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 am first of all not a science fiction writer … I write, I suppose, what the Latin Americans call magic realism."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Culture Tank | ||
| Germs that eat garbage and produce oil. |
In the novel, the main character, Bob Kinnaird, lives on an island that supplies it's own oil through a series of "culture tanks" that create fuel oil from waste.
| "They call 'em culture tanks. They have bugs -- germs -- growing in them; germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product. That's the purpose of the whole business. We dump everything that's waste into the tanks, pump the oil off the top, and every so often clean the sludge out of the bottom -- that's a nasty job." |
| Technovelgy from Needle,
by Hal Clement. Published by Not known in 1950 Additional resources -
|
Bio-diesel and other fuels from organic waste have been around for a long time but almost 60 years ago, Clement had an island relying on it and creating a surplus for sale. The original impetus to research occurred in 1942, when two chemists (Harder and Von Witsch) were the first to propose that microalgae be grown as a source of lipids for food or fuel.
Thanks to Mike for writing in with the reference and the quote for this one.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Needle
More Ideas
and Technology by Hal Clement
Tech news articles related to Needle
Tech news articles related to works by Hal Clement
Culture Tank-related
news articles:
- Samsung W7900 Show Cell Phone Digital Projector
- Biofuel From Algae
- Reprogrammed Microbe Makes Butanol From Cellulose
- Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
- Engineered Bacteria Produces Gasoline
- Oil from Algae - Can It Be Done?
- Mechanical Milking Of Microalgae For Fuel Production
| What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells? |
| Black Fungus Blocks Radiation |
| Lunar Biorepository Proposed For Cryo-Preservation Of Earth Species |
| Let's Make Slaver Sunflowers! Engineering Plants To Reflect Light |
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> |
|
|
|
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
'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
