Technologies
Humans possess several advanced technologies, many supposedly derived from information contained in the "Ophiuchi Hotline", a stream of data travelling on a laser beam, apparently from the star 70 Ophiuchi. The novel Steel Beach describes new technologies (the "null field" and a "FTL propulsion system") that are attributed to "Valentine Michael Smith", — (the "leader" of a group of idealists known as the "Heinleiners") — a pseudonym which is obviously a homage to the renowned author of Stranger in a Strange Land.
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