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
"…we store information differently, reading a science fiction story, to make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany
 |
| Zeroentropy Spray | ||
| A method of reducing the disorder of an object as much as possible, reducing the temperature close to absolute zero. |
| Deth surveyed him coolly. “But you see, your reverence, this is not the usual haunted house, set up for you to knock down. This, I fear, is a kind of war, your reverences. And perhaps war is something that only a contemptible and misbegotten deacon knows how to dirty his hands with. Unlimber the zeroentropy spray, Brother Sawl!” A long, light, slim projector was attached to the contamer which had originally been carried behind Deth. Brother Chulian felt the chill strike through his inviolability field, and he edged away, shivering. “A brief medium spray over the whole building,” Deth was directing. “Enough to stiffen the outer walls. Then full intensity straight ahead. We’ll make our own doorway. Ready? Very well. Brother Jafid, speak your piece!” Brother Jafid’s voice, mightily amplified, was unpleasantly sweet. “Let the Waters of Perfect Peace infold this place. Let them lull its unrest. Let them draw from it all motion and all evil.” With a faint screaming sound of almost inaudibly high pitch, suggestive of ice scraping ice, the zeroentropy projector opened up. Snowflakes and flakes of frozen air traced the widening path of its spray. The haunted house was engulfed in a swirling miniature snowstorm. Back from it rebounded a blast of arctic cold. The crowd, tight-packed as it was, seemed to draw back still farther, huddling. The path of the spray narrowed, concentrated around the doorway, crusted it frostily. Then the faint screaming ceased. A priest walked up to that gleaming, icily opalescent patch and rapped it smartly with his rod of wrath. The hyperfrozen materials shattered, leaving a large, jagged-edged hole. The priest ran his rod around the edge, knocking down splinters, which tinkled like icicles as they fell. |
| Technovelgy from Gather, Darkness!,
by Fritz Leiber. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1943 Additional resources -
|
As the Third Law of Thermodynamics states "The entropy of a perfect crystal is zero when the temperature of the crystal is equal to absolute zero (0 K)".
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Gather, Darkness!
More Ideas
and Technology by Fritz Leiber
Tech news articles related to Gather, Darkness!
Tech news articles related to works by Fritz Leiber
| 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> |
|
|
|
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
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
'It radiates outward in a cone which, by the time it has reached our section of space, is many lightyears across.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock.'
'... with a weird simulation of life, the ten forked ends of each arm commenced a rattling pressing of the buttons.'
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'
