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"I long ago realized that I could reach far more people by writing something, than by walking down the street with a banner."
- John Brunner
 |
| Atom-Shifter | ||
| A device that 'softens' matter, making it possible for a person to pass through. |
| He took one hand from the Martian's head, found the atom-shifter slackly caught in a turn of a tentacle. He wrenched it away. He flung a beam against the wall facing the corridor. He waited a moment for the softening process to be complete.
Letting go of his prisoner, he sprang forward. Once more he passed freely through the rayed area. With him went the ray mechanism itself, and behind him stayed the spy he had caught. |
| Technovelgy from The Worlds of Tomorrow,
by Manly Wade Wellman. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Here's how it worked:
An atom-shifting beam, focused at a point, would temporarily change the speed and path of atoms until the hard became soft, the opaque transparent.
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'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
'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?'
