Device Name |
Book/Story |
Author |
Date |
Calculator Pad Used to make psychohistoric calculations |
Foundation |
Asimov |
1951 |
Caleban Contact A form of telepathy based on the use of unimaginably enormous amounts of energy. |
The Dosadi Experiment |
Herbert |
1977 |
Caliban Beachball Dwelling place for unusual lifeform who make jumpdoors possible. |
Whipping Star |
Herbert |
1969 |
Call Notification Unit A small portable device that let you know that you had a phone call at your home. |
Eye of Cat |
Zelazny |
1982 |
Caller Contact List A list of callers kept on the phone instrument. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot |
Pohl |
1966 |
Calster A handheld device that printed legal currency on the spot. |
Return from the Stars |
Lem |
1961 |
Camden Speedster A super sports utility vehicle (SUV); it drives on the highway, the water and jumps into the air for short periods. |
Methuselah's Children |
Heinlein |
1941 |
Camera Tunnel A device that captures images of shredded documents from all sides for reassembly. |
Rainbows End |
Vinge |
2006 |
Can City A cylindrical space habitat. |
Hyperion |
Simmons |
1989 |
CAN-D Illegal narcotic chewed to alter the state of colonists. |
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch |
Dick |
1965 |
Cannibal Grass Genetically engineered grass that acts as a defense layer for a home. |
Sparrowhawk |
Easton |
1990 |
Canola Oil Vegetable oil refined for use as fuel |
Virtual Light |
Gibson |
1993 |
Capillotomer An automatic shaving machine |
Beyond This Horizon |
Heinlein |
1942 |
Car Dashboard Drone Controller A screen and controls for using a remote drone. |
Runaway |
Crichton |
1985 |
Car Sound Tape Otherwise silent vehicle uses a recorded engine sound. |
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls |
Heinlein |
1985 |
Cardioplate A device that could take seconds or minutes off your life, one beat at a time (or all at once). |
'Repent Harlequin' Said the Ticktockman |
Ellison |
1965 |
Carniculture Plants Industrial plants that grow meat protein. |
Four-Day Planet |
Piper |
1961 |
Carniculture Vat Technology to grow meat sans animal. |
Space Viking |
Piper |
1962 |
Carryall A flying wing (aircraft); used to pick up a sandcrawler (harvester factory) |
Dune |
Herbert |
1965 |
Carson Circuit A means of distinguishing betweem millions of different information sources - the secret of the Internet. |
A Logic Named Joe |
Leinster |
1946 |
Cartograph A device that shows you a record of your travels - a GPS readout. |
The Cometeers |
Williamson |
1936 |
Cataclysmite A high explosive. |
Little Fuzzy |
Piper |
1962 |
Catchpocket A small container in a stillsuit that stored reclaimed water. |
Dune |
Herbert |
1965 |
Caterwheel A uniquely styled ground vehicle with fat, splayed out tires. |
Sand Doom |
Leinster |
1955 |
Causality-violation Device (or Weapon) Any of a variety of technologies intended to exploit time travel as a weapon. |
Singularity Sky |
Stross |
2003 |
Cavorite An antigravity metal; when it cools, whatever it covers will be impervious to gravitational forces. |
The First Men in the Moon |
Wells |
1901 |
CCD Eyes Electronic eyes using charged-coupled devices provide a wide variety of functions. |
Stone Lives |
Di Filippo |
1985 |
Celestial Armamentarium A small crystal planetarium, in which the stars and planets surrounding Aerlith are seen. |
The Dragon Masters |
Vance |
1962 |
Cellphone Credit Card Cellphone that can act as a credit card. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot |
Pohl |
1966 |
Cellphone Tranquilizing Spray A mild sedative administered automatically by your cellphone. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot |
Pohl |
1966 |
Cellphone Voice Mail Callers speak into their instrument, and the content of the call is stored by the network for the user to replay at will. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot |
Pohl |
1966 |
Centipede Perfect craft for crawling through slushy, frozen lakes - on Titan. |
Killing Titan |
Bear |
2015 |
Centipede-Machine Multi-legged transport. |
Monsters of Mars |
Hamilton |
1931 |
Central City (Lunar Habitat) An early example of a non-military lunar habitat. |
Earthlight |
Clarke |
1955 |
