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

"Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful."
- Philip K. Dick

Powered Suit with Trauma Maintenance  
  A powered suit (or powered armor) that is set up to save as much of your body as possible in worse case scenarios.  

When fighting in space, it is essential to close off damaged parts of a space suit to save the rest of the body.

"The suit is set up to save as much of your body as possible. If you lose part of an arm or a leg, one of sixteen razor-sharp irises closes around your limb with the force of a hydraulic press, snipping it off neatly and sealing the suit before you can die of explosive decompression. Then "trauma maintenance" cauterizes the stump, replaces lost blood,and fills you full of happy juice and No-shock. So you will either die happy or, if your comrades go on to win the battle, eventually be carried back up to the ship's aid station."
Technovelgy from The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman.
Published by Not Known in 1974
Additional resources -

Here's what it was like to "put the suit on:"

I stripped and backed into the clamshelled suit. The new ones were a hell of a lot more complicated, with all the new biometrics and trauma maintenance. But well worth the trouble of hooking up, in case you got blown apart just a little bit. Go home to a comfortable pension with heroic prostheses. They were even talking about the possibility of regeneration, at least for missing arms and legs...

Compare to the repair robots from The Well-Oiled Machine (1950) by H.B. Fyfe, automated apartment maintenance from Ubik (1969) by Philip K. Dick, the service drones from The Two Faces of Tomorrow (1979) by James P. Hogan, the Christmas Bush Motile Robot from Rocheworld (1985) by Robert Forward, the maritime robots from Mare Nostrum (2022) by Bruce Sterling and the maintenance drone (holon) from The Mountain in the Sea (2022) by Ray Naylor.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for suggesting this item, and supplying the quote.

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Forever War
  More Ideas and Technology by Joe Haldeman
  Tech news articles related to The Forever War
  Tech news articles related to works by Joe Haldeman

Powered Suit with Trauma Maintenance-related news articles:
  - Blackhawk Built-In Tourniquet Pants, Shirts
  - Saving Soldiers With Hibernation
  - Warrior Web: Superman Underwear From DARPA

Articles related to Medical
'Pregnancy Humanoids' From China Replace Moms
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick

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

China Steals Strato Airship Design From Google App Engine
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'

The First Space Warship For Space Force
'Each of the electrical ships carried about twenty men...'

Biohybrid Jellyfish Explore The Ocean
As predicted, and detailed, by science fiction writers!

Should AIs and AI Robots Demand Rights?
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'

Robot Learns Human Tool Usage By Imitation Learning
'I got one of those new electronic cameras...'

Companion Caregiver ChatGPT Dolls
'Every Artificial Friend is unique, right?'

'Pregnancy Humanoids' From China Replace Moms
'A great many of these synthetic babies were made...'

Man Builds 200 Foot Basement Firing Range
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock.'

Russians Create Robot Tank Platoons
'The remotely-operated robot tank is an old idea...'

3D-Printed Exoskeleton Learns From Your Hand
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'

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.