# If you could have one sci-fi gadget... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426 "2005-01-30T15:11:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/21 "2005-01-30T17:51:06Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > If I could. . . I’d trade in my pickup truck for a [BattleMech](http://www.kerensky.tierranet.com/btech/mechlab/mchwarhammer.gif) > > Hells yes, I’d be squashing some cars and blowing sh\*t up! > > Tripler > It’d sure as hell make my commute to work a lot more fun! [YOU CAN HAVE ONE!](http://www.techabsorbed.com/news/battlemech.htm) Sorta. Still awfully fun, though… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/22 "2005-01-30T18:01:30Z")
A copy of _The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ would be nice. I mean the book of course, not just the series of novels about the book. What would be even better is if it came with an Electronic Thumb-o-matic, and/or a Babel Fish. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/23 "2005-01-30T18:13:24Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Rewatch the last fifteen minutes of _Generations_. 🙂 That was Troi’s fault. Gosh darned women drivers! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Pizza_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/24 "2005-01-30T18:28:15Z")
Either an industrial-grade unifab or a nanofactury of the same size. **With** a complete plan library, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/25 "2005-01-30T18:44:35Z")
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Mark II version preferably, but then I’d just have to give it to Arthur) A towel. Oh, wait, right. Got that one. 😃 A Sonic Screwdriver The Tardis K-9 A Tasp One self-replicating, ‘telepathically’ programmable nanobot. Gateway (The entire asteroid, with ships, counts as one ‘gadget’ right?) A Berzerker (Programmed to think I’m non-organic, and obey my orders, of course) Gay Deceiver and, just for fun, Inspector Gadget himself. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/26 "2005-01-30T19:12:46Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > [YOU CAN HAVE ONE!](http://www.techabsorbed.com/news/battlemech.htm) Sorta. Still awfully fun, though… > > 🙂 Bah, that thing is made of plywood. I bet a [mecha with flamethrowers on the arms](http://news.com.com/Giant+robots+in+the+backyard/2100-1026_3-5499730.html?tag=nefd.lede) would burn that faux battlemech to a crisp. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/27 "2005-01-30T19:24:10Z")
Definitely my own personal holodeck. But preferably one whose built-in “let’s not kill people in here” rules **don’t** go wonky every few days and leave me fighting for my life. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/28 "2005-01-30T19:25:50Z")
Cant remember the book, but a body full of nanites, the kind that are programmed to regulate the body and keep it healthy, actually keeping the teeth brushed, no gunk in the pores so no acne or oily hair, or eye snot, and strip out my uterine lining so I dont have my period, and regulate my hormones so I dont get cramps, and eat virus and non homeostatic bacteria so i dont get sick, and can go in and neutralize any ingested or inhaled microbes…and can repair the pre-existing body damage so my back and joints arent crapped out. I dont want to live forever, I am just sick and tired of being sick and tired= No more PCOS, thyroid problems, acne, menstrual cramps, lung damage from phosgene, cruddy eyesight, TONSOLITHS 😃 , and orthopedic problems…but a good solid 3 score and 10 …hell, I had a maiden aunt who died at 107, and a grandmother that died in her upper 90s on my fathers side, and my maternal grandfather kicked off at 97 on my mothers side, and both my parents are 82 and _very_ actively spending our inheritance traveling every year=) [and I wouldnt have them any other way…let them enjoy it, my dad worked his whole life and it _is_ their money=) I dread getting that phone call] ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/29 "2005-01-30T19:31:56Z")
> [@hewe](#): > > … what would it be? A [Somebody Else’s Problem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEP_field) field would come in really handy many days. Then again, considering the level of congnitive dissonance in the defense industry, it wouldn’t suprise me if the government has already recovered an SEP generator from one of the alien spacecraft they are hiding in Area 51. Why yes, I do listen to “[Coast To Coast AM](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298433&highlight=coast)” every night. Why do you ask? 😃 Stranger No, I don’t really listen to Coast To Coast. It’s called sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/30 "2005-01-30T19:34:23Z")
A transporter, definitely. Hungering for some home-cooked food? Pop back home to NJ for dinner. Late for work? Instant commute. Need to go to Target and get some food, but no one will drive because it’s snowing? Zap, no problem. Life would be _good_. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/31 "2005-01-30T19:40:19Z")
I’d like one of those pens that writes upside down. You know, like the astronauts use. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/32 "2005-01-30T19:53:50Z")