Central Computer A computer capable of running an entire city. |
The City and the Stars |
Clarke |
1956 |
Central Guide-Beam A kind of signal that demonstrates the best possible path to a destination in space and even provides motive power. |
Shell Game |
Dick |
1954 |
Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy Futuristic children's game. |
Brave New World |
Huxley |
1932 |
Centrifugal Force Creates 'Artificial Gravity' Using centrifugal force in a rotating cylinder as a substitute for gravity. |
The Prince of Space |
Williamson |
1931 |
Centrifuge Room A small room on a planetoid that is spun to create artificial gravity. |
The Ophiuchi Hotline |
Varley |
1977 |
Cephalic Pattern Door A door that only opens for specific people. |
The Zap Gun |
Dick |
1965 |
Cephalic Sniffer Device can locate an individual using brain patterns. |
Clans of the Alphane Moon |
Dick |
1964 |
Cephalochromoscope (Cephscope) A brain-scan device with a screen to display neural patterns. |
A Scanner Darkly |
Dick |
1977 |
Cephaloscope A device used to detect lying. |
The Houses of Iszm |
Vance |
1954 |
Cephalotropic Dart A slim, short-range device that homes in on the brain wave pattern of the target. |
Lies, Inc. |
Dick |
1964 |
Cerebral Microprocessors Added boost for maxxed out minds. |
Millenium |
Varley |
1983 |
Chain Gun Device fires lengths of steel chain. |
All Tomorrow's Parties |
Gibson |
1999 |
Chairdog A chair that is alive and partly sentient; it shapes itself to the person sitting in it. |
The Tactful Saboteur |
Herbert |
1964 |
Chalf (Quick-Scribe Powder) A special powder that forms itself into words and symbols. |
The Tactful Saboteur |
Herbert |
1964 |
Chalf-Memory Stick Device that organizes special dust in the shape of words and symbols. |
The Tactful Saboteur |
Herbert |
1964 |
Chameleon Battle-Dress Camouflage that allows its wearer to visually blend into the environment. |
Dorsai! |
Dickson |
1960 |
Chameleon Cloth Clothing that changes color and pattern to match its surroundings. |
Dying of the Light |
Martin |
1977 |
Chardion Field Electronic 'envelope' that retained atmosphere on tiny worldlets. |
Star of Dreams |
Williamson |
1941 |
Charging Arm A specialized device allowing a robot to charge itself. |
Masters of Chance |
Morrison |
1941 |
Chart Cabinet Used in astrogation, this device can see the positions of stars and planets over a thousand year period. |
One Against The Legion |
Williamson |
1939 |
Charted Planetoid Mines Charting the planetoids and minor bodies for mining purposes. |
The Day We Celebrate |
Bond |
1941 |
Checker-City A city planned as a checker-board of alternating vegetation and buildings. |
The Star-Roamers |
Hamilton |
1933 |
Cheekplate Container Special compartment of an exoskeleton; provides easy access to medical supplies related to survive heavy gravity environments. |
A Specter is Haunting Texas |
Leiber |
1968 |
Chemelectric Afferent Nerve-Analogues An engineered sensory skin. |
This Immortal |
Zelazny |
1966 |
Chemical Brain A purely chemical artificial intelligence. |
The Chemical Brain |
Flagg |
1929 |
Chemical Orders Use of chemical triggers for behavior and behavior modification. |
Hellstrom's Hive |
Herbert |
1972 |
Chemical Production of Food Creation of food in the laboratory rather than in the field. |
Mizora: A Prophecy |
Lane |
1881 |
Chemotactic Artificial Jellyfish Artificial device modeled on jellyfish capable of seeking specific components of liquid. |
Big Jelly |
Rucker (w/B. Sterling) |
1994 |
Chest Disc A voice activated wireless transmitter. |
Armageddon: 2419 A.D. |
Nowlan |
1928 |
Chest-Lens Part of an automatic photograph-and-send system. |
War Veteran |
Dick |
1955 |
Chevaline An open robotic vehicle for one person, shaped like a horse. |
The Diamond Age |
Stephenson |
1995 |
Chicken Little Very early reference to meat grown in a vat for food. |
The Space Merchants |
Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth) |
1952 |
ChickieNobs Chicken meat sliced from a transgenic organism. |
Oryx and Crake |
Atwood |
2003 |
Childcare Robot A robot constructed to take care of a small child. |
Robbie (Strange Playfellow) |
Asimov |
1940 |
