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Science Fiction Dictionary: Ideas, Terms and Technology
(
4035 Inventions Available)
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
| Device Name | Book/Story | Author | Date |
| Nanny Robot A child-care robot with a surprisingly competitive side. |
Nanny | Dick | 1955 |
| Nanobot A robot constructed with nanotechnology. |
Steel Beach | Varley | 1992 |
| Nanofax Send a copy of a three-dimensional object to a distant place. |
All Tomorrow's Parties | Gibson | 1999 |
| Nanomachine Lidar Radar-like system that uses electromagnetic radiation at optical frequencies (visible light) for range-finding and analysis. |
The Diamond Age | Stephenson | 1995 |
| Nanomachine Swarm (Black Cloud) A cloud of tiny machines, able to work together autonomously. |
The Invincible | Lem | 1954 |
| Nano-Paste Nanobots that use the resources around it to create a desired product. |
Alpha Centauri | Meier | 1999 |
| Nanotech Buildings Enormous buildings built with nanotech fibers. |
Idoru | Gibson | 1996 |
| Napcap Capsule A handy refuge for travelers in busy terminals; a sleep aid when you really need one. |
Saturn's Race | Niven (w/S. Barnes) | 2000 |
| Napcap Induction Cap A device that aids sleep and relaxation by working with the subject's brain waves. |
Saturn's Race | Niven (w/S. Barnes) | 2000 |
| National Network Surveillance A system for providing the government with a way to monitor computer network use. |
The Shockwave Rider | Brunner | 1975 |
| Nautilus The wondrous submarine of Captain Nemo; the instrument of his escape from humanity and his revenge upon it. |
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Verne | 1875 |
| Navicloud Custom Debinder A machine that pulls books apart and scans the contents. |
Rainbows End | Vinge | 2006 |
| N-e (Needle-eyeification) Weapon A class of weapons that had the most precise effect imaginable. |
The Zap Gun | Dick | 1965 |
| Nearleather Fake leather. |
What's Become of Screwloose? | Goulart | 1970 |
| Nearside (Near Side) The side of the moon closest to the earth. |
The Moon Master | Diffin | 1930 |
| Near-Space Solar Energy Collectors Generating power from solar radiation closer to the source. |
Star Maker | Stapledon | 1937 |
| Necap A device that burns out neural connections. |
The Human Blend | Foster | 2010 |
| Neck Radio Commercial radio from an implanted device. |
Our Friends From Frolix 8 | Dick | 1970 |
| Neck-Phone An implanted telecommunications device. |
The Chromium Fence | Dick | 1955 |
| Needle Beam Gat A thin disintegrator beam. |
Moon Crystals | Haggard | 1936 |
| Needle Gun A weapon that fires thin slivers of metal. |
In the Spacesphere | Cloukey | 1931 |
| Needle Pipe A device that could project slivers of metal at near light speed. |
Beyond the Stars | Cummings | 1928 |
| Needlecast A tightbeam transmission of your very being. |
Altered Carbon | Morgan | 2003 |
| Needler Small palm-sized weapon firing thin bolts of energy. |
Galactic Patrol | Smith | 1937 |
| Needle-Ray Very thin beam of destruction. |
Skylark of Valeron | Smith | 1934 |
| Needles (Chocolate and Vanilla) Inflated towers reaching 20 miles out of Earth's atmosphere. |
Sundiver | Brin | 1979 |
| Negative Acceleration Turning a torchship through a half-circle, thereby applying force in the direction of motion, slowing the ship down. |
The Skylark of Space | Smith | 1928 |
| Negative Gravity Field Antigravity effect produced for space ship propulsion. |
50th Century Revolt | Stangland | 1932 |
| Negative Matter Space Drive A reactionless space drive using negative matter. |
Timemaster | Forward | 1992 |
| Negative Molecular Motion A state of matter that has a temperature below absolute zero. |
The Universe Between | Nourse | 1951 |
| Negative Safety-Field A paragravity-based shield for space craft. |
Collision Orbit | Williamson | 1942 |
| Negrian Death Ray A ray that causes the cessation of life processes. |
Invaders From The Infinite | Campbell | 1932 |
| Nemourlon Material for special body armor. |
West of Honor | Pournelle | 1976 |
| Neo-Crystal Unbreakable transparent window material. |
Master of the Asteroid | Smith | 1932 |
| Neodog Canine-derived animal, genetically engineered for increased intelligence and speech. |
Starship Troopers | Heinlein | 1959 |
| Neoterics Pure engineering genius on tap. |
Microcosmic God | Sturgeon | 1941 |
| Neotopological Metaeuclidean Adjacency A portal through space-time. |
The Hole in the Hole | Bisson | 1994 |
