enjoyable 1931 story by Dr. David H. Keller; you can read The Steam Shovel to see how the brain of an elephant can direct the operation of a great steam shovel.


('The Steam Shovel' by Dr. David H. Keller)

Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Starfish
  More Ideas and Technology by Peter Watts
  Tech news articles related to Starfish
  Tech news articles related to works by Peter Watts

Head Cheese-related news articles:
  - Rat Neurons In A Dish Now Playing Flight Simulator
  - Rat Brain Robot Uses Cultured Rat Neurons
  - Rat Brain Robot Gets Upgrades
  - Robots With Human Brains
  - Making Drone Aircraft Smarter
  - Artificial Microbrain Memory Cells
  - Neuromorphic Brain-Chip Takes Flight
  - Mini-Brains In A Dish

Articles related to Artificial Intelligence
AI-Trained Snack App Avatar Goes On Dates For You
Harmonia Making Generative Audio Tools For Everyone
Artists Replaced By Robots? Everyone's a Patron Now
Mem, The All-Your-Memories, Super Note-Taking App

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

Win $250K By Reading Ancient Scrolls Carbonized By Vesuvius
'... it was as if the upper part had been removed, like a cut deck of cards.'

Toy-Like Robot Well-Being Coaches Are The Best
Sumomo will get those office workers into good shape!

AI-Trained Snack App Avatar Goes On Dates For You
'... who let their handbag computers carry all the conversation.'

M-Dwarf Stars May Not Have Habitable Planets
'Thus it came about that the search for a planetiferous sun near a white dwarf star was not unduly prolonged...'

Too Soon To Doom Lunar Farside Observatories
'Earth never shone there, but life was good.'

Amitabh Bachchan Wins Personality Protection
'He led me down the Hall of Portraits to the ego-likeness of the Duke Leto Atreides.'

LIAM F1 UWT Clever Rooftop Windmill
'...a windmill on his roof...'

Scent-Identifying Robot Uses Machine Learning
'It's picking up diphenyl compounds and tetrahydrocarbons...'

Volvo's Autonomous Truck
'They were automatic trucks such as are used for making deliveries...'

Skiing On The Moon - Skiing on Asteroids?
'MacIntyre bent down without a word and picked up the wide skis necessary to negotiate the powdery ash.'

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.