Welcome, **hewe**! One of my first threads was [very similar.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=140993) (made Threadspotting even) Just goes to show ya, good ideas are timeless. I’ll still have to go with Trek style replicators. Then, all I would need is copies of all of y’all’s stuff and I would have all those things, too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![hewe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@hewe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hewe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/33 "2005-01-30T19:56:37Z")
> [@picker](#): > > I’d like one of those pens that writes upside down. You know, like the astronauts use. Just make sure Jack Clompus doesn’t want it back. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/34 "2005-01-30T20:07:12Z")
> [@picker](#): > > I’d like one of those pens that writes upside down. You know, like the astronauts use. Just use a pencil. Actually, that demonstrates a good difference between the US space program and the USSR/Russian one: Objective: Writing device to be used in microgravity. Solution (NASA): Spend $250,000 in research to develop a [$50 pen](http://www.spacepen.com/usa/index2.htm). Sell extras to credulous American consumers as “Space Pens, as seen on the Apollo program!” Solution (RSP): Send ambassador out to office supply store to buy [$10.49 per box of 72](http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/skuset.asp?PageType=2&SkuSetID=138180&bcFlag=True&bcSCatId=1&bcSCatName=Office+Supplies&bcCatId=11&bcCatName=Writing+Supplies&bcDeptId=1102&bcDeptName=Pencils&bcClassId=110200&bcClassName=Wood+Pencils) #2 wood pencils from stupid imperialist dogs. Send pencils back in diplomatic pouch. Shoot courier for security reasons. Scrape the labels/printing off the pencils. Explain to Politburo that purchase of said pencils from imperialst dogs was not a demonstration of inferiority of Marxist economic theory, but only due to a temporary correction of the Soviet office supply industry. Issue press release announing new and increased quotas for pencil production in the next Five Year Plan. Send to gulag anyone who questions why industry didn’t meet the quota in the last Five Year Plan. Everybody does things their own way. :rolleyes: Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/35 "2005-01-31T00:21:42Z")
An executive shuttlecraft with a dedicated holosuite aboard, and some kind of long-term power supply. I’d just get in, and park it in a stable solar orbit. With a subroutine set up to vent the atmosphere and set course for the edge of the galaxy for when I eventually died. Maybe we should make this “Scifi gadgets BESIDES a BTL device that you’d like to have.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/36 "2005-01-31T00:41:39Z")
Personal forcefield. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/37 "2005-01-31T00:49:45Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Just use a pencil. > > Actually, that demonstrates a good difference between the US space program and the USSR/Russian one:… > **[FACT CHECK: NASA's 'Astronaut Pen'](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-write-stuff/)** > > Space race legend claims NASA spent millions of dollars developing an 'astronaut pen' that would work in outer space, while the Soviets solved the same problem by simply using pencils. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/38 "2005-01-31T00:59:15Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Just use a pencil. > > Actually, that demonstrates a good difference between the US space program and the USSR/Russian one: > > \ > > Solution (NASA): Spend $250,000 in research to develop a [$50 pen](http://www.spacepen.com/usa/index2.htm). Sell extras to credulous American consumers as “Space Pens, as seen on the Apollo program!” > > Solution (RSP): Send ambassador out to office supply store to buy [$10.49 per box of 72](http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/skuset.asp?PageType=2&SkuSetID=138180&bcFlag=True&bcSCatId=1&bcSCatName=Office+Supplies&bcCatId=11&bcCatName=Writing+Supplies&bcDeptId=1102&bcDeptName=Pencils&bcClassId=110200&bcClassName=Wood+Pencils) #2 wood pencils from stupid imperialist dogs. > > \ > > Everybody does things their own way. :rolleyes: > > Stranger I give you [Snopage](http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp). In Short: Fisher was not commisioned to develop the pen and did not charge NASA for the R&D. Before there were the pens, both Astronauts and Cosmonauts used pencils. After development, both Astronauts and Cosmonauts used the space pen. Oh and back on topic, I want me a Light Sabre. -DF ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/39 "2005-01-31T01:00:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > [http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp](http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp) Argh! Simulpost, caught just as I submitted! -DF ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426/40 "2005-01-31T01:05:44Z")
Does the entire Borg collective count as a gadget? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-sci-fi-gadget/287426.md?page=3)