Chin Plates A means of control within a space suit helmet; switching between options with the chin. |
Have Space Suit - Will Travel |
Heinlein |
1958 |
Chin Window An aperture that allows an astronaut to see his own feet (greater field of view). |
Have Space Suit - Will Travel |
Heinlein |
1958 |
Chiphead A person whose organic brain has been effectively superseded by a firmware (integrated circuit or more advanced technology) device. |
Nanotime |
Kosko |
1987 |
Chirpsithra Supercomputer An alien race thoughtfully provides mankind with blueprints for the most intelligent computer ever made. |
Niven's Laws |
Niven |
1984 |
Chlorella Plantation A skyscraper designed for food production. |
The Space Merchants |
Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth) |
1952 |
Chlorophane Similar to chlorophyll but synthetic and far more efficient. |
The Planet Strappers |
Gallun |
1961 |
Cholinesterase-Destroying Gas Horrific anti-personnel poison. |
Lies, Inc. |
Dick |
1964 |
Chowlock A small opening in a space helmet for food insertion. |
The Starfox |
Anderson |
1965 |
Christmas Bush Motile Robot Repair robot with extra-sensitive hands. |
Rocheworld |
Forward |
1985 |
Chromoplastic Dew Collector A small, egg-shaped device that uses a special surface to collect morning dew on the desert planet of Arrakis. |
Dune |
Herbert |
1965 |
Chronoscope A device used to see into specific internals of time. |
Elimination |
Campbell |
1936 |
Chronoscopy Using a device to view different points in time. |
The Dead Past |
Asimov |
1956 |
Chronovitameter Device that can determine a person's date of birth - and the date on which he or she will die. |
Lifeline |
Heinlein |
1939 |
Chunker A device that fires small cubes of rubber; a non-lethal form of riot control. |
Virtual Light |
Gibson |
1993 |
CIC Virtual Earth A software application that presents detailed information about the Earth. |
Snow Crash |
Stephenson |
1992 |
Cider Press Device used to make acceleration above 1 gravity more tolerable for groundhogs. |
Double Star |
Heinlein |
1956 |
Cinematophote (Blue Optic Plate) The first reference to a tablet-sized, handheld screen. |
The Machine Stops |
Forster |
1909 |
Circuit Inhibiting Destructiveness Ensuring that robots take on the responsibility of pleasing their masters, and obeying their orders. |
To Please The Master |
St. Clair |
1958 |
Circumlunar A large space habitat orbiting the moon. |
Schismatrix |
Sterling |
1985 |
Citizen Journalism The notion that ordinary people can make use of technological tools like cellphone cameras and the Internet to provide information. |
Earth |
Brin |
1990 |
City Fathers A set of computer systems which run every mechanical system in a city. |
Cities in Flight |
Blish |
1957 |
City of Glass An entire city made of unique structural glass and ceramic. |
The Godmakers |
Herbert |
1972 |
City of Space A very early reference to an enormous cylindrical space station. |
The Prince of Space |
Williamson |
1931 |
City Ship A generation ship, a spacecraft that carries a people to another star. |
Star of Wonder |
May |
1953 |
Civic Notification Distorter A device that subtly damages databases full of government information. |
The Zap Gun |
Dick |
1965 |
Claim Beacon A electronic device that proclaims that a planet has been claimed by a given party. |
Retief, the Long-Awaited Master |
Laumer |
1969 |
Clave Short for enclave (see also burbclave - autonomous suburban enclave) |
The Diamond Age |
Stephenson |
1995 |
Claws (Attack Robot) Autonomous guard robots that attack living tissue. |
Second Variety |
Dick |
1953 |
Cleaning Machine Warren A room or space set aside for machinery when not in use. |
Mona Lisa Overdrive |
Gibson |
1988 |
Clearsac A simple device that filters water perfectly for reuse. |
The Water Knife |
Bacigalupi |
2015 |
Click-Band Worn on the wrist, it helps you locate your transport. |
The Meddler |
Dick |
1954 |
Cloaking Device A force field that renders an object invisible to human eyes as well as other sensor devices. |
Balance of Terror |
Schneider |
1966 |
Clockwork Man A man from the future with an embedded mechanism to manipulate time. |
The Clockwork Man |
Odle |
1923 |
Clone The aggregate of individual organisms descended by asexual reproduction from a single sexually produced individual. |
