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"What I have in my stories is ethics. Ethics and morality are very different cups of tea. I adhere to a very strict rigor of personal ethics and I demand it of those around me as well."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Dixon Pump | ||
| An temporary mechanical heart to circulate blood. |
Although this is a fairly early sf reference, the first machine to replace the heart in circulating blood to the body was created in 1952 and used successfully in several different procedures. Prototypes used successfully in animals date from 1949.
| He glanced up from his work for a moment. Into the girl's chest he had plugged a Dixon pump; it had taken over temporarily the job of her uneven heart...
"Keep the people back," Parsons said, and resumed work. The throb of the robot pump gave him confidence; it had been inserted very well, and the load had left the girl's circulatory system. |
| Technovelgy from Dr. Futurity,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Ace Books in 1960 Additional resources -
|
Here's another description, this time detailing the installation process:
Dick implies that the mechanical heart is effectively a robot; it is a self-regulating device.
He punctured the rib cage and plugged the Dixon pump into the vascular system, bypassing the suspended heart. The pump went immediately to work. Blood flowed.
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Additional
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and Technology from Dr. Futurity
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Dr. Futurity
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Dixon Pump-related
news articles:
- Patient Walks Out With Fully Artificial Heart
| Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts |
| Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick |
| ErythroMer Artificial Blood |
| MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking |
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'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
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'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
