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"There was a time when one old eccentric guy with a notebook could do something important to science. Now even the resources of a major university are often not enough."
- Jerry Pournelle
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| Gyrocar (Gyro) | ||
| A gyroscopically stabilized car; a one-wheeled vehicle. |
| The car was standing at less than a fifteen degree angle, tilting west... a gyrocar was both compass and clock. It held its position without regard to the motion of the planet, which meant that it leaned to the west - when parked - at a rate of fifteen degrees per hour, unless set on its side with the gyro oriented east-west. et Earth spin, fashioning day and night - the gyro was indifferent.
He gunned the wheeldrive, grabbed the steering bar, and slapped the reverse button. Dry sticks crackled under the single tire as it bounced over the side embankment, and the gyro vibrated against the stress of uneven terrain. |
| From The Ring,
by Piers Anthony (w/R. Margroff). Published by Macdonald in 1969 Additional resources -
|
Here's how they worked:
Compare to the gyrocar from Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race (1911) by Kenneth Brown, the Gyro-Hat from An Experiment in Gyro-Hats (1926) by Ellis Parker Butler, the tumblebug from The Roads Must Roll (1940) by Robert Heinlein, the Two-Wheeled Ground Car from First Lensman (1950) by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, the Gyro Two-Wheeled Truck from The Sign of the Tiger (1958) by Alan Nourse (w/Meyer) and the smart bike from Distraction (1998) by Bruce Sterling.
"The law makes me report every powerpak I take from a gyromotor," Ed said. "You know, those gyropaks are special, not like the wheel motors. They keep that gyro going all the time, so the car won't fall."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Ring
More Ideas
and Technology by Piers Anthony (w/R. Margroff)
Tech news articles related to The Ring
Tech news articles related to works by Piers Anthony (w/R. Margroff)
Gyrocar (Gyro)-related
news articles:
- Audi Snook One-Wheel Concept Gyrocar Updated
| Seoul Self-Driving 42dot Bus Unveiled |
| Electric Jet Boats From Enevate and Sealence Collab |
| Alcohol-Sensing Cars - NTSB Catches Up With Philip K. Dick (1963) |
| Tianjin Solar Vehicle From Hanergy (2022) Looking Like Heinlein's (1940) |
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'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
'Jimmy Cardigan and Harlowe, staring through the darkside port, had their feet in the foot-loops...'
'But the rising sign, as it had been designed to do, held his eyes. A vast circle of scarlet stars came up into the greenish desert dusk.'
'A lightning pilot possibly could land that tin toy without power and still walk away from it provided he had the skill to play Skip-to-M’Lou in and out of the atmosphere...'
'It was you who betrayed me — you and your robot cat.'
'with its atomic engine as noiseless as a dancing sunbeam...'
