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"One could imagine a very ascetic sort of life ... where the body is ignored. This is something I've played with in my books, where people hate to be reminded sometimes that they have bodies, they find it very slow and tedious."
- William Gibson
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| Floater | ||
| A device that allows the user to literally float in the air |
| "Floaters" are a later development of "jumpers"--rocket motors encased in inertron blocks and strapped to the back in such a way that the wearer floats, when drifting, facing slightly downward. With his motor in operation, he moves like a diver, head foremost, controlling his direction by twisting his body and by movements of his outstretched arms and hands. Ballast weights locked in the front of the belt adjust weight and lift. Some men prefer a few ounces of weight in floating, using a slight motor thrust to overcome this. Others prefer a buoyancy balance of a few ounces. The inadvertent dropping of weight is not a serious matter. The motor thrust always can be used to descend. But as an extra precaution, in case the motor should fail, for any reason, there are built into every belt a number of detachable sections, one more of which can be discarded to balance off any loss in weight. |
| Technovelgy from Armageddon: 2419 A.D.,
by Philip Frances Nowlan. Published by Amazing Stories in 1928 Additional resources -
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Armageddon: 2419 A.D.
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip Frances Nowlan
Tech news articles related to Armageddon: 2419 A.D.
Tech news articles related to works by Philip Frances Nowlan
Floater-related
news articles:
- Zoom Contact Lenses
- CIMON Space Sidekick For Weary Astronauts
- Jet-Powered Flying Suits Tested By Navy
| Xiaomi Self-Driving Self-Balancing Scooter |
| AV-STEP To Permit Sale Of Vehicles Without Steering Wheels Or Pedals |
| 'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These |
| Tele-Driving Offers Jobs For Tele-Drivers, Not AIs |
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'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
