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"...a market economy is essentially a genetic algorithm for solving resource allocation problems..."
- Charles Stross

Suspensor Chair  
  A chair that suspends itself above the floor.  

In Dune, the suspensor technology contrasted oddly with the feudal politics and mentality of the people. The science of suspensors is not explained, but that is typical of the novel, and was typical of the mentality of the characters. They distrusted science.

An ellipsoid desk with a top of jade-pink petrified elacca wood stood at the center of the room. Veriform suspensor chairs ringed it, two of them occupied.
Technovelgy from Dune, by Frank Herbert.
Published by Putnam in 1965
Additional resources -

This scene takes place in Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's meeting room, or apartment area. The Baron owned entire planets. The luxury was in the materials and veneers, not the technology; suspensor technology was widely used.

This sort of invention seems impossible; how can it be possible to generate a field that nullifies (or opposes) gravity? And how big would the generator have to be?

However, there are different approaches to problems; see the entry for gravity web also by Frank Herbert, for a slightly different approach than a generator.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Dune
  More Ideas and Technology by Frank Herbert
  Tech news articles related to Dune
  Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert

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