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"...science fiction is sort of like a sociological genome. It's a huge range of possible futures, most of them useless; some vital. You never really know in advance."
- Peter Watts
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| Flycycle | ||
| Combination flying motorcycle, kitchen and autodoc. |
Puppeteer-designed flying vehicle using thrusters for propulsion. Each has a self-contained medical unit, water distillation unit and a "kitchen", which can take organic matter and create edible "bricks" of food. It also contains a slave circuit that allows it to be controlled by another flycycle.
| The flycycles were miracles of compact design. Aside from their individualistic saddles, they were built all alike: a pair of four foot spheres joined by the constriction that held the saddle. Half the rear section was luggage space, and there was harness for stringing additional gear. |
| Technovelgy from Ringworld,
by Larry Niven. Published by Ballantine in 1970 Additional resources -
|
Surely these are the Harley-Davidson's of Known Space. Just think of it; trading the joys of the open road for the joys of the open - sky?
For a real-life version of a flycycle, see Paraglider to fly from Greece to Egypt.
See also the steel tortoise, a slower but equally cool vehicle developed about 35 years earlier for the story Coventry, by Robert Heinlein.
(Just a little looping video of a "flycycle" (personal flying vehicle from Larry Niven's Ringworld novels) flying over an alien planet orbiting a blue giant star. Software used is Imagine2 and Terragen. Thanks to Rids at Renderosity for use of his magnificent terrain Hallowed Ground, and to Torley Wong for the music titled Xristosphan.)
Compare to the aircycle from Buck Rogers, 2430 by Nowlan and Calkin and the saddle from The Big Front Yard (1959) by Clifford Simak.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Ringworld
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Ringworld
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Flycycle-related
news articles:
- Paraglider To Fly From Greece to Egypt
- The F-Bike Flies!
- Get Your Speeder Flying Motorcycle From Jetpack Aviation
| Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said |
| SpaceX Rocket Shuttle Point-To-Point On Earth |
| CORLEO Robotic Horse Concept Looks Ready To Ride |
| Futuristic Transit Elevated Bus Never Really Worked |
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"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
