Everything Sensor: Difference between revisions

 

Not to be confused with an [[Bowdlerise|Everything]]''[[Bowdlerise|Censor.]]'' Compare [[The Little Detecto]], a more specialized device.

 

== Anime ==

* In ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Sailor Mercury's mini-computer could zero in on pretty much anything you'd call phlebotinum. It came in handy less often than you'd think.

{{quote|'''Technician:''' If I'm readin' this right, [[Pittsburgh]] just turned into a crater -- fifty miles across!

'''Officer:''' Great Godawmighty! He's right!! That's the only way to interpret that image! }}

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''[[The History of the Galaxy]]'' books, pretty much all sensors act this way. The author usually mentions that the sensors simply return the "energy signature" of the target, and it's up to either the operator or the machine to figure out what it could be based on known signatures. [[Space Marines]] are trained to be able to identify signatures at a glance. In one novel, a [[Space Marine]] gets [[Psychic Powers|empathic powers]], allowing him to "see" nervous systems of living creatures. Instinctively, he combines this ability with his training, which allows him to shoot [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|shapeshifters]] in the brain (i.e. the largest collections of neurons he sees).

** Specially-trained humans with multiple implants in their heads (known as cybreakers or mnemonics) are likewise able to scan their surroundings without any external devices. In fact, they are even able to see the force lines inside [[Subspace or Hyperspace|Hypersphere]].

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' is easily the biggest user of this trope.

** Tricorders are all-purpose detectors for whatever [[Green Rocks]] or Phlebotinum residue they're looking for this week.

** When they scan a ship for "life", they appear to actually scan for "life"—it is pointed out at least once in The Next Generation that their sensors can pick up artificial life, such as androids.

** Not so cute when used [http://news.discovery.com/tech/bomb-detecting-dowsing-rod-demonstrates-danger-of-pseudoscience.html here]

* Recently, an X-Prize-like competition has been launched that will reward whoever comes up with a small, portable device similar to a tricorder that can take accurate medical readings off of a patient with a minimum of intrusion (including heart rate, glucose, arterial pressure and infections), and possibly even give a diagnosis. It's believed that it would be invaluable in Third World countries where experienced doctors are hard to come by.

 

{{reflist}}