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"In science fiction one can say a great many things that are unpalatable, … because it's expressed as science fiction you can slip it past their defenses."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Space Scurvy (Kenoalgia) | ||
| A wasting disease of space travel. |
| “George shook his head. "Before you can get over your attack of kenoalgia," he said remorselessly, "you'll have to realize what's causing it. There's nothing wrong with you physically, but being in open space for the first time in your life is giving your ego the worst beating it's ever had. The first spacemen, who weren't trained psychologists, couldn't believe that so much nausea and prostration could have mental causes. They attributed it to a marasmic action of cosmic rays on nervous tissue, and the first two expeditions to land on Luna mutinied rather than go through 'space scurvy' getting home again." He cleared his throat.”
“Kenoalgia's a new disease," he went on, "because it's a response to a new situation for the human organism, being out of Earth's gravitational field. Psychologically, it's a combination of repressed fear of falling, anxiety about bodily integrity, and the rejection response. |
| From Sacred Martian Pig (Idris' Pig),
by Margaret St. Clair. Published by Startling Stories in 1949 Additional resources -
|
Compare to space sick from Ralph 124c 41 + (1911) by Hugo Gernsback and space weakness from Space Tug (1953) by Murray Leinster.
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Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
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'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
