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
"None of us, no matter what continent or island or ice cap, asked to be born in the first place, and that even somebody as old as I am, which is 80, only just got here."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Radiant Power Receptor (DeKalbs) | ||
| A device which received and used energy transmitted from a station or satellite. |
This story appeared a long time ago; it's title survives as a nickname for a real invention (telefactoring devices - called "waldoes")which was first described in this story by the author. One of the most interesting subplots of the story involves what amounts to broadcast power, with cars and appliances no longer in need of engines or wired connections to power sources, respectively.
Heinlein didn't invent the idea of 'radiant power' (that is, wireless transmission of power), but he uses it to great effect in the story.
| He had seen radiant power grow up. He had seen the great transmission lines removed from the sky - mined for their copper. |
| From Waldo,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1942 Additional resources -
|
By the end of the story, the DeKalb power receptors were 'bewitched' to pull power right out of thin air (Heinlein makes it work in the story - really!) The interesting thing to me about this idea is that scientists are actually working on a similar idea - pulling power out of an alternate universe. If you think that both Heinlein and these scientists are guilty of 'magical thinking', you're not alone. Here's how Heinlein describes it:
"Not witch doctor - hex doctor..."
The skycar looked quite ordinary. Stevens examined the deKalbs and saw some faint chalk marks on their metal sides... "Watch while I cut in reception."
Stevens waited, heard the faint hum as the circuits became activized and looked.
The antennae of the deKalbs, each a rigid pencil or metal, were bending, flexing, writhing like a cluster of worms. They were reaching out, like fingers.
Don't miss Heinlein's description of the broomstick speedster, a minimalist craft that could whisk two people from the Earth's surface to a space station in low Earth orbit using the magic of broadcast power.
The first person to actually make wireless transmission of power possible was Nikola Tesla. He built a laboratory in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to develop his idea. The largest Tesla Coil ever built (the 'Magnifying Transmitter') could generate up to 300,000 watts of power, and produce a bolt of lightning 130 feet long. Tesla actually managed to successfully transmit about 30 to 50 thousand watts of power without wires using the coil.
The part of the Heinlein story that fascinates me is the character who links increased obesity and sedentary natures in children with an increase in radiation in the environment. He wears a lead-lined suit and lives in a lead-lined house, and finds that he is healthier than his peers.
"What!" put in Stevens. "You don't mean to stand there and tell me an old witch doctor fixed your deKalbs."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 3 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Waldo
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Waldo
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Radiant Power Receptor (DeKalbs)-related
news articles:
- Shape-Shifting Antennas
- Shape-Changing Metal Antenna
- Cellphone Harvests Power From Ambient Radio Signals And Light
| Seabreacher, H.G. Winter's 1939 Torpoon |
| Project Soli Radar Gesture Chip Now FCC Approved |
| Implosion Fabrication Shrinks 3D Objects To Nanoscale |
| ODYSSEUS Solar-Powered Stratospheric Plane Flies Forever |
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.
|
'... they placed the brain in a special solution, having all the properties of Nursing the brain cells.'
'... Ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.'
'Twin robotic arms with gleaming three-foot sword blades unfolded from the forward hydraulic assemblies...'
'He made an adjustment, pointed the tube at the wall beside Etzwane, and projected a cone of light.'
'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.'
