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"It was [H.G. Wells'] adolescent fiction, his imaginative stories, that live forever - and yet are not acknowledged in literature classes as being great literature. So to hell with the academics!"
- Greg Bear
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| Sparkers | ||
| A device used to deliver small amounts of electric current to chirpsithra, who use it for the same reason humans use alcohol. |
What will you have? Everyone has their favorite drink, I suppose. Electrical stimulation of the appropriate brain area would probably be cheaper for humans, too, when they learn how to do it. As a matter of fact, I seem to recall that Niven and Pournelle have written about this very thing in other novels like Ringworld Engineers (see droud).
| I have to keep facilities for a score of aliens. Liquors for humans; sparkers for chirps; flavored absolute alcohol for thtopar; spongecake soaked in a cyanide solution, and I keep a damn close watch on that… |
| Technovelgy from Niven's Laws,
by Larry Niven. Published by Owlswick Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
In this story, another in the Draco Tavern series, Niven provides a classic alien viewpoint story. Unfortunately, I can't say much more about it without spoiling the story. The quote comes from Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing! From the collection listed below.
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Sparkers-related
news articles:
- Mass Production Of In Vitro Meat From One Sample
| 3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality |
| Porcine Fat Cells For 3D-Printed Whole Pork Products |
| Microbial Protein Production More Efficient Than Crops |
| NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge! |
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'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
