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"Science fiction represents the modern heresy and the cutting edge of speculative imagination as it grapples with Mysterious Time---linear or non-linear time."
- Frank Herbert
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| Tractor Beam | ||
| A force field used to pull objects. |
Read an early example of this specialized kind of force field. This is the first instance of the term "tractor beam."
| "We'll carry off the pieces of that ship, too, Quince—we may be able to get a lot of pointers from it," and Brandon swung mighty tractor beams upon the severed halves of the Jovian vessel, then extended a couple of smaller rays to meet the two little figures racing across the smooth green meadow toward the Sirius. |
| Technovelgy from Spacehounds of IPC,
by E.E. 'Doc' Smith. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
The same device is used in Triplanetary:
"What do you make of that, Costigan?" asked the captain. "Tractor beams?"
"Apparently. They've got something like that. They're taking us somewhere fast. I'll go get a couple of Standishes, and another suit of armor - we'd better dig in," - and soon the small room became a veritable fortress...
Although Smith certainly won the naming convention, Edmond Hamilton wrote about essentially the same thing three years earlier in Crashing Suns - the attractive ray.
Other examples of force fields in sf include the barrier force field fence from Robert Heinlein's 1940 novella Coventry and the force-field penknife from Isaac Asimov's 1951 novel Foundation (probably the basis for George Lucas' light saber from Star Wars).
As they entered their retreat they felt their weight begin to increase. more and more force was applied to the helpless liner until it was moving at normal acceleration.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Spacehounds of IPC
More Ideas
and Technology by E.E. 'Doc' Smith
Tech news articles related to Spacehounds of IPC
Tech news articles related to works by E.E. 'Doc' Smith
Tractor Beam-related
news articles:
- Gravity Tractor Research By British Scientists
- Tractor Beam Works Over Longer Distances
- Physicists Build Repulsor / Tractor Beam
- Tractor Beams? They're Working On It
| SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew |
| ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick |
| FLOAT Levitating Train On The Moon ala Clarke |
| SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
