Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"People are choosing to allow television and Electronic Arts to do all their imagining for them."
- Peter Watts

Galaxy Superbrain  
  The idea that the galaxy itself is a conscious entity.  

An early use of this concept; I can't think of an older one.


('Short-Wave Madness by Robert Castle)

"Arthur, he's dead!" I cried.

"Yes, of course he is," Arthur said numbly. He was staring with wide, haunted eyes at the wrecked receiver. "Gorrel listened to a colossal mind, a super-brain of space that didn't want him eavesdropping on it, and that ordered him to destroy the receiver and then die."

"A super-brain of space?" I exclaimed, "But what — where —" "

ARTHUR stumbled to a window, flung it open and pointed up. with a trembling hand at the starry, sky.

"It's up there!" he cried, and as he saw by my dazed stare that I did not understand, he added fiercely, "Didn't you see that the last wavelength Gorrel listened to, the thought-waves of the super-brain, was exactly .001 Angstroms? The exact wave-length of cosmic rays!"

"Cosmic rays?" I cried. "Then cosmic rays are really the thought waves of the super-brain? But they can't be — it's been proved that cosmic rays emanate from the stars of our galaxy."

"They do!" Arthur cried. "But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?

"Our galaxy, a mass of star-atoms gathered together into living, thinking matter — our galaxy is the superbrain!"

Technovelgy from Short-Wave Madness, by Robert Castle.
Published by Science Fiction in 1939
Additional resources -

Readers may recall that Douglas Adams declared the earth to be the largest computer ever made - mistaken for a planet by the bipeds that lived upon it.

Compare to the gigagnostotron from Cyberiad (1965) by Stanislaw Lem.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Short-Wave Madness
  More Ideas and Technology by Robert Castle
  Tech news articles related to Short-Wave Madness
  Tech news articles related to works by Robert Castle

Galaxy Superbrain-related news articles:
  - Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?

Articles related to Culture
Indonesian Clans Battle
Liuzhi Process Now In Use In China
Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Proof Of Robothood - Not A Person
'Who are you people? - Show 'em.'

Dancing Robots Taught Dance Moves
'A clockwork figure would be the thing for you...'

Indonesian Clans Battle
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'

The 'Last Mile' In China Crowded With Delivery Robots
Yes, it's a delivery robot. On wheels.

Tornyol Microdrone Kills Mosquitoes
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'

PLATO Spacecraft, Hunter Of Habitable Planets, Now Ready
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'

Factory Humanoid Robots Built By Humanoid Robots
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'

iPhone Air Fulfils Jobs' Promise From 2007 - A Giant Screen!
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'

ChatGPT Now Participates in Group Chats
'...the city was their laboratory in human psychology.'

iPhone Pocket All Sold Out!
'A long, strong, slender net...'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.