The railgun
The stepping-discs on the puppeteer world in Ringworld. To transfer instantly to another disc, you would step onto one. They put them at the corner of every block, and to traverse a city quickly, you just stepped onto one, flashed to the next block, took three steps, and then stepped onto the next. Cool! Just what we need in Silicon Valley – to be able to walk up the peninsula in ten minutes.
Not to mention the Shrike itself - remember, it was a bio-mechanical construct.
PS - Farcasters. They’re called Farcasters.
“Slippery” Jim DiGriz aka The Stainless Steel Rat used all kinds of cool gadgets and doo-dads in his adventures. Harry Harrison sure could come up with some really cool shtuff:
Masser: This handy device can suck the space out of atoms and molecules, cramming a huge amount of matter into a small amount of volume. You could set the field size, touch the point of the device to the rock face of a mountain, and ZAP! a six foot radius ball of rock would seem to disappear. The tiny pebble that rolled away did weigh about 3 tons, though.
Spiderwire: This device consisted of a length of single-strand molecule steel filament that was wound 'round a high power micro-winch. At the end of the strand was a powerful electromagnetic node. The result was a belt buckle that had an invisible grappling line with a “hook” that could hang onto any magnetic surface, or any surface with metal in it. Coupled with some armored gloves, the user could “spider” his way up or down just about any surface, or lower himself from just about anywhere, hence the name. The filament, being only a molecule thick but super strong, also made for cool traps. If you strung it about a hallway behind you, anyone trying to follow you who ran into it would be instantly shredded. Neat!
Needle guns: Slippery Jim was of the mind that you only got one go at life and there is nothing more, so he tried to avoid killing anyone at all costs. He liked to use needleguns. They worked on the same principle as the rail gun, the only difference being that the prjectile is a razor sharp sliver of steel about an 2cm long, 1 mm thick, and 5 mm wide. They were coated with a powerful sleeping agent, or a powerful neurotoxin for more dire circumstances.
Fringe benefits galore! No loud bang, about 5,000 rounds per clip, no ejected casing, and a rate of fire of about 100 rounds per second. Since the needles weren’t so good at puncturing clothing, the need to fire many of them at the face or hands or other exposed part of a foe was dire.
Atomic Lance: This little doodadd is about the size of a scalpel, but the blade a glowing field generated by a device in the handle. Like a light saber, this bad boy will cut through just about anything. The blade is only about 4 cm long, and is used for delicate cutting of anything. There is no heat generated by the field, because it “simply debonds material on a molecular level”. How this is done (safely and without using a huge amount of energy) the author does not go into.
Grav-chute: A parachute that is basically a personal anti-gravity device. As you fall, you can control the rate of your descent, to the point of coming to a complete stop in mid-air, and even going back up! Cool.
Mini-grenades: Small grenades (about 1 cm in diamter) that can be either HE, gas (smoke, sleep, poisons such as regurgatant and a bowel loosening chemical he calls diarrhetic). Usually held in wrist holster.
Micro-grenades: Tiny grenades (about .5- 3mm in diameter) that could be stashed in hair in palm creases. Great for fitting into crevices and keyholes and the like.
Various drugs: Great stuff like “synergenerators” that would allow you to accomplish super-human feats to “stim-tabs” a chewable, powerful stimulant that would refresh you to a full nights rest in a few moments.
The Palladium world of the Rifts RPG had some even cooler stuff:
Nano-technology: Not so much an invention but something that is prevalent throughout the SF genre. These guys just perfected it, making nanite implants possible and workable, and also being able make entire large structures out of a single molecule. Armor made out of this stuff was incredibly tough, nearly indestructible.
Vibro-blades: Just like the Atomic Lance above, but it was a regular edged weapon with generator in the handle. This device generated a field that broke down molecular bonds. They figured out how to put 'em together, so they can take 'em apart, too. No acid involved.
