<![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?! - io9 Comments]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?! - io9 Comments]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Dunny0:
I'm starting to lean towards "brain in his wallet"...

It's refined from the hand-brains removed from Oods.

MissyMiss

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Lizzie24601: Well, that's good to know, then. I was actually wondering how they'd get around that. (Haven't seen that one yet...need to get home and catch up on my torrents...)

bluewyvern

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @doctor_cos: "@RAHfanboy: Hey you're talking about The finest energy weapons in the known universe."

Sorry, I should have said "affordable" not "cheap." They basically gave them away if you passed muster.

RAHfanboy

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Not SF, but a favorite goofy gadget of mine would be the Time Gun in the Conway/Knotts comedy Private Eyes. Very useful, if you have to kill someone precisely on the hour.

SundaySunday

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Let's not forget the Relativity Credenza from 'Help!'

lazyeight

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @bluewyvern: Actually, just last week in Pompeii we were told that the Tardis also translates what the Doctor and companions say, not just what they hear/see. So there.

Lizzie24601

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Aww, how come out of all the implausible translation devices, translator microbes take the heat? I think they're one of the more believable solutions out there. It's the telepathic TARDIS that gets me (but, as has been pointed out, Who has never really been concerned with plausibility of any sort). I mean, it doesn't even explain how everyone else is able to understand what the Doctor and companions are saying, since the magic field supposedly only inhabits people who have traveled in the TARDIS...

bluewyvern

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Lightwhips from Star Wars. They always bothered me a little, probably because I know how a lightsaber is supposed to "work" and it would only do so if it was totally linear. I love Dr. Who because the setting, for some reason, allows me to suspend disbelief for pretty much everything and enjoy whatever is thrown at me.

E0157H7

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Balius: About half the time that was the goal. A really good example of that is when he goes to the seat of the Scarran Govt., and proposes to sell the technology to the highest bidder. He spends a good 5 minutes walking on their table talking about good old American capitalism.

darundal

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @doctor_cos: But even with all of his Bat-gadgets (where does he get those marvelous toys?), it took the suicide of a courageous dolphin to save the Dynamic Duo from the Penguin Sub's torpedo when they were trapped by the Riddler's magnetic buoy trap.
Oh, did I say that out loud?


SavannahJack

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Sharpless: I'da had some kind of Bat-missile defense thing on my belt.
[www.howitshouldhaveended.com]

doctor_cos

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @RAHfanboy: Hey you're talking about The finest energy weapons in the known universe.

doctor_cos

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Dunny0: Psychic paper is made from the tanned hide of John Edward.

Michael_GR

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> What I loved about Farscape was John's constant stream of pop-culture references that certainly couldn't be translated. I assume (but don't recall it ever being explicitly stated) that he purposefully does it to sound insane to the aliens.

Balius

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @EmperorofMongo:"They would fire only in self-defense."

The weapons were totally superior to what the government cops carried, and could not even be held by anyone but the owner. The weapon shops were inter-dimensional and appeared when needed. The weapons were ridiculously cheap, but you had to pass a mental test not unlike that of the Lensman.

RAHfanboy

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> You know, complaining about these sorts of gadgets seems kind of... silly, for a science fiction blog. I mean, yeah, Bat Ladder, sure. But fucking Bat Ladder, dude. And why didn't Milla Jovovich float away? Because she's fucking badass. You grok me?

Sharpless

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Lizzie24601: I didn't say I didn't like it, I just wonder how it works.

I'm starting to lean towards "brain in his wallet"...

As far as the sonic goes, I've wanted one since I was really little and saw a repeat of the Tom Baker episodes.

I now own one from the new series. It makes the work day more fun!

Dunny0

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Milla Jovovich is anti-gravity. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

beercheck

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> I love the psychic paper and the sonic screwdriver and fie on all you annoying fans who think you actually want to see the Doctor work on opening doors and forging id.

Lizzie24601

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> The Venture Brothers learn-while-you- sleep bed capsules.

