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"I've come across more and more people who've actually tried reading science fiction and can't make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany
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| Polaron Beam | ||
| A unique beam of energy that scatters some of its light at right angles to the direction of propagation. |
A classic battle between a stationary fort on the lunar surface versus a quick, mobile spacecraft is decided by this fort-based weapon.
Readers should note that Clarke alters the version of this weapon for use in the 1955 novelization of the story. See the stilletto beam from the novel Earthlight to see Clarke's final (and perhaps more elegant treatment) of this idea.
| For it was during a lull in the engagement that the polaron beam operated for the first time in history.
The two watchers saw it strike upward like an inverted lightning flash. It was clearly visible along its whole length not merely in patches where it passed through dust and gas. Even in that brief instant of time Wheeler noticed this staggering violation of the laws of optics and wondered at its implications. Not until many years later did he learn how a polaron beam radiates some of its energy at right angles to its direction of propagation so that it can be seen even in a vacuum. The beam went through the Phlegethon as if she did not exist. |
| Technovelgy from Earthlight (Novella),
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Wonder Stories in 1951 Additional resources -
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| Israel Deploys Sharp Shooter AI-powered Robot Guns |
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'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
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'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
