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"I started writing in the 1930's when I was eighteen years old. And deep inside me I'm still eighteen and it's still 1938."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Robot Snake | ||
| A mechanical reptile, with no legs. |
As far as I know, the first use of this phrase in science fiction. There are earlier descriptions, however: see below.
| "There’s Cobber. He’s a mechanical device, but he’s part of my
act and easily explained. They
might not think to look for a second reason for my wanting him
near me...
After a long moment she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box and draped his topaz and emerald length over her shoulders and the mechanism, triggered by the warmth of her body, set the jeweled evil head to weaving nervously. Then she reached out mentally for Artemus Chester. Chester scanned her mind and his face gradually lightened. "Excellent! I’m sure Mr. Kilgore's electronic wizards can build some sort of amplifying circuit into your robot snake by the time I’m ready for you to leave. I do have to find a crime for you..." |
| Technovelgy from Bait for the Tiger,
by Lee Chaytor. Published by Fantastic Universe in 1958 Additional resources -
|
Here's another brief excerpt:
Compare to the mining worm robot from Love Among the Robots (1946) by Emmett McDowell, the robot earthworm from War with the Robots (1962) by Harry Harrison, the mechanical cobra from Lord of Light (1967) by Roger Zelazny, the digger worm from With Friends Like These (1985) by Connie Willis and the robot snake spy from Mariposa (2009) by Greg Bear.
"The agent from Los Angeles arrived with Cobber in a padded box. He was followed within a few minutes by the electronics expert of the Bureau, who purred over the complicated insides of the big silvery-green reptile. He put it through its paces. The six-foot robot slithered and reared and struck in a sensuously-writhing series of movements. Steve stood frowning at it, divided between revulsion and admiration. "It’ll never do,” he said."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Bait for the Tiger
More Ideas
and Technology by Lee Chaytor
Tech news articles related to Bait for the Tiger
Tech news articles related to works by Lee Chaytor
Robot Snake-related
news articles:
- Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
| Will Robots Become Family Caregivers? |
| RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots |
| Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android? |
| Robots Repair And Modify Themselves |
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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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
