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"In science fiction one can say a great many things that are unpalatable, … because it's expressed as science fiction you can slip it past their defenses."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Dustmote | ||
| A tiny sensor device that could also form networks with other motes. |
These devices are also called "localizers" in the novel.
| The dustmote image swelled until it was a meter across and almost forty centimeters high. The head-up display automation painted appropriate reflections and shadows.
"Thanks." Trinli stood so they could all see him over the top of the lens-shaped gadget. "This is the basic Qeng Ho localizer - normally embedded in protective barriers, and so on. But see, in a benign environment - even outside in the shade - it is quite self-sufficient." "Power?" said Reynolt. Trinli waved his hand dismissively. "Just pulse them with microwaves, maybe a dozen times a second. I don't know the details, but I've seen them used in much larger numbers on some projects. I'm sure that would give finer control. As for sensors, these puppies have several simple things built in - temperature, light level, sonics." |
| Technovelgy from A Deepness in the Sky,
by Vernor Vinge. Published by Tor in 1999 Additional resources -
|
Here's another bit:
...these dustmotes already had sensors and independence built in. They weren't an embedded component of a system; they could be the system itself.
For a modern analog, take a look at multi-hop RFID tags.
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More Ideas
and Technology from A Deepness in the Sky
More Ideas
and Technology by Vernor Vinge
Tech news articles related to A Deepness in the Sky
Tech news articles related to works by Vernor Vinge
Dustmote-related
news articles:
- Multi-Hop RFID Tags Track Monkeys
- Ultrasonic Wireless ‘Neural Dust’ Sensors For Medical Monitoring
| ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'? |
| Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer |
| Cortex 1 - Today A Warehouse, Tomorrow A Calculator Planet |
| Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness? |
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'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
