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"I would say 75% of the economy is now being run by ex-science-fiction fans."
- Greg Bear
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| Pressure Curtain | ||
| A force field that creates a barrier that people can pass through but air cannot - an airlock in a spacecraft. |
This seems like an early use of this idea; it predates the use of a similar idea in Star Wars.
| The civilians were chattering among themselves - "But there's no air in here!" Staley yelled.
"Not here, sir," Hasner said. He pointed. "Some kind of box thing there, makes like a curtain, Mr. Staley. Air can't get through it but we can." The Marine Gunner stepped gingerly through the invisible barrier. He had to push. "Like - maybe kind of like the Field, Mr. Staley. Only not so thick." |
| Technovelgy from The Mote in God's Eye,
by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle). Published by Simon & Schuster in 1974 Additional resources -
|
Here's the bit that names the item:
"They can build those magic pressure curtains," Staley reminded him.
"...I haven't seen any miniatures with vacuum suits..."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Mote in God's Eye
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
Tech news articles related to The Mote in God's Eye
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
Pressure Curtain-related
news articles:
- Plasma Window Technology, Pressure Cushions and Deflector Doors
| Beautiful Visualization of Dawn Spacecraft |
| Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars |
| Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris |
| Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand |
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'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
