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"None of us, no matter what continent or island or ice cap, asked to be born in the first place, and that even somebody as old as I am, which is 80, only just got here."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Sound Nullifier | ||
| A barrier to sound; the cancellation of sound waves. |
| “How is it,” asked the doctor, “that in here we can’t hear the loud speaker in the anteroom, although there is no door?” “You see those ornamental spear points round the arch.” Nash stretched out a finger. “Well, diagonally between them is drawn a sound nullifying barrier. In principle, it’s not unlike those used in broadcasting except that it acts at audio frequencies. Try the experiment of putting your head through.” Obediently the doctor stepped forward through the arch. Suddenly he stiffened, shouted to Nash over his shoulder and plunged into the anteroom. Nash, hearing nothing through the sound nullifier, dawdled after him. But once in view of the antechamber, he too quickened his step. |
| From Prima Donna 1980,
by Bernard Brown. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the Fenton Silencer from Silence Please (1957) by Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein's hush corner in Double Star in 1956. Also, see the isolation barrage from Wandl, The Invader (1939) by Ray Cummings.
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| Envisioning Starship Earth Travel - In 1930 By Max Valier |
| Liquid Lenses Adjust Automatically, Not Quite Dune Binoculars |
| The Dune Ornithopter, Movie And Book |
| Two Towns Linked By Sculpture Portal In Real Time |
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'Why must we travel ever faster in a seemingly insatiable desire to conquer space and time?'
'It was as if some invisible jet impinged upon them and flashed into white flame.'
'Electronic differentiation of the grotesque, as it says in the specifications - in man, a sense of humor.'
'And as the ball bulleted downward on a screaming slant, it shrank!'
'Hufhuf oil held in static tension... within a viewing tube...'
'The wings were at full spread-rest, their delicate metal interleavings extended.'
'A record that wouldn't get lost and couldn't be destroyed.'
