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 sometimes suspect that we're seeing something in the Internet as significant as the birth of cities. It's really something new, it's a new kind of civilization."
- William Gibson

Two-Wheeled Ground Car  
  A gyro-stabilized vehicle like an enclosed motorcycle.  

"Thank you, Danny," Samms said, as appreciatively as though he did not know exactly where his ground-car was.

He got in. The door jammed itself gently shut. The runabout--a Dillingham eleven-forty--shot smoothly forward upon its two fat, soft tires. Half-way to the exit archway he was doing forty; he hit the steeply-banked curve leading into the lofty "street" at ninety.

Nor was there shock or strain. Motorcycle-wise, but automatically, the "Dilly" leaned against its gyroscopes at precisely the correct angle; the huge low-pressure tires clung to the resilient synthetic of the pavement as though integral with it.

From First Lensman, by E.E. 'Doc' Smith.
Published by Fantasy Press in 1950
Additional resources -

Compare to the smart bike from Bruce Sterling's 1998 novel Distraction.

Thanks to Winchell Chung (aka @Nyrath) for this item.

Comment/Join this discussion (BACK ON!) ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from First Lensman
  More Ideas and Technology by E.E. 'Doc' Smith
  Tech news articles related to First Lensman
  Tech news articles related to works by E.E. 'Doc' Smith

Two-Wheeled Ground Car-related news articles:
  - C1 - The Gyro-Stabilized Two-Wheeled Ground Car

Articles related to Vehicle
BMW Plans Fully Autonomous Cars By 2025
EU Parliament Requires Electric Cars To Make Noise
Pepper The Parrot's Bird Buggy
Tesla Model S Declared Car Of The Year By Motor Trend

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>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

More News

German Firm Seeks To Recruit Autistics
Not a deficit, but a strength.

NASA Supports Pizza Printer
Is it extra with printed pepperoni?

Could Ground-Based Lasers De-Orbit Space Junk?
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...'

MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'

TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.

Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'

CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'

Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'

Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.