"It does not disturb me to play a god," he said. "It disturbs me to play a god badly." - Larry Niven

"Halrloprillalar's tale of the bacterium that eats superconductor is in our records," the Hindmost said.

Cheap superconductors imply maglev trains everywhere. Computers could get big again, with RAM/ROM rising by powers of forty and fifty, if superconductors shed the heat. Laser handguns against superconducting armor. I'm not predicting; I just love playing with superconductors.

Mankind had come so far in some ways, and in others remained up in the trees, chittering and throwing rocks at each other.
If only the trees weren’t so close together. If only the rocks were smaller.