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
"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'Science Fiction' and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Impact Suit | ||
| A body suit that is flexible, but upon a hard impact becomes rigid and impenetrable. |
How could a man fall from the sky and not be killed?
| "It was my impact suit," Purple said. He took a step forward and thumped himself hard in the belly with this fist. His belly was big and soft, so the blow should have made him wince. It did not. I thought for a moment that Purple had become rigid as stone.
"My impact suit," he repeated. "Normally it flows like cloth, but under a sharp blow it becomes a single rigid unit. Lant, you remember that a boy threw a spear at me in your village." "I remember. You were not hurt." "The suit is skin tight. With the hood up it covers all of me but my eyes and mouth, and of course it holds my shape. It saved my life." |
| Technovelgy from The Flying Sorcerers,
by David Gerrold (w/L, Niven). Published by Ballantine in 1971 Additional resources -
|
Here's another description of how the impact suit works:
Here's another quote from Larry Niven's Ringworld Engineers:
Louis landed flat on his face, in an impact suit gone rigid as steel. The form-fitting coffin supported him, but he ess still stunned...
Although Gerrold and Niven share authorship of the book, the impact suit is Niven's idea; see Flexible Armor Suit from The Soft Weapon, a short story published in 1967.
"When I realized I was falling, I pulled my hood up and curled into a ball. My impact suit saved me by holding my shape - much as water in a vase does not change shape when you set it down hard."
...Louis ran along the fence toward the walkway. The soldiers were close... The roar was disconcerting, even terrifying. A slug slammmed into Louis's ankle; the suit went rigid, and he rolled like a tumbled statue, picked himself up, and ran again. As two soldiers threw themselves at him, he swung over the fence and dropped...
Comment/Join this discussion ( 8 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Flying Sorcerers
More Ideas
and Technology by David Gerrold (w/L, Niven)
Tech news articles related to The Flying Sorcerers
Tech news articles related to works by David Gerrold (w/L, Niven)
Impact Suit-related
news articles:
- d3o-based RibCap: Flexible-Rigid Beanie-Helmet For Snowsports
- Skiers Get d3o-Based 'Impact Suits'
- Spyder Olympic GS Suit With d3o
| Liquid Body Armor For TALOS Exoskeleton |
| DIY Taser-Proof Clothing |
| Look Great In Your Garrison Bespoke Bulletproof Suit |
| Bionic Body Armor Makes You Dodge Bullets |
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 hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
