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"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."
- Frederik Pohl

Ixian Probe  
  A device that looks at brain tissue so carefully that memories can be seen.  

"An Ixian probe can raid the mind even of a dead person," Geasa explained. "Shere is a drug that protects you from the probe. Your cells will be totally dead before the drug effect is gone..."

He [Teg] had never personally employed a probe but he had sutdied their use thoroughly. The Bene Gesserit often used pain but relied mostly on Truthsayers. Even more than that, the Sisterhood believed that some equipment could put them too much under Ixian influence. It was an admission of weakness, a sign that they could not do without such despicable devices.

From Heretics of Dune, by Frank Herbert.
Published by Putnam in 1984
Additional resources -

For another look at the idea that the very flesh and brains of a person can be queried for information about what that person thinks, see also RNA shots.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Heretics of Dune
  More Ideas and Technology by Frank Herbert
  Tech news articles related to Heretics of Dune
  Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert

Ixian Probe-related news articles:
  - Read/Write Brain Electrodes Handier Now

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