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"SF looks towards an imaginary future, while fantasy, by and large, looks towards an imaginary past."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Bloodhound Machine | ||
| Could positively identify a person using their scent alone. |
| 2XZ4 —the man wanted for a score of crimes,
from murder up to treasonable plotting.
2XZ4 had never been arrested, never
been typed. But we had his olfactory
classification; the Bloodhound Machine,
as the newscasters luridly call it, had
contacted his trail several times, so that
the scent of him was mathematically
known. Much good that did us! No one knew where he was now; nor what was his name, his nationality, nor what he looked like. Indeed we knew nothing about him at all, except his scent, which gave him the index-symbol 2XZ4. |
| From Crimes of the Year 2000,
by Ray Cummings. Published by Fantastic Mysteries in 1935 Additional resources -
|
Here's how it works:
I thought that Green was not watching
me, but at once he gasped:
"What—you doing?"
I did not answer, but jumped suddenly
and pressed the vacuum cup of the
classifier against his shoulder. The dial
indicators swung wildly, and instantly
settled.
2XZ4!
Compare to the olfactory system of the Mechanical Hound from Fahrenheit 451.
I turned swiftly and whipped out the
little classified—the Bloodhound Machine.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Crimes of the Year 2000
More Ideas
and Technology by Ray Cummings
Tech news articles related to Crimes of the Year 2000
Tech news articles related to works by Ray Cummings
Bloodhound Machine-related
news articles:
- Your 'Odortype' Is Unique!
| New Train Station Offers Minority Report-Style Signs |
| 'Ring Nation' Show Predicted By William Gibson In 1999 |
| The Wanderer: Eyebot From Fallout, Eye From Zelazny |
| Small Town Wants 60 License Plate Readers |
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'LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.'
'...a rolled-up sheet of a thin, dark metal strange to them.'
'... his contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory complex.'
'Space-weather men had been placed at their disposal...'
With each successive print, our model needed to incorporate more structural ingredients to minimize print failures.
'... Wendis stared thoughtfully at the brilliant lines on the spectroscope screen.'
'A special spot-wavex scrambler also caused his televised image, in the area immediately about his lips, to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully.'
'... it was as if the upper part had been removed, like a cut deck of cards.'
Sumomo will get those office workers into good shape!
