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

"I took the Minnesota multiphasic profile test once, and I tested out as paranoid, cyclothymic, neurotic, and schizophrenic. But I also tested out as an incorrigible liar!"
- Philip K. Dick

Homer  
  A device fired from a gun that ends the life of a citizen, based on the color of their palm flower.  

There was someone in the shadows ahead. A silent scream ripped at her throat.
Sandman!
Panic drove her heart against her chest in shuddering strokes. She spun about, clawed at the blistered boards, her fingernails breaking as she sought a grip on the coarse wood. The fence was too high...
Huddled into herself, she studied the char-black flower crystal centered in the palm of her right hand. A few days ago it had been a warm blood-red—just as seven years before it had been electric-blue, and seven years earlier, sun-yellow. A color for each seven years of her life. Now she was twenty-one and her flower was dull black. Sleep black. Death black.
The figure moved calmly toward her, across the moon-pavement. She didn’t look up. She stared at her palm, because her future and her past were written there. All of her days and her nights and her fears and her hopes.
Why had she believed in Sanctuary? Insane. Impossible. Why hadn’t she been like all the others who had accepted Sleep?
Now the dark figure, in black, stood over her, but she did not look up. She didn’t beg because begging was useless...
She saw the Gun come up.
The homer!
She saw the moonlight dazzle off the dark-blue barrel. The homer!
She saw the pale, tight-set face of the Sandman, and saw his eyes above the Gun, as his fingers whitened on the trigger.
The homer!
There was a soft explosion. That was the last thing she heard.
And the last thing she felt was raw, blinding agony, as the homer struck, burned, ripped and unraveled her.
Technovelgy from Logan's Run, by William Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson).
Published by Unknown in 1967
Additional resources -

The homer was mostly able to distinguish humans at 98.6, I don't think it was able to distinguish a particular person.

Compare the homer with the mechanical hound from Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 (used unique scent characteristics), the mechanical cobra from Roger Zelazny's 1967 novel Lord of Light (ised unique encephalogram pattern) and the smart bullet from Michael Crichton's 1985 movie Runaway (used the unique heat signature of a person).

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Logan's Run
  More Ideas and Technology by William Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson)
  Tech news articles related to Logan's Run
  Tech news articles related to works by William Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson)

Articles related to Weapon
Drone Bombings In Moscow Foreseen 100 Years Ago
TM-62 Loitering Ground Landmine
LANIUS Loitering Drone Munition Scouts And Maps
Israel Deploys Sharp Shooter AI-powered Robot Guns

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

18 Wheels Mutant Centipede Vehicle
'If a centipede were a dinosaur and made of metal to boot...'

Octopus Suckers Inspire Transdermal Patches
'...a capsule which he placed against his wrist.'

Robotic Hands Have More Than One Use
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'

Space Weather To Universe Weather
'It radiates outward in a cone which, by the time it has reached our section of space, is many lightyears across.'

That's MOXIE! Terraforming Mars Baby Steps
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock.'

'No, I'm Not A Robot' - Robot
'... with a weird simulation of life, the ten forked ends of each arm commenced a rattling pressing of the buttons.'

Missing Jet Finally Found
Ah, what could have been - still in the future.

Philippines Coast Guard Cuts Chinese Barrier
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'

Barista Robot Perfects Latte Swirl With Multi-DOF Wriggle
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'

Vendetta 2023 All-Terrain Skateboard Could Use Neal Stephenson's Smartwheels
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'

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.