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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
 |
| Ultron Wire | ||
| Invisible metal makes the thinnest, strongest wire. |
| At our signal, Gibbons exhausted the air in the compartment, pumping it into the body of the ship, and as the little signal light flashed, Wilma threw open the hatch. Setting the ultron wire reel, I climbed through, and began to slide down gently. We all had our belts on, of course, adjusted to a weight balance of but a few ounces. And the five-mile reel of ultron wire that was to be our guide was of gossamer fineness, though, anyway, I believe it would have lifted the full weight of the five of us, so strong and tough was this invisible metal. As an extra precaution, since the wire was of the purest metal, and therefore totally invisible, even in daylight, we all had our belts hooked on small rings that slid down the wire. |
| Technovelgy from Armageddon: 2419 A.D.,
by Philip Frances Nowlan. Published by Amazing Stories in 1928 Additional resources -
|
It could also conduct a signal and current.
As soon as Gibbons had our word, he extinguished the knob light, and
the knob, as well as the wire, became totally invisible. At our
ultrophoned word, he would light it again...
Compare to shadow square wire from Ringworld (1970), by Larry Niven.
We came out in the open without any further mishap and I instructed
Gibbons in the ship to light the knob on the end of the ultron wire.
It flashed dully a few feet away from us. Just how he had maneuvered
the ship to keep our end of the line in position, without its swinging
in a tremendous arc, I have never been able to understand...
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'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
