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"Science fiction operates a little bit like science itself, in principle. You've got thousands of people exploring ideas, putting forth their own hypotheses. Most of them are dead wrong; a few stand the test of time; everything looks kind of quaint in hind"
- Peter Watts
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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." |
| Technovelgy 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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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Dune
More Ideas
and Technology by Frank Herbert
Tech news articles related to Dune
Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert
Shigawire-related
news articles:
- Nanowire Memory Cells: Compact Data Storage
- Flexible Nanowire Data Storage
| Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait |
| Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade |
| Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones |
| China's Handheld Electromagnetic Gun |
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'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
