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"I think we could solve our problems more easily through strength of character; but that's always been a commodity in extremely short supply."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Commuter Cooling Unit | ||
| A portable air conditioner for commuters. |
Richard Hnatt lives in a future Earth that is too hot. It is so hot that anyone who is forced to go out of doors is required to wear their own cooling unit for their own personal safety and well-being.
| Looking out the window he saw with aversion that already it had become too hot for human
endurance; the footer runnels were abruptly empty as everyone ducked for cover. The time was
eight-thirty and he now had to leave; rising, he went to the hall closet to get his pith helmet
and his mandatory cooling-unit; by law one had to be strapped to every commuter's back until
nightfall... He opened the door and stepped out into the hall, feeling the cool wind of the portable unit as it chugged from behind him... Shortly, he was aboard a thermosealed interbuilding commute car, on his way to downtown New York City... |
| From The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Doubleday in 1965 Additional resources -
|
This book was written in 1964; time enough for Dick to see astronauts carrying their own
cooling units when climbing into rockets. It is a considerable leap to see how they might be
used in global warming.
The notion of global warming dates from the late 1800's; scientists vary in their estimates about how much our
weather patterns and global temperature vary due to our impact on the environment, or long-term changes that are normal for the Earth.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
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- Air Warrior Microclimatic Cooling Garments Tested By Army
- A Forced Air-Cooled Jacket?
- Wristify, Your Personal Cooling and Heating Device
| The Hammock Caravan And Italo Calvino's Octavia |
| Americans! Stay Indoors To Save Energy |
| Nissan ProPILOT Slippers Are Self-Parking, Autonomous |
| Seiko Astron Always Knows Your Time Zone |
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'Merton... placed the electrodes of the sleep-inducer on his forehead.'
'... we can descend and live down there at one of those year-round aquatic resorts.'
'...she would have to be coaxed by another series of pats into a circular orbit.'
'The sleek, tapered space shuttle lay immobile upon the private landing field...'
Yes, people of the future, robots will dress you.
