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
"...being predictive, being right about the future, is not the point of any given story or novel. The point is about exploring as wide a range of possibilities as possible."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Solar Beam | ||
| Obtaining solar power by means of a direct connection with the sun. |
A unique approach to the problem of obtaining solar power; this is tried on George O. Smith's Equilateral Station in the vacuum of space (hence the space suits in the figure below).
| Don began to sketch. "Suppose we make a driver tube like this," he said. "And we couple the top end, where the cathode is, to the input side of the relay tube. Only the input side will require a variable-impedance anode, coupled back from the cathode to limit the input to the required value. Then the coupling anodes must be served with an automatic-coupling circuit so that the limiting power is passed without wastage."
Barney pulled out a pencil. "If you make that automatic-coupling circuit dependent upon the output from the terminal ends," he said, "it will accept only the amount of input that is required by the power being used from the output. Overcooling these two anodes will inhibit the power intake." "Right," said Wes. "And I am of the opinion that the power available from Sol is of a magnitude that will permit operation over and above the limit." "Four million tons of energy per second!" Walt exploded. "That's playing with fire!"
 (Solar Beam by George O. Smith) "But to get back to this Goldberg, what is it?" "Warren," said Channing soberly, "sit down!" Warren did. "Now," said Charming, "this screwball gadget is an idea whereby we hope to draw power out of the sun..." "Go ahead," said Charming. "Be funny. You just heard the man say that dissimilar dyno-cathodes do not work. What we need for our solar beam is a dynode of Russell's Mixture so that it will be similar to our cathode—which in this case is Sol. Follow me?" |
| Technovelgy from The Long Way,
by George O. Smith. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1944 Additional resources -
|
One of my favorite parts is when they try to decide if they are aiming it correctly:
"Right. Couple it to the rotating stage if you can..."
"Could it be that we're actually missing Sol?" Don asked. "I mean, could it be that line-of-sight and line-of-power aren't one and the same thing?"
Compare to the power planet from Power Planet (1931) by Murray Leinster, the near-space solar energy collector from Star Maker (1937) by Olaf Stapledon, the solar energy beam from Masquerade (1941) by Clifford Simak and the solar station from Isaac Asmov's 1941 story Reason.
"...you'll want this in the experimental blister at South end? On a coupler to the beam-turret so that it'll maintain direction at Sol?"
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Long Way
More Ideas
and Technology by George O. Smith
Tech news articles related to The Long Way
Tech news articles related to works by George O. Smith
| China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones |
| Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel! |
| Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine |
| Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy |
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
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
