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've been very obsessive about writing science fiction for far too many years. Anyone with an ounce of sense would have given up years ago."
- Charles Stross
 |
| Artificial Transparent Element | ||
| A substance as strong as metal that you can see through. |
| Windows of an artificial transparent element, scarcely less strong than the metal of the hull, enabled the voyagers to look around them. |
| From Last and First Men,
by Olaf Stapledon. Published by Not known in 1930 Additional resources -
|
This is an obvious precursor to the idea with which all Star Trek fans are familiar, that of "transparent aluminum".
Also, it turns out that the helio-beryllium from Out Around Rigel, a 1931 story by Robert H. Wilson, also has a transparent variant.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Last and First Men
More Ideas
and Technology by Olaf Stapledon
Tech news articles related to Last and First Men
Tech news articles related to works by Olaf Stapledon
Artificial Transparent Element-related
news articles:
- Transparent Aluminum Vs. .50-Cal Bullets
- New Glass Tough As Steel
| 'Metallic Wood' Strong Like Titanium, Floats In Water |
| Self-Healing Material Pulls Carbon Out Of The Air |
| Shapeshifting Materials Transform By Light |
| Superstrong Multilayer Metal-Graphene Composite Material |
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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'A metal... light as cork and stronger than steel...'
'Ken lay full-length in the padded body compartment, his feet resting on the controlling bars of the directional planes, hands on the torpoon's engine levers.'
'... little machines, that went from plant to plant... cutting off the ripe fruit.'
'Recharge the batteries... in almost every town and village...'
'...a tiny, rocket-powered projectile, drove towards the mysterious bulk. It hit, exploding into a cloud of incandescent vapour.'
'The flycycles were miracles of compact design.'
These drones can provide situational awareness beyond visual line-of-sight capability.
'It resembled conventional human-operated transportation vehicles, but with one exception -- there was no driver's cabin.'
'Each one consists of a hub with many tiny spokes... On the end is a squat foot, rubber tread on the bottom...'
'A paper thin polycarbon screen unfurled silently from the top of the unit and immediately grew rigid.'
