![]() ![]() The milieu can be viewed as representing the last gasp of Campbell-era science fiction, as the iconoclastic, counterculture influences of "new wave" science fiction of the sixties play no part in most of the stories. ![]() ![]() For example, addiction to electric brain stimulation resulting in wireheads, or the effects of the invention of teleportation. The impact of inventions and technology on society is a recurring theme in Niven's work. Stories earlier in the timeline feature technology such as Bussard ramjets, and explore how organ transplantation technology enables the new crime of organlegging, while later stories feature hyperdrive, invulnerable starship hulls, stasis fields, molecular monofilaments, transfer booths ( teleporters used only on planetary surfaces), the lifespan-extending drug boosterspice, and the tasp which is capable of stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain from a distance. The series feature a number of "superscience" inventions which figure as plot devices. Many of the early human colonies are on planets suboptimal for Homo sapiensdue to issues with the original probes which caused slowboats to be dispatched to places that were, in some cases, barely livable. Most life in Known Space shared similar biochemistries, since they evolved from the Thrintun practice of seeding barren worlds with food yeast. In the process of exploring space, humankind encounters several intelligent alien species. ![]()
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