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
"It wasn't until I was past forty that it bacame clear that I was going to be quote, successful, unquote."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Acceleration Chair | ||
| A specially-designed chair used to help crew stay mobile during periods of high acceleration. |
One of the problems with conventional means of space travel (not involving faster than light) are the difficulties caused by the fact that accelerating the vehicle produces a force indistinguishable from gravity. Accelerating a ship at 10 meters per second per second would feel like earth-normal gravity.
| On the second day, Staley brought a new midshipman up to the bridge, both moving in traveling acceleration chairs. |
| From The Mote in God's Eye,
by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle). Published by Simon & Schuster in 1974 Additional resources -
|
At 20 meters per second per second, you would feel like you weighed twice as much. How could you move around without assistance?
Over the years, NASA has studied the problem of protecting people during high acceleration (both entering space and during re-entry). You would think that perfect physical specimens who underwent rigorous training and dietary regulation would do the best after the weightlessness of space travel. However, a study was performed in which sedentary and highly fit people were given a baseline acceleration tolerance test, then given 10 days of enforced bed rest. A second test was given following the bed rest.
The sedentary people were found to do better on the second test than the "perfect specimens." See the amusing article Fat Slobs in Space for additional details.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Mote in God's Eye
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
Tech news articles related to The Mote in God's Eye
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
| Space-Based Solar Power Roundup |
| 'Aerogel' Sheets For Martian Gardens |
| Michelin Self-Sealing Tires On Ford's Explorer |
| Mining Of Golden Asteroid Foretold In 1898 Science Fiction |
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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'But when Old Father Sun departs, the chromoplastic reverts to transparency in the dark.'
'It extended three of its tiny arms sideways to lock onto the registration pins...'
'The grey gas not only cut off his vision, but also his other senses...'
'Mass-produced in the orbiting factories...'
'I enjoy watching this way, but - He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
SF writers popularized and elaborated on this idea a generation before the first patents were filed.
'The autopilot would need data before it could begin a translation...'
'Sealed to the ground along all the sides, Honey, he growled...'
