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

"The whole problem of energy sources is going to be solved by little solutions, not by some big new piece of technology that does everything. We got into this crisis by believing that we had one big piece of technology that would do everything (oil)."
- Gregory Benford

Painted Respirator Masks  
  Children choose to decorate otherwise uniform equipment masks.  

The tiger stripes on Jim's mask, the war paint on Frank's, and a rainbow motif on Phyllis's made the young people easy to identify. The adults could be told apart only by size, shape, and manner; there were two extras, Doctor MacRae and Father Cleary.


Mask from 'Red Planet' by Robert Heinlein)

He [headmaster Howe] poked his head inside, seemed about to leave, then came inside. He pointed to their outdoor suits, hanging on hooks by the clothes locker. "Why haven't you removed those barbaric decorations from your masks?"

The boys looked startled; Howe went on, "Haven't you looked at the bulletin board this morning?"

NOTICE TO STUDENTS

1. The practice of painting respirator masks with so-called identification patterns will cease. Masks will be plain and each student will letter his name neatly in letters one inch high across the chest and across the shoulders of his outdoors suit.

Technovelgy from Red Planet, by Robert Heinlein.
Published by Scribner in 1949
Additional resources -

Here's a colorful version; note the depiction of the desert cabbage:


(Red Planet cover by Shigeru Komatsuzaki)

Compare to the opposite idea, the moon moth mask from Jack Vance's eponymous story of 1976. Also, see the Ixian sight mask from Children of Dune (1976) by Frank Herbert.

Thanks to @nyrath [Winchell Chung of Atomic Rocket] for the quote; see his extensive page on heraldry.

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Red Planet
  More Ideas and Technology by Robert Heinlein
  Tech news articles related to Red Planet
  Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein

Painted Respirator Masks-related news articles:
  - Personalized Masks Appear

Articles related to Culture
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone
Chinese Hospital Tries Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' Cosplay
A Remarkable Coincidence

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

MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'

Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'

Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.

Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'

DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'

Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'

The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'

Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'

Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'

AI Operates An Excavator
'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.'

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.