The Clone |
Thomas |
1959 |
Clothing Size Scanner A device that scanned a living person to determine clothing sizes. |
Sagramanda |
Foster |
2006 |
Cloud Sculpting Using gliders and chemical showers to shape clouds artistically. |
The Cloud Sculptors of Coral D |
Ballard |
1967 |
Coal Mole Robotic device for asteroid mining chews through the interior, preparing raw materials for use |
The Web Between the Worlds |
Sheffield |
1979 |
Coder Specialized humans who excel at engineering tasks. |
Storm Thief |
Wooding |
2006 |
Coffee Cube Concentrated coffee that boils itself! |
The Marching Morons |
Kornbluth |
1951 |
Coffiest It's coffee that you can't live without. |
The Space Merchants |
Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth) |
1952 |
Coffin Rack Capsule Hotel A hotel with very (very!) small rooms. |
The Science Fiction Yearbook (ed. Jerry Pournelle) |
Gibson |
1984 |
Cogitator (The Chair of Reflection) A device which improves the rationality of the thinking processes. |
The Consolidator |
Defoe |
1705 |
Cold Ray A device that pulled warmth from anything it was aimed at. |
The Atomic Conquerors |
Hamilton |
1927 |
Cold-Beam Puts a cloud of extreme cold around the target. |
War Veteran |
Dick |
1955 |
Coldlight A means of producing illumination that does not produce heat. |
Sunward Flight |
Zagat |
1943 |
Cold-Pac Bin A special coffin-sized chamber used to maintain half-life. |
Ubik |
Dick |
1969 |
Cold-Pack Technology for indefinite cold storage of human beings. |
Dr. Futurity |
Dick |
1960 |
Cold-Rest Lowering body temperature and metabolic levels, as in hibernation; also called reduced temperature somnolence. |
Methuselah's Children |
Heinlein |
1941 |
Cold-Sleep A form of induced suspended animation, in which a person enters a state like hibernation. |
Between Planets |
Heinlein |
1951 |
Cold-Sleep A state of hibernation, created by lowered temperature and metabolism. |
Methuselah's Children |
Heinlein |
1941 |
Coley Group A musical form that involves dancing in a field of weak microwaves. |
The Shockwave Rider |
Brunner |
1975 |
Collapsar Jump Travel between collapsed stars in no time at all. |
The Forever War |
Haldeman |
1974 |
Colony World A planet settled by a single group. |
The Impossible World |
Binder |
1939 |
Color Generator A variable spectrum light source |
The Killing Machine |
Vance |
1964 |
Columbiad An enormous cannon, sufficient in size to send a projectile to the Moon. |
From the Earth to the Moon |
Verne |
1867 |
Combat Wasp Drone craft able to carry and direct a variety of submunitions. |
The Reality Dysfunction |
Hamilton |
1996 |
Comeye A portable video camera, used by the mobile functionary to keep in touch with office. |
Heretics of Dune |
Herbert |
1984 |
Comlink Short for communications link; a small portable communicator. |
Star Wars |
Lucas |
1976 |
Command Bracelet A wrist-borne device with a variety of capabilities. |
Sagramanda |
Foster |
2006 |
Command Microphone A cloak that served as a microphone and public address system. |
Diplomat At Arms |
Laumer |
1982 |
Commercial Fly An autonomous, fly-sized manufactured creature that presents commercial advertisements. |
The Simulacra |
Dick |
1964 |
Communicate with Extraterrestrials Early plan to communicate with life on planets removed from the earth. |
From the Earth to the Moon |
Verne |
1867 |
Communication Disk A wearable device that told the time as updated from a central source. |
Exiles of the Moon |
Schachner (w. AL Zagat) |
1931 |
Communications Implant A surgically implanted device enabling the user to communicate with computer networks. |
Oath of Fealty |
Pournelle (w/L. Niven) |
1981 |
Communicator A small device that works to communicate over large distances. |
Skylark of Valeron |
Smith |
1934 |
Communinet A public data network.i |
Dune |
Herbert |
1965 |
Commute Disk Flying autonomous commuter vehicle. |
The Chromium Fence |
Dick |
1955 |
Commute Ship Spacecraft used for traversing daily grind between Earth and the planet you work on. |
Sales Pitch |
Dick |
1954 |
Commuter Cooling Unit A portable air conditioner for commuters. |
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch |
Dick |
1965 |
