The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester:
Science Fiction Inventions, Technology and Ideas

You can hardly believe that this novel was written in the 1950's. Bester created a society which is forced into a renaissance by the discovery of jaunting, the natural ability to teleport. All of our carefully built institutions have crumbled; hilariously, brand name identities remain. Fabulous book.


('The Stars My Destination' by Alfred Bester)

Select an invention:

Analogue - devolution through chemistry
A combination of a drug and a particular mental state allow a person to devolve to an animal level of their choice.

Dental Switchboard - tongue switching
A control device tied in with teeth and nerve endings.

Internal Body Power Pack - AAAAAAAA size
A tiny battery used to power implants.

Jaunte Stage - a little space to teleport
A cleared space that existed to serve the needs of people who would jaunte (teleport) into that space.

Landing Pit (Drydock and Construction)
A cylindrical hole with anti-gravity screens for use in spacecraft landings and repair.

Living Advertising Character - meet Mr. Presto
Modifying an ordinary person to create a living likeness of a company's brand symbol or character.

PyrE - thought explosive
A thermonuclear explosive that is detonated by thought alone.

Refurbished Nervous System - rewired for speed
Your nerves are rewired for 5-10 times the speed of a normal person.

Retinal Light
An internal flashlight.

Robot Bartender - early mention
An automated, mechanical bar tending robot.

Sargasso Asteroid - scavenger planetoid
A planetoid built from natural rock and the salvaged wreckage of space craft.

Sympathetic Block - psychological privacy
A way to keep certain mental contents from being spoken or revealed.

Whisper Line
A means of communication between prisoners held in wide separation.

 

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