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"I think a lot of kids whose mental growth outruns their maturity gravitate to science fiction."
- Dan Simmons
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| Airmaker | ||
| A device that creates a specific breathable mix directly from the atmosphere. |
It seems clear that at least part of the breathable mix required for Trinocs can be taken directly from the atmosphere.
| "How did you get a Trinoc to come?" "Don't tell me he's still here." "Oh, no. His air was running out and he had to go home." "A little white lie," Louis informed her. "A Trinoc airmaker lasts for weeks." |
| Technovelgy from Ringworld,
by Larry Niven. Published by Ballantine in 1970 Additional resources -
|
This is actually a pretty good idea, since similar products called "oxygen concentrators" are starting to replace oxygen cylinders. They are substantially less dangerous that cylinders of oxygen.
Aliens in sf sometimes require something in addition to the elements of Earth's air. In his classic 1953 novel Childhood's End, for example, Arthur C. Clarke's Overlords sometimes needed more than the atmosphere provides:
Compare to David Brin's oxygen hip flask from his 1990 novel Earth.
Though they [the Overlords] seemed able to breathe terrestrial air, they sometimes carried small cylinders of gas from which they refreshed themselves occasionally.
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"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
