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
 |
Thought-Screen Helmets A Classic American Craft
Thought-screen helmet patterns and how-to tutorials from StopAbductions.com can help you stop those annoying holiday abductions this year. For just $30 in materials, you can practice this new American craft art.
(Home made thought screen helmet)
According to Michael Melkin, creator of the tutorial:
The first thought screen helmets were made in 1998 and used aluminum foil. They were sent to an investigator in Iowa. The investigator reported that one user tried it for a short time with no results...In 2007 several thought screen helmets were made with ten and twelve sheets of Velostat. Although eight sheets of Velostat are adequate telepathic shielding in most cases, some abductees state that they had a headache or felt nauseous with that level of protection. This situation may indicate that the aliens have increased the power of their telepathic transmission, especially when they directly confront their victims, but the signal remains scrambled by the Velostat.
It's important to gather empirical results.
A very early reference to this idea comes to us from Philip K. Dick, who wrote about it in his 1955 short story The Hood Maker (also published as Immunity).
He had done nothing disloyal. Nothing, except open the morning mail, find the hood, deliberate about it, and finally put it on......Should he wear it? He had never done anything. He had nothing to hide - nothing disloyal to the Union. But the thought fascinated him. If he wore the hood his mind would be his own. Nobody could look into it. His mind would be long to him again..
(Read more about Philip K. Dick's Probe Screen Hood)
Update 16-Mar-2025: It turns out that the tin foil hat idea was almost certainly originated by Julian Huxley in The Tissue-Culture King, by Julian Huxley, published by Amazing Stories in 1927:
"...we had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect, and had prepared for ourselves a sort of tin pulpit, behind which we could stand while conducting experiments. This, combined with caps of metal foil, enormously reduced the effects on ourselves.
(Read more about Julian Huxley's tin foil hat (tin pulpit))
End update.
One note for the craft maker; there are interesting new materials with as-yet unexplored properties:
- Optically Transparent Plastic Nanocomposites
The structure of this artificial material called 'plastic steel' resembles that of the nacre found in seashells. - Carbon Nanotube Speakers Are Flexible, Transparent
In case you want to listen, it can be made into a superthin high-performance loudspeaker that emits sound in a wide-frequency range. - Buckypaper To Go Commercial Soon
One of the strongest materials known, with an electrical conductivity like copper and greater thermal conductivity than diamond. - Flexible Rigid Biopolymer Inspired By Sea Cucumbers
It mimics the structure of sea cucumbers, which are able to change their skin from soft and flexible to hard and rigid (armor to protect them from predators).
From io9.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/28/2008)
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 ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Clothing ")
Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.' - Edmond Hamilon, 1930.
Kolors Virtual-Try-On Predicted, And TRIED, By Harry Harrison
'Bill blinked at his own face under the plumed helmet...' - Harry Harrison, 1965
Qore IcePlates Are Personal Cooling Suits
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.' - Neal Stephenson, 2021.
Fabrican Dress Sprayed Directly Onto Model On Coperni Runway
'...that might appeal to women, because by discharging from a few or a few dozen bottles a liquid that immediately set into fabrics... they could have a new creation every time.' - Stanislaw Lem, 1961.
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
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
