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
"What we're doing pop culturally is like burning the rain forest. The biodiversity of pop culture is really, really in danger."
- William Gibson
 |
| Shere | ||
| Destroys cells so that memory cannot be deduced from the cells of the person even in death. |
In the far future world of the novel, it is possible to probe the cells of a dead person and retrieve a substantial amount of information, including emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. People who are in danger of being captured by their enemies use a special drug that causes these traces to be unreadable.
| 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. |
| From Heretics of Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1984 Additional resources -
|
It does seem hard to believe that it would be possible to probe your cells after you are dead, and retrieve anything like thoughts. However, research done on planaria and other simple organisms suggests that, since particular kinds of training (like finding their way through mazes, or resistance to being photophobic) have an effect on the tissues of the animal, it may be possible to deduce something about the organism's training or experiences from the cadaver.
More information on this topic is available in the entry for RNA Shots, from A World Out of Time by Larry Niven.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
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
| Amazon's Rekognition System Sees Criminals In Congress |
| IJOP Integrated Joint Operations Platform China's Minority Report? |
| Kuri Robot Roams Your Home, Taking Pictures |
| Nuclear Drones Could Fly For Years |
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.
|
'...lifted themselves to skimming flight upon whirling helicopters."
'Twenty rocket tugs towed it from its Earth hangar out into space.'
I don't need it to go fast, it just needs to amble along.
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time, subtly smoothing, deleting and coloring.'
'... a sound tape to supply the noise'
'The spotter descends, and we think it searches the vicinity, looking for the victim's face...'
