Steel cable tethers the top bed to the bottom base. Had to do some math to determine how long the cable needed with how high I calculated that the bed would float. I got this stabilization system (and most of the idea of the bed!) from this bed which is a much larger scale, much more expensive version.
The office was spookily furnished, since none of the furniture had legs. Everything was suspended magnetically at the proper height...
Update 17-Jun-2012: Thanks to Zac Hunter, we have cool sf precursor for this DIY bed from the 2007 novel Spook Country by William Gibson. See the entry for the magnetically levitating bed. End update.
See more pictures (and possibly enough pictures to create your own bed) here.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/27/2012)
Tortoise Mobile Smart Stores
'... all round the city dozens of cars have rented out their trunks, which contain cigars and scotch and stuff.' - Karl Schroeder, 2019.
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.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'