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"One could imagine a very ascetic sort of life ... where the body is ignored. This is something I've played with in my books, where people hate to be reminded sometimes that they have bodies, they find it very slow and tedious."
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![]() This is a very futuristic scenario - or it was in the 1950's. Some thought has been given to underground trains that would make use of partially evacuated tunnels to reduce air resistance.
However, I once worked in the "tube room" of a large hospital that used pneumatic tubes to deliver paperwork throughout the large building. What Heinlein has created here is effectively a tube system for people.
In 1870, Alfred Ely Beach, tried to construct a prototype pneumatic train subway in New York City. The city fathers were not impressed and decided on the elevated train concept instead.
If you want to check out what a factory conveyor belt system for a country would look like, see the entry for rolling roads, from The Roads Must Roll, also by Heinlein.
Also, take a look at a "vacutube" that operates in the vertical dimension for one passenger at a time; see bounce tube, also by Robert Heinlein.
Compare to the single vehicle tunnel from Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov, the
pneumatic tube station from Exiles of the Moon (1931) by Schachner and Zagat, the
submarine tube from An Express of the Future (1895) by Jules Verne, the
sub-Atlantic tube from Ralph 124c 41 + (1911) by Hugo Gernsback and the public tubes from The Houses of Iszm (1954) by Jack Vance. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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Science Fiction
Timeline
ESTHER Tennis Robot V. Fact (1934) And Fiction (1952)
'THE red tennis robot scooted desperately across the court...'
Japan's LignoSat Space Wood Satellite And Dan Simmons' Treeship
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Skyline Robotics Instantiates Heinlein's 'Window Willie' Skyscraper Robot
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
Drone Bombings In Moscow Foreseen 100 Years Ago
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
I Didn't Know You Can Already Buy Flesh Putty
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
Melting Permafrost Endangers Infrastructure
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
EELS Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor For Enceladus
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
Lazy Lawyer's Trust In ChatGPT Misplaced
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
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