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"There's a tendency to think that maybe if we can just throw enough hardware at the AI problem, then evolution can take care of the rest. Certainly that's how God went about making us."
- Rudy Rucker
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| Luminescent Vial | ||
| A glass tube full of luminescent algae; used to provide some measure of light underground. |
The sacerdotes of Aerlith live apart from the Utter men of the surface. Joaz Banbeck journeys deep into their caves to learn their secrets.
| On hands and knees he peered into the tunnel, and since it was dark, held forward a glass vial of luminescent algae. In the faint light the tunnel seemed empty... After perhaps a undred yards the tunnel broke out into a natural cavern.. Luminescent vials fixed to the walls at irregular intervals provided a measure of light, enough to delineate the direction of the cavern... Joaz came upon sacerdotes, the first asleep on a reed rug; the second sitting cross-legged, gazing fixedly at a contrivance of twisted metal rods. |
| Technovelgy from The Dragon Masters,
by Jack Vance. Published by Galaxy in 1962 Additional resources -
|
For another fine example of tasteful underground lighting, see the glowglobe from Frank Herbert's Dune.
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'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
