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

"I realized there was a heavy-duty change coming in biology, and I could write a really compelling novel about catastrophic evolution, punctuated equilibrium."
- Greg Bear

Shoggoths  
  Bioengineered creatures, able to change shape, created for labor.  

"It was under the sea, at first for food and later for other purposes, that they first created earth life—using available substances according to long-known methods... They had done the same thing on other planets, having manufactured not only necessary foods, but certain multicellular protoplasmic masses capable of molding their tissues into all sorts of temporary organs under hypnotic influence and thereby forming ideal slaves to perform the heavy work of the community. These viscous masses were without doubt what Abdul Alhazred whispered about as the "Shoggoths"..."
From At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft.
Published by Astounding Stories in 1936
Additional resources -

Compare to the Monsters Manufactured from HG Wells' 1896 novel The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for sending this item in.

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from At the Mountains of Madness
  More Ideas and Technology by H.P. Lovecraft
  Tech news articles related to At the Mountains of Madness
  Tech news articles related to works by H.P. Lovecraft

Articles related to Biology
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
Youthful Brain With A Flip Of A Molecular Switch
Human 'Quadruple Helix' DNA
The Plastic Eaters - Amazon Fungus Lives On Plastic

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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

More News

MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'

TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.

Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'

CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'

Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'

Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.

The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'

Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'

Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

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

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.