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verboten_tech

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The general rule of thumb in Furscape is that if something exists somewhere in a laboratory today, in real life, then it's probably widely available in Furscape's setting. However, some technologies are highly restricted for political reasons. Many of our colony worlds are basically frontier settings where recoms are trying to carve a civilization out of the wilderness, and advanced technology might be be readily available.

The other thing to recognize is that we strive towards a hard science fiction theme. This means that we avoid technology which defies the know laws of science, or for which a plausible explanation is not available. (There are a few exceptions, but mostly related to space flight.) We don't want Furscape to turn into Star Wars or Star Trek. So, here's a list of technology that will never work. . .

  • teleportation (transporters, transmats)
  • matter replicators, holodecks
  • antigravity or artificial gravity fields
  • handheld energy weapons (blasters, phasers)
  • psionics (telepathy, telekinesis, “The Force”, etc.)
  • rapid shape-shifting

There are also technologies that can work in our setting but are not generally available for various reasons. These include:

Advanced Nanotechnology. Since the Earth was made uninhabitable and most of humanity wiped out with nanotech-based weapons in the Apocalypse War, research and deployment of nanotech has been highly restricted. Some exceptions have been made for medical research, but much of what was available on Earth is no longer allowed.

Nuclear Fission. Atomic weapons were also used heavily in the Apocalypse War. Recom society is now powered mostly from polywell fusion reactors, which neither use nor produce fissionable material. Development and deployment of nuclear weapons has been banned.

verboten_tech.1264352775.txt.gz · Last modified: 2010/01/24 17:06 by zobeid