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"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Thought Screen | ||
| A material screen that is worn by the user, upon which are projected the mental images of the user. |
Very handy device for aliens - although you still need to interpret the symbols.
Joe and Al, intrepid space explorers who stumble onto an unknown universe on their way to Pluto, encounter unusual alien beings.
| Two orange, dome-shaped creatures, somewhat like diving bells. The front of each bell was flattened, and in the center was a huge oval opening, covered by a translucent mica-like substance. Directly over and on each side of the opening protruded two antennae, at the end of which were round faceted knobs...
On the translucent mica-like coverings over the orifices, appeared reddish characters. There were four of them, delicate, intricate tracings, lit up by some interior fire. They resembled somewhat the old cuneiform writing of the Babylonians or the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Al was greatly excited, "I believe they're trying to communicate with us..." |
| From The Emperor of the Stars,
by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat). Published by Wonder Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
The thought screen also presented an interpretation of emotion:
The Ruler emanated inuterable sdness, and a host of pallid red glyphs flashed in rapid succession on the thought screen.
You just don’t read this kind of empathy for alien races these days:
“Did the Prostak scientists watch the transcendental spectacle in their powerful telescopes? If so, what joy there must have been in that world, what a waving of tentacles, what a shimmering procession of bright red glyphs across their strange communication disks! How that orange glowing air must have vibrated to emanations of joy and of thankfulness!”
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and Technology from The Emperor of the Stars
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Tech news articles related to The Emperor of the Stars
Tech news articles related to works by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat)
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'... with large padded feet, who were apparently polishing their way the whole length of Rama's six artificial suns.'
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray on its upper surface...'
'the human seats took up two-thirds of the room in each'
'the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits...'
'Over her lacerated right shoulder he sprayed art-derm...'
Now, that was a Pontiac Trans Am with some real style.
'There is a built-in microphone that hears everything you say, and an electric brain that selects a suitable answer.'
