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"[Science fiction is] nightmares and visions, always outlined by the barely possible."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Biltong Life Form | ||
| Remarkable organic manufacturing aliens, probably indigenous to the Centaurus system. |
From cars to radios to fine glassware, the Biltong life forms could create beautiful, working copies. The survivors of war relied on the Biltong life forms to make copies - "prints" - of necessary objects.
But there was a problem.
As fast as the prints wore out, they were replaced by the Pittsburgh Biltong. New prints were made from the original objects preserved from the War.
| The Biltong was dying. Huge and old, it squatted in the center of the settlement park, a lump of ancient yellow protoplasm, thick, gummy, opaque. Its pseudopodia were dried up, shriveled to blackened snakes that lay inert on the brown grass. The center of mass looked oddly sunken. The Biltong was gradually settling as the moisture was burned from its veins by the weak overhead sun...
The Biltong's central lump undulated faintly. Sickly, restless heavings were noticeable as it struggled to hold onto its dwindling life... On the concrete platform, in front of the dying Biltong, lay a heap of originals to be duplicated. Beside them, a few prints had been commenced, unformed balls of black ash mixed with the moisture of the Biltong's body, the juice from which it laboriously constructed its prints. |
| From Pay for the Printer,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Satellite Science Fiction in 1956 Additional resources -
|
Objects that were poorly copied, or copied from copies, ended up being useless.
Charlotte took the puddinged watch back and restored it to her sweater pocket.
Compare also to the method used in the cosmic express from the 1930 story of that name by Jack Williamson and to Deposition (3D Printing) from Assassin (1978) by James P. Hogan.
The works of the tiny Swiss watch were a fused, unformed mass of shiny steel. No separate wheels or jewels or springs, just a glitter of pudding...
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and Technology from Pay for the Printer
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and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Pay for the Printer
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Biltong Life Form-related
news articles:
- 3D Printer Used To Make Transplant Jawbone
- Hexapod Robot CNC Router
- 3D Printing In Ceramics - The Vitraglyphic Process
- 3D Printing: The End Of Global Supply Chains?
- 3D Printing Is Here - Pay For The Printer!
- 3D Printing An Entire Car
- Strati 3D Printed Car
- Oak Ridge To Pay For The (Giant, Superfast 3D) Printer
- MultiFab 10-Material 3D Printer
- LM3D Swim First 3D-Printed Production Car
- Pay For The 3D Printer - NexD1 Kickstarter
- Ford Stratasys Infinte Build 3D Printer
- As Big As A Biltong - World's Largest 3D Printer
| Boring Company Bricks Predicted In 1929 |
| Is It Possible To GROW Planes And Vehicles? |
| Scaly-Foot Snail Works With Iron |
| Looms To Manually Weave Lunar Rover Wheels |
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'It's illegal to hold back information during a psyche test,' the machine said peevishly.'
Perfect for exploring ancient artifacts on distant planets.
'a walking balloon proceeded with long strides of its aluminum legs over a slant of steep upland.'
'This was as close as a robot could get to a cop in uniform.'
'Waldo flexed and extended his fingers gently; the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
'They were stylish, with yellow-tinted lenses and hip frames, but the posts were unusually thick.'
