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"Looking back through history, I see no evidence for humanity making the best of things, and I think it's a pretty safe bet that's an on-going trend."
- Richard Morgan
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| Shigawire | ||
| A very fine wire, used as a recording medium (among other things). |
Wire recorders were the precursor to tape recorders; the concept was first demonstrated in the 1870's using piano wire. The military used wire recorders very successfully during World War II and they were the first commercially successful form of recording device available to the public. See the Wire Recorder Transfer page for more information.
| "Muad'Dib," the man said. "I failed you in . . . " "The failure was mine, Korba," Paul said. "I should've warned you what to seek. In the future, when searching Sardaukar, remember this. Remember, too, that each has a false toenail or two that can be combined with other items secreted about their bodies to make an effective transmitter. They'll have more than one false tooth. They carry coils of shigawire in their hair -- so fine you can barely detect it... With Sardaukar, you must scan them, scope them -- both reflex and hard ray -- cut off every scrap of body hair. And when you're through, be certain you haven't discovered everything." |
| From Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1965 Additional resources -
|
See the entries for solido projector and minimic film for other uses of shigawire. See also microwire from Between Planets, a 1951 novel by Robert Heinlein.
Helpfully, the glossary for Dune provides us with this information about shigawire:
For those who have obtained a sample of shigawire and wish to experiment, read more at Tensile Strength Test - Stretching Wires.
SHIGAWIRE: metallic extrusion of a ground vine. (Narvi narviium) grown only on Salusa Secundus and III Delta Kaising. It is noted for extreme tensile strength.
"Tensile" comes from the latin word meaning "stretched out" - a material has good tensile strength if it resists being stretched out. The tensile strength of a material is the maximum resistance to fracture. Engineers also may refer to yield strength, the point at which the material begins plastic deformation (it begins to stretch or bend, and does not snap back).
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Tech news articles related to Dune
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Shigawire-related
news articles:
- Nanowire Memory Cells: Compact Data Storage
- Flexible Nanowire Data Storage
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'the registration number which the traffic control automatically photographed as she left the controlway...'
'It could maintain a steady six miles per hour...'
'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
'...without burning a single hydrocarbon molecule to injure the diseased atmosphere any further.'
'Bird-like robots now descended from the ceiling of the theatre...'
'The efficient robot waiter of the Sky Club had cleared away the remnants of an epicurean meal.'
'...in the tank the new body and the new mind and memory and life has taken almost instant form.'
'pirate three-vee satellites sanded out of orbit...'
'The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance. It had to be coaxed down...'
