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
"Human beings hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn; when they do, which isn't often, on their own, the hard way."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Life Bank | ||
| A storage facility with the genetic material that was produced by Earth's ecosystem. |
Can we take some of the Earth's biosphere with us if we are forced to leave our planet?
| There had been a time when wheat, soybeans, potatoes, corn and rice had been the major foods of the human race. Now there was no one alive who had ever seen them.
But they existed in the Life Bank, as did virtually every plant and animal that existed on Old Earth. |
| From The Ophiuchi Hotline,
by John Varley. Published by Quantum Science Fiction in 1977 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the genetic ark from Earth, a 1990 novel by David Brin.
Comment/Join this discussion (BACK ON!) ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Ophiuchi Hotline
More Ideas
and Technology by John Varley
Tech news articles related to The Ophiuchi Hotline
Tech news articles related to works by John Varley
Life Bank-related
news articles:
- Doomsday Vault Design Now Final
| Roboroach Control? There's An App For That |
| Squid Vs. Whale Diorama Liked By Humans, Aliens |
| Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil |
| Youthful Brain With A Flip Of A Molecular Switch |
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> |
|
|
|
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.
|
How long ago did Robert Heinlein write about skiing on dry alien worlds?
'There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'
'A cable, here, from the controller to the interface plug... wires from that to the brain.'
'Everything was ready, awaiting the Overlords' pleasure...'
'Five hundred billion gallons worth of Antarctic iceberg had been towed into Santa Monica Bay.'
'...he would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship's information circuit and scan the latest reports...'
'He realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it...'
'To recharge the batteries, which can be done in almost every town and village...'