Compact Food Pastilles (Food Pill) One small tablet is a month's worth of food. |
The Senator's Daughter |
Mitchell |
1879 |
Companion Implant Electronic device placed within the body; it has a wide variety of uses. |
Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax) |
Sawyer |
2003 |
Compassion Circuit A special robotic component that allows the robot to weigh harm and benefit in carrying out commands. |
Compassion Circuit |
Wyndham |
1954 |
Composite Expert System Intelligent teaching software - a computer interface with a heart. |
Twenty Evocations |
Sterling |
1984 |
Composite Living Forming a meld with other life forms. |
The Day the Aliens Came |
Sheckley |
1995 |
Compulsive Subsonics An advertising agency works with every part of the audience's brain. |
The Space Merchants |
Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth) |
1952 |
Computational Textile Wearable computer sensors. |
Pushing Ice |
Reynolds |
2005 |
Computer Generated DigItal Music A computer composes music with a few simple inputs from the user. |
The Moon Goddess and the Son |
Kingsbury |
1979 |
Computer Humorist A computer acquires the ability to tell original jokes. |
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress |
Heinlein |
1966 |
Computer Translator A computer translator; software that provides automatic translation when jacked into a data port. |
Idoru |
Gibson |
1996 |
Computer Virus A software program that copies itself to other computers. |
The Scarred Man |
Benford |
1970 |
Computer Vision (Artificial Eye) A device which, attached to a suitable computer, will allow the device to see. |
The Metal Giants |
Hamilton |
1926 |
Computer Worm (Tapeworm) The first description of a set of computer codes that moves from one computer to another on a network as a coherent entity. |
The Shockwave Rider |
Brunner |
1975 |
Computer-Controlled House A residence that is an autonomous robotic system. |
The Martian Chronicles |
Bradbury |
1950 |
Computer-Created Dub Music created by an artificially intelligent computer for a specific audience. |
Neuromancer |
Gibson |
1984 |
Computers Improve Computers The idea that it will be possible for computers to design more advanced computers. |
The Feeling of Power |
Asimov |
1958 |
Computronium Intelligent matter; nanocomputing processors masquerading as ordinary material. |
Accelerando |
Stross |
2005 |
Comsole (Home Communications Console) A home computer, connected to data services. |
Imperial Earth |
Clarke |
1976 |
Concentrated Cosmic Radiation Passing through a region of intense radiation alters lifeforms. |
The Face of the Deep |
Hamilton |
1942 |
Concentrated Light Beam of powerfully concentrated light pressure. |
The Shining One |
Schachner |
1937 |
Concentro Concentrated synthetic food rations. |
Armageddon: 2419 A.D. |
Nowlan |
1928 |
Concrete Boxes Self storage for your body - living space designed for people who spend most of their time ignoring their surroundings anyway. |
Earth Made of Glass |
Barnes |
1998 |
Conductive Film A spray-on conductor capable of carrying a signal. |
The Face |
Vance |
1979 |
Cone of Battle An offensive formation of space ships providing the ultimate in firepower. |
Triplanetary |
Smith |
1934 |
Cone of Silence Distortion field that limits the carrying power of voice or other vibration; it accomplishes noise reduction with an image-vibration 180 degrees out of phase. |
Cease Fire |
Herbert |
1958 |
Confinement Asteroid A place where asteroid miner's babies stay to experience some needed gravity. |
At the Bottom of a Hole |
Niven |
1966 |
Conscious Farm Machines Farm machinery that worked on their own. |
The Hidden Colony |
von Hanstein |
1935 |
Conscious Retarded Animation A kind of hibernation, but leaves the user fully conscious, but aging at an incredibly slow rate. |
A Race Through Time |
Wandrei |
1933 |
Consolidator A craft for embarking on voyages through space. |
The Consolidator |
Defoe |
1705 |
Construct An artificial being, a pastiche of living and robotic pieces. |
Retief, the Long-Awaited Master |
Laumer |
1969 |
Construct (Digital) A stored version of a person's particular skills and personal approaches to problems. |
Neuromancer |
Gibson |
1984 |
