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"The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Gobathian | ||
| An alien medical technology that enables full body healing in the event of traumatic injury. |
In the novel, human beings "travel" mentally to distant planets, picking up bits of alien knowledge and technology to bring back.
| The doctor reached the door. He stooped with his stethoscope placed against the mummy, then stepped back from the bed. "He's dead," said Blaine. "His breathing stopped and it was a longtime --" "Yes, he's dead. He never had a chance. Even with gobathian he didn't have a chance." "Gobathian? That was what you used? That was why he was all wrapped up?" "He was broken," said the doctor. "Like a toy someone had thrown on the floor and stepped on. What you do you know about gobathian?" he asked. "I've heard of it," said Blaine. "An alien drug," the doctor said. "Used by an insect race. A warring insect race. And it's done miracles. It can patch up a smashed and broken body. It can repair bones and organs. It can grow new tissue." |
| Technovelgy from Time is the Simplest Thing,
by Clifford Simak. Published by Doubleday in 1961 Additional resources -
|
For another view on remarkable healing techniques, see atlotl/gibiril regimen from The Godmakers by Frank Herbert.
Compare to the emergency treatment tank from Agent of Vega (1949) by James Schmitz, the
regeneration tank from Contagion (1950) by Katherine MacLean, the surgical homeostatic unit from Now Wait For Last Year (1966) by Philip K. Dick, the autodoc from The Warriors (1966) by Larry Niven, the diagnostat from The Man in the Maze (1969) by Robert Silverberg, electronic body analyzer from The Andromeda Strain (1969) by Michael Crichton, the crechepod from The Godmakers (1972) by Frank Herbert and the autosurgeon from Altered Carbon (2003) by Richard Morgan.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Time is the Simplest Thing
More Ideas
and Technology by Clifford Simak
Tech news articles related to Time is the Simplest Thing
Tech news articles related to works by Clifford Simak
Gobathian-related
news articles:
- Fracture Putty For Compound Fractures - DARPA
- DARPA's Restorative Injury Repair Dream
- Stem Cells From Fat May Heal Bones
- Veti-Gel Closes Wounds, Starts Healing
- XSTAT 30 - Plugs Wounds In 15 Seconds!
- 'Living Bandage' For Knee Injuries
- Bees Royal Jelly Helps Wounds Heal Faster
- Bioreactor Helps Legless Frogs Get Their Jump Back
| Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans |
| Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans |
| Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI |
| Brainoware Reservoir Computation Of Biological Neural Networks |
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'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
