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"Looking back through history, I see no evidence for humanity making the best of things, and I think it's a pretty safe bet that's an on-going trend."
- Richard Morgan
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| Invisible Watchmen | ||
| Automated 'home security' sentry system that targets and eliminates intruders. |
This is a very early reference to this idea. They're diabolically ingenious!
| He reached up with the little oval instrument he held.
It was a recorder which registered the presence anywhere nearby of "invisible watchmen," those diabolically ingenious combinations of electric eyes and atomic beams, effective alarms that blasted down intruders without warning. |
| Technovelgy from Murder in the Void,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1938 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the automatic gun from The Andromeda Strain (1969) by Michael Crichton and the
robot gun from Aliens (1986) by Alan Dean Foster.
This idea is under development (using bullets instead of lasers), with some success: see the article on the DoDAMM Autonomous Robot Sentry Gun.
(Super aEgis 2 autonomous robot sentry gun )
As far as I know, automatically targeted guns didn't exist until WWII when anti-aircraft fire could be targeted using radar.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Murder in the Void
More Ideas
and Technology by Edmond Hamilton
Tech news articles related to Murder in the Void
Tech news articles related to works by Edmond Hamilton
| FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers |
| Perching Ambush Drones |
| India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking |
| LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049 |
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'It hurtled on down with inconceivable speed until it was visible as thousands of tiny robot planes...'
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