| Nerve Control Lines Designs that take control of human nervous systems. |
The Rull | van Vogt | 1948 |
| Nerve Machine A device that delivers pure pain via neural currents. |
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge | Harrison | 1970 |
| Net Shutdown Worm A tapeworm designed to shut down a nationwide network in the event of national emergency. |
The Shockwave Rider | Brunner | 1975 |
| Netwar Making use of various means to disrupt the enemy's military and civilian information networks. |
Distraction | Sterling | 1998 |
| Network Monitoring Detection Detection of someone monitoring your computer workstation |
The Dosadi Experiment | Herbert | 1977 |
| Network Repair Team Dispatched to collect remains of destroyed machines. |
Autofac | Dick | 1955 |
| Networked Personal Device The idea that the true power of a mobile device lies in it's backend network capabilities. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Networked Telephone Answering Machine A device that would accept verbal messages and store them for replay from any remote station. |
Men Like Gods | Wells | 1923 |
| Networked World Very early description of our dependence on technology and communication. |
When the Sleeper Wakes | Wells | 1899 |
| Neural Cut Out Chip An electronic device which, when implanted in the brain of the subject, allows software to take over that person's body.. |
Neuromancer | Gibson | 1984 |
| Neural Door Lock A device that provides access based on neurological data. |
The Unreconstructed M | Dick | 1957 |
| Neural Lace An interface between the brain and computer facilities. |
Surface Detail | Banks | 2010 |
| Neuristor A solid-state computer component that mimics the human neuron. |
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | Heinlein | 1966 |
| Neuristor Brain A computer device made up of neuristors. |
My Name is Legion | Zelazny | 1976 |
| Neuroinduction Field Keeps the patient still without the use of cumbersome restraints or drugs. |
Starfish | Watts | 1999 |
| Neuro-netsukes A small sculpture containing the personality of a living person. |
Rim | Besher | 1994 |
| Neuronic Control Apparatus A device that communicated with a brain implant, granting both sight and control. |
Masson's Secret | Gallun | 1939 |
| Neuronic Receptor-Transmitter A device which, implanted in the brain, can both transmit sight and sound, and enable control of the body by a remote operator. |
Masson's Secret | Gallun | 1939 |
| Neuronic Whip A weapon that stimulated the nerve endings to cause extreme discomfort. |
The Stars, Like Dust | Asimov | 1951 |
| Neutral (Point) The point at which the gravitational pull of the sun and that of a planet cancel each other out. |
On The Martian Way | Bishop | 1907 |
| Neutralizing Wall A barrier that stops electrical and mechanical vibrations, rendering the protected area effectively invisible. |
The Golden Girl of Munan | Vincent | 1928 |
| Neutron Disruption Blaster Beam pistol which splits neutrons into protons and electrons, releasing enormous energy. |
The Complete Paratime | Piper | 1951 |
| Neutronic Dust What's left over when you've annihilated matter. |
Twelve Hours To Live | Williamson | 1931 |
| Neutronic Shielding Very high density monomolecular shielding |
The Sign of the Tiger | Nourse (w/Meyer) | 1958 |
| Neutronium Extremely dense material. |
Skylark Three | Smith | 1930 |
| Neutronium Slippers Special footgear to keep ones footing in lower gravities. |
Revolt on the Tenth World | Hamilton | 1940 |
| New Moon Casino Satellite An enormous artificial moon, it was far easier to get to than the Old Moon. |
One Against The Legion | Williamson | 1939 |
| New Suns From Old Creating new stars by crashing together the cinders of dead stars. |
The Cosmic Pantograph | Hamilton | 1935 |
| News Clown A person who delivers specially selected light news. |
Stand-By | Dick | 1963 |
| News Receptor Devices used by homeostatic newspapers to gather news autonomically. |
If There Were No Benny Cemoli | Dick | 1953 |
| News Roundup A device that presents brief story outlines, any of which can be chosen to find details. |
Beyond This Horizon | Heinlein | 1942 |
| Newsbox (News-Receptor) Also referred to as a microviewer; could search media programming for news on a particular words used in the broadcast. |
Methuselah's Children | Heinlein | 1941 |
| News-Dispenser Audio news ready when you are. |
After Armageddon | Flagg | 1932 |
