Here are some notes on a great panel at Life the Universe and Everything SF/F symposium. The topic is on alien technology

– Technology can give information about the aliens by what type technology they use.
– Technology is created to solve a particular problem or limitation.
– Technology is also created by the available resources of that planet. For example, it is not an abundance of water, then culture might use windmills as a power source.
– Alien weapons will look somewhat similar, no matter what culture it is. For example when shooting something then it will look like a form of gun.
– Technology is created to make life easier. We would need to have our technology follow the logic that we are familiar with. In fact, we would take for granted what we can due as we’ve grown up with it. An example of this is if the species communicate with pheromones that would include influence the culture and challenges for that culture.
– Technology can be created to achieve a task or goal or to compensate for a scarce resource. One example is that the ballpoint pen was created by NASA to build to write upside down in space. Suggested book fire upon the deep

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