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"I believe in limited government, and the 20th century has been the century of government. The data is uniform. The government has failed at every single task it has set out to do, with the exception of waging war."
- Bart Kosko

Breathing Balloon  
  Like a helmet, but rather than being solid it can pass some gases.  

When next he left the extension cage, carrying the flight stick, Svetz was wearing another spin-off from the interstellar-exploration industries. It was a balloon, and he wore it over his head. It was also a selectively permeable membrane, intended to pass certain gasses in and others out, to make a breathing-air mixture inside.
It was nearly invisible except at the rim. There, where light was refracted most severely, the balloon showed as a narrow golden circle enclosing Svetz’s head. The effect was not unlike a halo as shown in medieval paintings. But Svetz didn’t know about medieval paintings...

The horse screamed as it went into free fall. The horn, intended for Svetz s navel, ripped past his ear and tore his breathing balloon wide open.

Technovelgy from Get a Horse!, by Larry Niven.
Published by Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1969
Additional resources -

Compare to the microscreen from Bolden's Pets (1955) by F.L. Wallace.

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  More Ideas and Technology from Get a Horse!
  More Ideas and Technology by Larry Niven
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