| Newspad A notebook-sized computer and display screen for reading news stories or other text matter. |
2001: A Space Odyssey | Clarke | 1968 |
| Newspad Electronic Newspaper An electronic version of a newspaper. |
2001: A Space Odyssey | Clarke | 1968 |
| Newstaper Gear The devices used by a person who serves as a reporter, cameraman and story finder. |
Flash Crowd | Niven | 1972 |
| Nexialist A person with a coordinative knowledge across a variety of sciences. |
Voyage of the Space Beagle | van Vogt | 1950 |
| Nexus-6 Brain Unit The processing power behind android intelligence. |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick | 1968 |
| Nexus-7 Android The next version after the Nexus-6. |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick | 1968 |
| Nickalum An alloy of aluminum crystalized within a magnetic field for exceptional strength. |
Looking Forward: A Dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999 | Bird | 1899 |
| Nightmask Night vision mask (similar to a diving mask) with an infrared light source. |
Hellstrom's Hive | Herbert | 1972 |
| Nikon Eyes Artificially cultivated eyes that can be transplanted to replace (or repair) your original pair. |
Neuromancer | Gibson | 1984 |
| Nipple-Assist A multi-purpose electronic device worn upon the nipple. |
Lies, Inc. | Dick | 1964 |
| No Human Programmers The idea that computers are too complicated and too important to be programmed by human beings. |
Millennium | Varley | 1983 |
| No Steering Wheel Autonomous Car An autonomous vehicle without a wheel for human drivers. |
Paradise and Iron | Breuer | 1930 |
| No-Globe A large spherical living space that is concealed by special Ixian technology, making it impossible to detect by any known probe. |
Heretics of Dune | Herbert | 1984 |
| Noninterference With Other Worlds Earliest expression of the 'Prime Directive' idea. |
In the Deep of Time | Lathrop | 1897 |
| Normal Space As opposed to hyperspace. |
Islands of Space | Campbell | 1931 |
| Norm-All Program A set of algorithms that determine a reasonable location for every citizen. |
Spark | Twelve Hawks | 2014 |
| Nose Gun Weapon system located up high. |
Arm of the Law | Harrison | 1958 |
| Nose-Tubes Rocket blasts from the front of a ship, to brake it. |
Evans of the Earth-Guard | Hamilton | 1930 |
| No-Ship A ship that uses an Ixian field to be effectively invisible. |
Heretics of Dune | Herbert | 1984 |
| Nothing A super-hard substance created by carefully removing material. |
It was Nothing - Really! | Sturgeon | 1969 |
| Novel-Writing Machines A device that automatically produces fiction. |
1984 (Nineteen Eighty-Four) | Orwell | 1948 |
| Nowhen At no time. |
A Feast for the Gods | Anderson | 1971 |
| Nubot An android that directly replaces a human at their job. |
Spark | Twelve Hawks | 2014 |
| Nuclear Shears Device uses nuclear power to accomplish basic shop tasks. |
Foundation | Asimov | 1951 |
| Nuclear-Field Depressor A device that causes nuclear-powered devices to stop working. |
Foundation and Empire | Asimov | 1952 |
| Nucleocat Cureall Only human cells can survive contact. |
Contagion | MacLean | 1950 |
| Nullboxing Bubble The 'ring' used for a sport played out in free fall; essentially kickboxing in space. |
Streetlethal | Barnes | 1983 |
| Nullentropy Bin A compartment in which entropy was halted. |
Heretics of Dune | Herbert | 1984 |
| Nullfield A field of energy that creates a barrier. |
The Ophiuchi Hotline | Varley | 1977 |
| Null-Suit A device that projects a field of force that acts like a space suit. |
The Ophiuchi Hotline | Varley | 1977 |
| Numbitol You guessed it, a topical anesthetic. |
The Mote in God's Eye | Niven (w/J. Pournelle) | 1974 |
| Nurse Drone A larger flying platform to provide power to smaller drones. |
The Diamond Age | Stephenson | 1995 |
| Nutrient Extractor and Maximizer (NEM) Device that replaces and extends the capabilities of the human digestive system. |
The Human Blend | Foster | 2010 |
| Nutrient Gelatin Tank Essential hardware for creating a new, improved humanity - isotope men! |
The Isotope Men | Schachner | 1936 |
| Nutri-Matic A drink dispenser that scans the person to determine what might go down well. |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Adams | 1979 |
| Nutritious Pellets Food in pill form. |
Looking Forward: A Dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999 | Bird | 1899 |
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
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