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"What I have in my stories is ethics. Ethics and morality are very different cups of tea. I adhere to a very strict rigor of personal ethics and I demand it of those around me as well."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Inert Resin | ||
| A special coating that eliminates maintenance on marine structures. |
This novel has a number of very well-realized technologies for taking care of problems related to daily wear-and-tear.
| [Maintenance] is not a problem, with the modern polymers," Andrei said smoothly. "Inert resins… we paint them on … reduce corrosion almost to nothing…" Laura could see the thick painted sheen of polymer on the great load-bearing pipes and struts. There were no barnacles at the water line. No seaweed, no slime. Nothing grew on this structure. It was slick as ice. |
| From Islands in the Net,
by Bruce Sterling. Published by William Morrow in 1988 Additional resources -
|
What strikes me as interesting is the swing from a squeaky, ultra-clean future to a grimy, grainy future where everything is worn down. This kind of technovelgy will let us move back from worn and grimy back to perfect.
See also smart material, from All Tomorrow's Parties by William Gibson.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Islands in the Net
More Ideas
and Technology by Bruce Sterling
Tech news articles related to Islands in the Net
Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling
Inert Resin-related
news articles:
- Escapin: Anti-Bacterial Sea Slug Protein Prevents Biofilm Build-Up
| A 'Genuine Nanorobotic Production Factory' |
| Made In Space To Manufacture Optical Fiber In Orbit |
| Self-Assembling Bacteria Build A Pressure Sensor |
| Artificial Spider Silk |
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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.
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'A worker replaced by a nubot... had to be compensated.'
'... forcing the energy transfer which allowed him to regrow his lost fingers.'
'The car surged and lifted, clearing its top by a negligible margin.'
Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
'I had explained," said Nessus, "that our civilisation was dying in its own waste heat.'
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? - any work a human being does around a house.'
SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