Construct (Pseudo-Relationship) An artificial intelligence person, serving as a companion for a human person not capable of forming real relationships. |
The Mountain in the Sea |
Naylor |
2022 |
Construction Robot Autonomous robots work on construction sites. |
Runaway |
Crichton |
1985 |
Consumption Robots Humanoid robots placed in the position of consuming material goods to relieve human beings of the burden. |
The Midas Plague |
Pohl |
1954 |
Contact Venom A poison that is absorbed through the skin. |
Twenty Evocations |
Sterling |
1984 |
Contragravity Suit A suit with antigravity. |
Uller Uprising |
Piper |
1952 |
Contraterrene Matter (Antimatter) Contraterrene (CT) Matter (sometimes abbreviated "Seetee"). |
Collision Orbit |
Williamson |
1942 |
Control Disk |
The Slave Ship From Space |
Holmes |
1931 |
Control Harness Connects to the brain and nervous system of a host organism for control purposes. |
A Game of Unchance |
Dick |
1964 |
Control Helmet Direct control of a robot from the brain. |
Dawn of the Demigods |
Gallun |
1954 |
Control Helmet A device which causes an entire race of people to think and feel the same as the wearer. |
Easy Money |
Hamilton |
1938 |
Control Natural A person who is allowed to have an unmodified genetic makeup. |
Beyond This Horizon |
Heinlein |
1942 |
Control Screen An alien display device. |
Childhood's End |
Clarke |
1953 |
Control-Face A small liquid crystal display (LCD) unit linked to a larger network; gives a window onto your larger network world. |
Idoru |
Gibson |
1996 |
Controllable Drone Army Darknet sorcerer uses gestures to control a network of drone servants. |
Daemon |
Suarez |
2006 |
Controlway An automated highway system that takes full operational control of vehicles traveling upon it. |
Methuselah's Children |
Heinlein |
1941 |
Conversion Gun The ray converts the heat in an object to light. |
Hell Ship of Space |
Kummer, Jr. |
1940 |
Conveyor Ribbon A moving sidewalk. |
Exiles of the Moon |
Schachner (w. AL Zagat) |
1931 |
Cookie-Cutters Very small (corpuscle-sized) devices that can enter the blood stream and destroy an enemy from within. |
The Diamond Age |
Stephenson |
1995 |
Cop Block A device that allows law enforcement officers to shut down the engine of a suspect's car or truck. |
Quantico |
Bear |
2007 |
Copseyes A small floating "eye-in-the-sky" surveillance drone used by police in an extensive park. |
Cloak of Anarchy |
Niven |
1972 |
CopSpace A virtual location for police lifelogs, official communications, paperwork, informational databases and evidence of all kinds. |
Halting State |
Stross |
2007 |
Copter Harness A single person flying machine. |
The Star Beast |
Heinlein |
1954 |
CORA - Coronary Alarm An implanted (or worn) ECG monitor that warns the user of coronary events. |
The Fountains of Paradise |
Clarke |
1978 |
Coronium Ore A radiolite substance to revolutionize industry. |
Roamer of the Stars |
Wilson |
1938 |
Corporol Preserves and maintains the body. |
A Race Through Time |
Wandrei |
1933 |
Corpsicle Cryogenically frozen person who could (hopefully) be revived later. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot |
Pohl |
1966 |
Corrosite Gas A highly corrosive gas. |
The Machine That Thought |
Callahan |
1939 |
Cortical Stack Implanted hardware device that contains a backup copy of your mental self. |
Altered Carbon |
Morgan |
2003 |
Cosmic Storm A vast tempest in space! |
After World's End |
Williamson |
1939 |
Cosmic Teletype A device that utilizes the fourth dimensional continuum to achieve communication at great distances. |
Cosmic Teletype |
Jacobi |
1938 |
Cosmo-Craft A spacecraft for traveling through time and space. |
A Race Through Time |
Wandrei |
1933 |
Cosmoline (Warm Sleep) Special gel that offers healing and hibernation for space travelers. |
War Dogs |
Bear |
2014 |
Cosmoquake Gravity waves ripple across the solar system. |
Things Pass By |
Leinster |
1945 |
Court Robo-Clerk A robotic law clerk. |
The Tactful Saboteur |
Herbert |
1964 |
Courtarena A combination of a court of law, and an arena of combat, in which every participant could be called out and executed under legal circumstances. |
The Tactful Saboteur |
Herbert |
1964 |
Crackers Bouncing, explosive mines. |
