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"The point sticks in your head: physics rules. Virtue does not triumph unless the physics allows it."
- Larry Niven
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| Thermalite | ||
| A transparent material that allows almost no heat to escape. |
| "Big domes here have less radiating area for cubic content," replied Norden. "Thermalite domes' material is practically opaque to heat transmission, practically a non-conductor of heat, although transparent to light. |
| Technovelgy from Planet of Eternal Night,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1939 Additional resources -
|
Compare to glassite from Brigands of the Moon (1930) by Ray Cummings, artificial transparent element from Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, neo-crystal from Master of the Asteroid (1932) by Clark Ashton Smith, transparent car roof from Sinister Barrier (1939) by Eric Frank Russell, plani glass from Crystalized Thought (1937) by Nat Schachner and slow glass from Light of Other Days (1968) by Bob Shaw.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Planet of Eternal Night
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Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell
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| MXenes - Atomic-Thin Metal Sheets Now Easier To Make |
| Do We Still Need Orbiting Factories? |
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'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