Priam

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]>

The real problem with rocket packs like Commando Cody/Rocketeer/Minority Report is that the exhaust is at the base of the pack, so the pilot's weight is going to send it cartwheeling forwards uncontrollably.
Real jetpacks extend the exhaust nozzles out to the sides and forward, inline with the center of mass of the pilot & pack.
[davidszondy.com]

cljohnston108

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> That era Dick Tracy was very weird indeed. He got trapped in a quarry once, and starved down to a shadow, for like weeks.. very odd. Diet Smith was pretty out there too.

And the rocket belt has been not burning hero's butts of for decades.. It was in two or three movie serials in the '30's and a vanished TV show in the '50's. (brought to you buy Ovaltine)

And was the inspiration for "Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen."

I want one too.

codydog

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Neither TV nor Movie, but...

The energy pistols for sale by the Weapon Shops in the Weapon Shops of Isher and The Weapon Makers of A. E. vanVogt.
They would fire only in self-defense.

EmperorofMongo

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @Log1c: Especially the big red button, which I noticed right away and wondered what it did. Does that make me a dye-in-the-wool killer?

Git Em SteveDave seeks Lego build buddy. How about you?

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> OK, really hate to point this out, but the Bat-Shark Repellent, The Bat Boat, The Bat Cycle, and the Bat-copter were all from the original Batman movie, not the TV show. I actually own this movie(on DVD) and I wish I could say I pop it in when I get wasted to laugh at it, but I don't. I just pop it in. It did have Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, who was way better than Jim Carrey and also John Astin. OK, I must now retire to the nerd cave, which is adjacent to the bat cave.

Git Em SteveDave seeks Lego build buddy. How about you?

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> How about the gun from The Fifth Element? The ZF-1? that thing was awesome!

Log1c

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Re: the Mish Impossible masks - they're a bunch of superspies! Of course they're gonna have the latest technology. It just so happens that those masks would also be awesome for Halloween.

The psychic paper is just one deus ex machina in a series full of them.

Aethyr

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> If I recall, the magnetic cruiser belonged to, and was the invention of Tracy's rich inventor friend, Diet Smith. Moon Maid and the Tracy grandchild both had cute little antennae. Also using the magnetic anti-grav drive were the one person vehicles that were kind of like flying Segways, except you held onto, or leaned on two "crutches." The magnet field contained the atmosphere and were capable of going to the moon. Why Warren Beatty left all this out of the movie, I'll never know.

RAHfanboy

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook.

Discrete-Daniel

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> I feel awfully geeky to even advance this argument, but I find the concept of being able to manipulate gravity slightly more likely than having a container that is larger on the inside than the outside.

Not holding my breath for either of them though.

Got a problem? Bug Jack Barron!

Emmanuel Goldstein

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> I'm putting everyone on notice now...when there's the first free and democratic elections, I'm running for Governor of the Moon.

The basis of my platform will be "Gravity for All. Gravity for None."

darcymcgee

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Didn't they say in the Rocketeer that the pack ran 'cool' because of the alcohol/fuel mixture it used?
I'm pretty sure that was the one-line fix for that issue.
Something like that anyway.

ShadowBottle

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> That Dick Tracy vehicle reminds me of the hovercraft in the Matrix...

Polybius

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> @laughingacademy: You take that back! I will hear nothing bad about his magic wa-- Sonic screwdriver!

I want to know how paper becomes psychic. Maybe it's made of psycho-active neural tissue?

Would that mean he's got a brain in his wallet?
Ewww...

Dunny0

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> "What exactly makes this a Bat Ladder, and why did he need to label it?"

It needs to be labelled 'Bat Ladder', because that's what makes it a Bat Ladder, and not just an ordinary ladder. Duh.

Also, nice CRM-114 in the Back to the Future clip!

CargoCult

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> The great thing about translator microbes, is that they somehow translated the 'bokbagok' sound you make when you're implying someone is a 'chicken.'

Or it didn't, which made for a pretty awesome line in the Blue people episode.

aspiringexpatriate

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Ballistic package delivery in Rainbows End

Mathmos

]]> <![CDATA[The Science Fiction Gadgets That Make You Go... Wha?!]]> Never mind the psychic paper, the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is the ultimate solve-everything gadget.

laughingacademy

]]>