The Time Mercenaries |
High |
1968 |
Crash Balloons Inflatable bags that would both cushion and hold a flycycle driver in the event of a crash. |
Ringworld |
Niven |
1970 |
Crash Web A simple mechanical linkage to activate a crash field. |
Crashlander |
Niven |
1994 |
Crechepod A small, enclosed medical device providing full life support as well as advanced regrowth technologies. |
The Godmakers |
Herbert |
1972 |
Credibility Rating How believable are your blog posts? your emails? your tweets? |
Earth |
Brin |
1990 |
Credit A basic unit of currency. |
The Mightiest Machine |
Campbell |
1934 |
Credit Card A simple card that is used in place of money |
Looking Backward |
Bellamy |
1888 |
Credit Wake The electronic trail of our transactions across the Net. |
Hyperion |
Simmons |
1989 |
Creditor Jet-Balloon A small, hovering device that hounds debtors. |
Lies, Inc. |
Dick |
1964 |
Crimestop The faculty of stopping short, as though by instict, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. |
1984 (Nineteen Eighty-Four) |
Orwell |
1948 |
Crop Algae Growing algae in tanks as a source of basic food stock. |
Cities in Flight |
Blish |
1957 |
Crosswell Tape Worm Device that allows you to eat without gaining weight. |
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long |
Aldiss |
1969 |
Crowdcutter A device worn to part crowds. |
Infomocracy |
Older |
2016 |
Cryocapsule A spaceship capsule that contains astronauts in special coffins, in suspended animation. |
The Computer Connection |
Bester |
1974 |
Cryonaut An astronaut placed in cryonic sleep. |
The Computer Connection |
Bester |
1974 |
Cryosleep Use of extreme cold to cause suspended animation. |
Flight of Exiles |
Bova |
1972 |
Crysknife A knife blade ground from the tooth of a giant sandworm of Dune. |
Dune |
Herbert |
1965 |
Crystal Corn Tiny data storage crystals. |
Return from the Stars |
Lem |
1961 |
Crystal Cylinder Ship A transparent space ship in the shape of a cylinder. |
The Three Suns of Ev |
Sloat |
1933 |
CTC Computer (Closed-Timeline-Curve Time-Travel) A device that used time travel to perform computations. |
Exultant |
Baxter |
2004 |
Cube Being A living being comprised of linked cubes. |
The Infinite Enemy |
Williamson |
1938 |
Cubic City A city contained in a single, immense building. |
The Cubic City |
Tucker, D.D. |
1929 |
Cubics Small, square animals that can combine to create a larger entity. |
The Face of the Deep |
Hamilton |
1942 |
Culture Tank Germs that eat garbage and produce oil. |
Needle |
Clement |
1950 |
Curtain (Force Barrier) An easily set-up protective force barrier. |
Venus Mines, Incorporated |
Schachner (w. AL Zagat) |
1931 |
Cushion Fence Gentle force field |
The Computer Connection |
Bester |
1974 |
Cutoff Switch A means of instantaneously switching off an artificial intelligence. |
2010: Odyssey Two |
Clarke |
1982 |
Cutteray A laser used in a range of tools - including mining equipment. |
Dune |
Herbert |
1965 |
Cybercab An autonomous taxi. |
Vacuum Flowers |
Swanwick |
1987 |
Cyberethics Philosophy detailing how computers work within human communities. |
Alpha Centauri |
Meier |
1999 |
Cybernetic Water Witch A job that involves a lot of surfing for patterns in information. |
Idoru |
Gibson |
1996 |
Cyberspace A computer technology that allowed people to see a computer network as an internal experience. |
Burning Chrome |
Gibson |
1982 |
Cyborg A cybernetic organism - man in union with machine |
Cyborg |
Caidin |
1972 |
Cyborg Collar A device worn around the neck that controls the person for the duration of a working day. |
A Specter is Haunting Texas |
Leiber |
1968 |
Cyborg Dolphin (Jones) A heavily modified war surplus dolphin. |
Johnny Mnemonic |
Gibson |
1981 |
Cyborg Pilot A combination of a human being (at least the thinking part) and a machine. |
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress |
Heinlein |
1966 |
Cybrid An organic body used by an artificial intelligence. |
Hyperion |
Simmons |
1989 |
Cyclotronic Ore-Hurler Using the magnetic properties of an asteroid to send ore hurling across space! |
Exit From Asteroid 60 |
James |
1940 |
Cylinder Space Suit A mostly rigid, cylindrical space suit. |
Islands in the Sky |
Clarke |
1952 |