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"Does it open a new horizon for my thinking? Does it lead me to think new kinds of thoughts, that I would not otherwise perhaps have thought at all? These qualities are what [make] science fiction ...unique."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Decorative Implant | ||
| Small devices that can be implanted subcutaneously in the body and then controlled consciously. |
Babel-17 has a variety of kinds of body modifications; scales, feathers, walrus-sized incisors - if you want it, you can get it. I chose this item because it shows a marriage between technology and medicine. In our current thinking, we want to have some sort of conscious control over prosthetic devices - to regain something like normal function. In this novel, the characters seek to express themselves or go beyond their normal capabilities.
| The Officer pushed open the door of PIastiplasm Plus ("Addendums, Superscripts, and Footnotes to the Beautiful Body").
"It's listed in your catalog as 5463," the Customs Officer declared. "I want it there." He clapped his left hand to his right shoulder. The surgeon returned ... with a tray full of fragments. The only recognizable one was the front half of a miniature dragon with jeweled eyes, glittering sc ales, and opalescent wings: it was less than two inches long. "When he's connected up to your nervous system, you'll be able to make him whistle, hiss, roar, flap his wings and spit sparks..." |
| Technovelgy from Babel-17,
by Samuel R. Delany. Published by Ace Books in 1966 Additional resources -
|
Every time I see someone with a body piercing, I think about how simple these modifications are compared with what you could think of - compared with what Delany already thought about in 1968.
For a look at alternative dentition, take a look at toothbud transplants, from Neuromancer, by William Gibson, written about 15 years later.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Babel-17
More Ideas
and Technology by Samuel R. Delany
Tech news articles related to Babel-17
Tech news articles related to works by Samuel R. Delany
Decorative Implant-related
news articles:
- Union Of Driver And Vehicle (and Astronaut And Spacecraft?)
- Useful Body Modifications - The Ruler Tattoo
- Stable Motor Memory For Mastery Of Prosthetics
- Augmented Reality Tattoo Flaps Wings
- Robotic 'Third Thumb' Rewires Your Brain
- Low-Cost, Implantable Electronics Get Closer
| Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans |
| Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI |
| Brainoware Reservoir Computation Of Biological Neural Networks |
| Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