Dog-boys: Genetically engineered. A mix of canine and human stock, resulting in a really smart, usually bipedal dog. They are used primarily in dangerous law enforcement and other public service capacities. They get to be about as smart as your average 10 year old human. No, a controversey does not emerge over them being treated ethically. You know how great police dogs are treated today? They are cared for like that, only better. The controversy is that some feel they are treated better than many humans.
From the Anime Ghost in the Shell:
Fiber-optic Camoflage: Renders the wearer invisible, much like Predator from the Ah-nuld flick. Better actually since they are only shimmery for the first few seconds after activating the suit, not the whole time.
From Star Wars:
The Speeder bike. Aw yeah. Nuff said.
The Time Machine.
Any FTL transport/communicator.
The previously mentioned Spiderwire. Incredibly simple yet wonderfully effective.
From Spaceballs…
Mr. Radar.
Spaceballs: The Flamethrower
The Spaceball I-Megamaid transformation.
The Air Shield around Druidia.
And, finally, the greatest invention in all of Sci-fi…
(Drumroll, please…)
Ludicrous Speed… “They’ve gone to plaid!”
Hardsuits. (Like powered armor, but less bulky and cooler)
Replicants/Boomers (Expecially the 33-S sexaroid series)
Any type of orbital laser cannon or particle beam. They make even the lamest series (X-Files, say) cool.
But I think the prize is gonna go to the renos in Aristoi Not just a computer/VR/Datalink connection in your head, but it allows you to break up your personality so you can focus on multiple things at once. Though the Oneriochedron (shared VR) from the same book was pretty damn cool, too.
–
“I didn’t know you were interested in perverted things like that!”
Ok. Now you beat somebody (me) to the Infinate Improbablity Drive.
But…hey! Bistro Math make Improbability Drive obsolete!
Ha!
Asimov’s Electron Pump would be useful. I mean if it didn’t distroy the universe.
Author: Ruth Chew
Title: The Wendsday Witch
Published: ca 1973
Ruth Chew being an entirely underappreciated author.
Fenris
(not in any order)
#1) Slow Glass: Bob Shaw Light of Other Days. Glass that light takes years to pass through.
#2) Stasis Boxes: Larry Niven Tales of Known Space. Time doesn’t pass inside these boxes.
#3) The Superspeed drug: Keith Laumer, Retief and the Warlords. Sniff it and you’ll move at superspeed, but will be subject to realistic laws of physics (your clothes will burn from friction, etc)
#4)The Gold Watch: John D. MacDonald The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything. Lets you stop time for everyone but yourself.
Fenris
A utopian society where people aren’t judged by the color of their skin.
Hmmmm
OK then, how about H.G. Wells’s spaceship, covered with panels of anti-gravity material? Sweet!
Spoke –
Yeah, but even assuming you could make anti-gravity panels (they violate all sorts of laws) they can still get you in trouble. Read the short story “Dirty Pool” in “Asimov’s Mysteries”.
Oh man, Niven invented a lot of cool stuff. Sinclair molecule chain, General Products spaceship hulls, the droud, and my favorite, sleeping plates.
John Varley’s null suit is pretty cool, too.
Personally, I think the tasp has a lot more potential for fun & mischief. Flashlight lasers and stasis boxes/fields would be pretty sweet to have around as well.
But, I have to agree with Adam Yax… the Nexus 6 is definitely my favorite! (mmmm… Sean Young)
The memory implanter from “Total Recall”
You could just sit at home and think youi’ve had all these great experiences. Just like TV, only w/o commercials.
One of my favorites is the cziltang brone from Ringworld that allows you to penetrate scrith (another interesting invention). Why? Just to say it.
Robert Heinlein’s wings in “The Menace From Earth.”
The idea of being able to truly fly in 1/6 G is just too cool!
Genetically engineered cat-women. No harem’s complete without one!
Wait, wait, the Ansible… I think I read a story once. A FTL communication device was devised, but at the beginning of each transmission was a long BEEEEEP of unknown origin. I don’t want to reveal any more of the plot, but this WAS the original Ansible, wasn’t it?
–Tim