 |
Metal Calculator Planet
A planet covered entirely with machinery to a height of twenty miles and covered with a metal roof. (Read the full article)
| "I'm guessing way before New Detroit: http://www.wcnews.com/newestshots/full/marcnewdetroit1.jpg" (Sabre Runner 11/1/2007 10:33:50 AM ) |
| "Trantor was conceived by Asimov in the early 1940s so Simak's metal-covered planet might have been inspired by Asimov's?" (Adam 11/9/2007 1:32:27 PM ) |
| "E.E.Smith conceived an artificial planet-sized "Brain" in his book "The Skylark of Valeron" - a 1,000 km wide computer/spaceship designed to handle unimaginable forces. It was also composed of essentially self-replicating seed components and thus used exponential growth to build itself to large size rapidly. The ship-computer used brain-machine interfaces to take commands from its occupants, with automatic protective circuits to ignore random thoughts." (Adam 11/9/2007 1:34:05 PM ) |
| "I should have realized that what you said about Asimov was true; I own the Astounding Science-Fiction issue that contains Asimov's short story "The Mule," and that was published in 1945. I corrected the article. The reference from "The Skylark of Valeron" is great - I haven't read that book and didn't know that. How about sending in a quote? However, it looks like the idea of using a planet as a calculator still rests with Simak. As Holmes once remarked to a chastened Watson (me) "It is good not to be proven wrong on all points."" ( 11/9/2007 1:43:31 PM ) |
More info on Metal Calculator Planet
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned. So, send me your comments to bill at the site name (be sure to mention the page) and I'll post them. Thanks!
Current News Articles
SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit
'Provision had been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere.'
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
'A cybercab dogged their heels...'
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
