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
 |
Massive Balls In Fact And Fiction
A 730 ton tuned mass damper helped to save one of the world's tallest buildings during the recent earthquake in China. Taipei 101 is just six hundred feet from a fault line; take a look at the video below to watch it help stabilize the building.
(Taipei 101 tuned mass damper video)
Check out the 3.5 inch steel cables and massive shocks holding it in place around the 90th floor of the building. It acts like a pendulum to counter the movement of the building; as the building sways in one direction, it moves in the other, damping the vibration. It is able to move five feet in any given direction and is the world's heaviest tuned mass damper (TMD).
That's one massive ball. Which got me to thinking.
Remember the bizarre disruption and whale communication technology ball used by the aliens in the 1986 movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home? It spun and moved in and out of the alien craft on some sort of light ray.
(From Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
And what about the beryllium sphere, so essential to the space drive in the alien vessel, in the 1999 film Galaxy Quest?
(The cast obtains a beryllium sphere in Galaxy Quest)
And don't forget that weird timespace travel machine that had Jodi Foster climbing into a huge pinball-shaped travel capsule in the film Contact.
(Jodi Foster confronts unknown in Contact)
Perhaps readers can cite more instances of massive balls in science fiction; I am at a loss to explain the frequent use of this motif.
Via The 730 ton stabilizing ball that keeps the tallest building in the world standing.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/25/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 6 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.' - Raymond F. Jones, 1945.
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...' - Robert Heinlein, 1942
Tornyol Microdrone Kills Mosquitoes
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
PLATO Spacecraft, Hunter Of Habitable Planets, Now Ready
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.' Edmond Hamilton (1936).
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
Spidery 'Walk Me' Toyota Autonomous Wheel Chair Like Star Wars
Walk along with the emperor.
Dancing Robots Taught Dance Moves
'A clockwork figure would be the thing for you...'
Proof Of Robothood - Not A Person
'Who are you people? - Show 'em.'
Indonesian Clans Battle
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
The 'Last Mile' In China Crowded With Delivery Robots
Yes, it's a delivery robot. On wheels.
Tornyol Microdrone Kills Mosquitoes
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
