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"What television does is rent us friends and relatives who are quite satisfactory. This is quite something, to rent artificial friends and relatives right inside the house."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Ether-Wall | ||
| An invisibility field. |
This is the first reference that I know of to an invisibility field.
| An ether-wall is an invisibility cloak; it ensures that you cannot be "seen" visually or by using any form of energy.
"...An ordinary ether-wall is opaque in one direction and doesn't bar matter - you are transparent both ways and something more than impenetrable to matter. How do you do it?" You could not understand them if I explained them to you, and they are merely two of our smaller developments. I do not intend to destroy your planet Earth; I have no desire to rule over masses of futile and brainless men... This structure is ... indetectable and invisible - ether waves are bent around it without loss or distortion." |
| Technovelgy from Triplanetary,
by E.E. 'Doc' Smith. Published by Not known in 1934 Additional resources -
|
Invisibility fields are now common in science fiction; this concept made some key appearances in both the classic Trek television show, and in the Star Trek movies, for example.
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
