 |
Metal Calculator Planet
A planet covered entirely with machinery to a height of twenty miles and covered with a metal roof. (Read the full article)
| "I'm guessing way before New Detroit: http://www.wcnews.com/newestshots/full/marcnewdetroit1.jpg" (Sabre Runner 11/1/2007 10:33:50 AM ) |
| "Trantor was conceived by Asimov in the early 1940s so Simak's metal-covered planet might have been inspired by Asimov's?" (Adam 11/9/2007 1:32:27 PM ) |
| "E.E.Smith conceived an artificial planet-sized "Brain" in his book "The Skylark of Valeron" - a 1,000 km wide computer/spaceship designed to handle unimaginable forces. It was also composed of essentially self-replicating seed components and thus used exponential growth to build itself to large size rapidly. The ship-computer used brain-machine interfaces to take commands from its occupants, with automatic protective circuits to ignore random thoughts." (Adam 11/9/2007 1:34:05 PM ) |
| "I should have realized that what you said about Asimov was true; I own the Astounding Science-Fiction issue that contains Asimov's short story "The Mule," and that was published in 1945. I corrected the article. The reference from "The Skylark of Valeron" is great - I haven't read that book and didn't know that. How about sending in a quote? However, it looks like the idea of using a planet as a calculator still rests with Simak. As Holmes once remarked to a chastened Watson (me) "It is good not to be proven wrong on all points."" ( 11/9/2007 1:43:31 PM ) |
More info on Metal Calculator Planet
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned. So, send me your comments to bill at the site name (be sure to mention the page) and I'll post them. Thanks!
Current News Articles
AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Wood-Panelled LignoSat Launched
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories
'His contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory.'
'Iceberg House' Of Travis Kelce Reflects Science Fiction Of Past Century
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...'
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'
