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"...being predictive, being right about the future, is not the point of any given story or novel. The point is about exploring as wide a range of possibilities as possible."
- Peter Watts
 |
| The Machine (M) | ||
| An autonomous robot able to alter its appearance and functionality at will. |
| The machine was a foot wide and two feet long: it looked like an oversized box of crackers. Silently, with great caution, it climbed the side of a concrete building; it had lowered two rubberized rollers and was now beginning the first phase of its job...
Beam, holding the cigaret lighter, walked toward the M. A receptor stalk waved toward him and the machine retreated. Its lines wavered, flowed, and then painfully reformed. For an interval, the device struggled with itself; then, reluctantly, the portable t-v unit again became visible. |
| From The Unreconstructed M,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Science Fiction Stories in 1957 Additional resources -
|
I don't have text references, but readers might compare the Shrike from Dan Simmon's 1989 novel Hyperion and the Aleph from Gregory Benford's 1983 novel Against Infinity.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Unreconstructed M
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Unreconstructed M
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
The Machine (M)-related
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- MorpHex MKII The Unreconstructed Hexapod
- Metal That Morphs
- Liquid Metal Terminator Development Hums Right Along
- Liquid Metal Shape-Changing 'Soft Robotics'
| Flying Dragon Robot Transforms In Mid-Air |
| MXene Hydrogel Skin For Robots Flexes And Senses |
| Drywall Robot Looking For Sheetrock |
| Robots Help People Get Dressed, As Predicted In 1931 |
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