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

"Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen."
- Larry Niven

Skintight  
  Specialized space suit for low atmospheric pressure environments like Mars.  

Time to describe a skintight. It's a remarkable piece of equipment, even when it's failing, even when you know you're going to die. Your standard Marsgrade skintight is a flexible and seamless suit woven from a continuous monomolecular strand of carbon coil flex, set into a bilayer gel mostly comfy to the skin. in the field, the skintight absorbs skin waste and conveys it through tiny tubes to storage packs around the butt...

Skintight fabric contains circuitry for battlefield diagnostic...

Technovelgy from War Dogs, by Greg Bear.
Published by Orbit in 2014
Additional resources -

Bear himself references Frank Herbert's stillsuit from Dune, which is pretty cool, I think.

Bear provides a lot more details, but for those you'll need to read the novel.

Just for fun, consider the 2006 Biosuit under development for the last decade (at least) by Dava Newman and her team, for real-life comparison purposes:


(Dava Newman with Biosuit at NextFest 2006)

Now, the most recent iteration:


( BioSuit, a skintight spacesuit )

Compare to skin suit from Dinosaur Beach (1971) by Keith Laumer, transkin from Parasite Planet (1931), by Stanley G. Weinbaum, kloraderm from Old Man's War (2005), by John Scalzi and the diveskin from Starfish (1999) by Peter Watts.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from War Dogs
  More Ideas and Technology by Greg Bear
  Tech news articles related to War Dogs
  Tech news articles related to works by Greg Bear

Articles related to Space Tech
The New Habitable Zones Include Asimov's Ribbon Worlds
Will Space Stations Have Large Interior Spaces Again?
Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution
Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri

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>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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

Science Fiction in the News

The New Habitable Zones Include Asimov's Ribbon Worlds
'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'

Atlas Robot Makes Uncomfortable Movements
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'

Boring Company Drills Asimov's Single Vehicle Tunnels
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'

Humanoid Robots Tickle The Ivories
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'

A Remarkable Coincidence
'There is a philosophical problem of some difficulty here...'

Cortex 1 - Today A Warehouse, Tomorrow A Calculator Planet
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'

Perching Ambush Drones
'On the chest of drawers something was perched.'

Leader-Follower Autonomous Vehicle Technology
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'

Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'

Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.