Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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
"IMHO, having students do computer games projects is absolutely the best possible way to teach programming, graphics, software engineering, object oriented programming, etc."
- Rudy Rucker
 |
| Vibratory Mass Penetrator | ||
| A device that allows a person to walk through earth and even solid rock. |
Rock Diver is a very striking short story; it describes a day in the life of a very special kind of prospector.
| The outcropping sheltered him as he fumbled for the switch at his side. A shrill whine built up in the steel box slung at his belt...Pete clambered up on the granite ledge that pushed up through the frozen ground.
He stood straight against the wind now, not feeling its pressure, the phantom snowflakes swirling through his body. Following the outcropping, he slowly walked into the ground. The top of his helmet bobbed for a second, like a bottle in the water, then sank beneath the surface of the snow. |
| Technovelgy from Rock Diver,
by Harry Harrison. Published by Hillman Periodicals in 1951 Additional resources -
|
This idea is described in The Microscopic Giants, a 1936 story by Paul Ernst. In the story, prospectors in Michigan's upper peninsula dig deeper than ever for copper, and find an incredible offshoot of the human race that walks through rocks:
... I can close my eyes and see the thing now; a manlike little figure walking board us through solid concrete. It bent forward as though shouldering a way against a sluggish tide, or a heavy wind; it moved as a deep-sea diver might move in clogging water. But that was all the resistance seemed to offer to it, that sluggish impediment to its forward movement.
Behind it there was a faint swirl of luminosity, like phosphorescent water moving in the trail of a tiny boat... the face was as human as ours...
The explanation given is that this race of humans had lived underground (and in ground) for so long that their bodies adapted to the tremendous pressure by becoming more dense.
As the faint, luminous spot in the concrete grew larger it also took recognizable form. And the form that appeared in the depths of the stuff was that of a human!
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Rock Diver
More Ideas
and Technology by Harry Harrison
Tech news articles related to Rock Diver
Tech news articles related to works by Harry Harrison
| Is There A Subterranean Ocean? |
| The Robotic Shopping Cart Of The Future |
| Arctic Resource Jackpot An Old Wish |
| Marie Curie's Papers Still Radioactive |
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
