Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"I identify with the weak person; this is one reason why my fictional protagonists are essentially antiheroes."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Housefly Monitor | ||
| A living fly that is outfitted with sensors for surveillance work. |
| "I'm Bill Behren... Operator of fly 33408. Now, as you may or may not remember fly 33408 is a real winner. I mean it really gets in there and tackles its job and really gathers up the stuff, the real hot stuff. I've personally been operator for, say, fifty flies... but in all this time, none has really performed true blue like this little fella. I think he - or it, or whatever they are these days - deserves a vote of thanks from all of us involved in this delicate work we do. Right, Herr von Einem?" operator of Housefly 33048 Bill Behren paused hopefully.
"There are just plain virtually no houseflies as intelligent as this..." |
| Technovelgy from Lies, Inc.,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Fantastic in 1964 Additional resources -
|
Behren's supervisor is somewhat unhappy with his work; he has an interesting idea for a replacement:
Followers of this technology know that this sfnal idea has been actively pursued by DARPA; see these articles on the HI-MEMS: Cyborg Beetle Microsystem and Control Circuits Embedded In Pupal Stage Successfully . One reason for the choice of insect for this and other programs is that the size of the insect allows the developer to add more features to embedded electronics.
Time for a replacement of both Behren and his dipterous insect, both of them with one arboreal, American orthopterous katydid; it would carry twice the minned receptors and recording spools of 33048 and probably would possess the brain convolutions of Behren and his housefly put together.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Lies, Inc.
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Lies, Inc.
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Housefly Monitor-related
news articles:
- DARPA Cyborg Insects With Nuclear-Powered Transponders
- Is Noam Chomsky As Paranoid As Philip K. Dick?
- Bee Narcs To Perform Drug 'Stings'
| Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security |
| Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses |
| Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions |
| Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
