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"Does it open a new horizon for my thinking? Does it lead me to think new kinds of thoughts, that I would not otherwise perhaps have thought at all? These qualities are what [make] science fiction ...unique."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Project X | ||
| A device that produces sound rays that are intolerable to living things. |
| "Project X" Dr. Ferris was saying, "was devoted to some special research in the field of sound. The science of sound has astonishing aspects, which laymen would scarcely suspect..."
Some fifty feet away from the farmhouse, Dr. Stadler saw a structure, obviously new and of no possible purpose whatever: it looked like a few spans of steel trestle, rising into empty space, supporting nothing, leading nowhere... "...And it was discovered" said Dr. Ferris, "that there are certain frequencies of sound vibration which no structure, organic or inorganic, can withstand..." "...The sound ray is controlled by a panel inside the giant underground laboratory," said Dr. Ferris, pointing at the building on the knoll. "That panel is known to us affectionately as the 'Xylophone' - because one must be darn careful to strike the right keys, or, rather, to pull the right levers..." "...The sound ray is invisible, inaudible and fully controllable in respect to target, direction and range. It's first public test, which you are about to witness, has been set to cover a small sector, a mere two miles, in perfect safety, with all space cleared for twenty miles beyond. The present generating equipment is capable of producing rays to cover - through the outlets which you may observe under the dome - the entire countryside within a radius of a hundred miles... This is only a modest beginning." |
| Technovelgy from Atlas Shrugged,
by Ayn Rand. Published by Random House in 1957 Additional resources -
|
Thanks to Moira for suggesting this item.
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
