Multiblood

As the human race expanded across the galaxy, they came into contact with a wide variety of other intelligences, many of whom integrated into human society. As a result, the work of medics became more and more difficult, as the range of possible patients increased. To make things a bit easier, scientists gradually developed synthetic replacements for various body parts that could work with a wide range of possible biologies.

Multiblood is multi-colored because it isn’t a single substance, but is made of several nanotechnical metamaterials that each perform a different function. The various elements of multiblood perform all the main functions of blood, they deliver oxygen and nutrients, remove carbon dioxide and waste products, patch up wounds and defend against pathogens. The iv bag that contains and delivers multiblood contains a probe that can detect the patient’s genetic makeup and communicates to the nanobots in the multiblood to optimize its activity. While it isn’t as effective as a replacement for natural blood as the genuine article, multiblod has saved countless lives by doing a good-enough job for the widest array of possible patients.

Computronium

The ultimate computer, computronium has been described as "programmable matter".  In fact it is a remarkable feat of nanotechnology, the shrinking of a computer to the atomic scale.  Before Era-3, even the best nanoforges in the galaxy couldn't produce a sample of computronium above 5% in purity. 

It is said that the core of Troniac, the Computer-God was made of pure computronium. After the Battle of the Pillars, during the 1000 Years War, when Troniac its self took some substantial damage, fragments of purportedly pure computronium started circulating among Troniac Cultists that were supposed to be fragments of Troniac's core.  These shards were often kept as holy relics, and many of these formed the basis of the known Avatars of Troniac, and some of the more dubious samples formed the minds of some of the Mad Saints of Troniac.

There were also a few sources of naturally occurring computronium.  This was exceedingly rare, as the natural processes necessary to deposit the right minerals in the right configuration proved extremely complex.  Yet, given enough time, space, and matter, nature found a way.  These natural computronium deposits only ever produced a material of very low purity, generally regarded as junk by anyone on search of computer power, yet endlessly fascinating to anyone interested in geology or computer science.

Computronium above a certain critical mass, tends to be independently sentient.  Unless the computronium is formed in a certain way, so as to properly integrate it into an interactive environment with a suitable suite of inputs and outputs, it tends to be hopelessly insane.  As a result of these facts, the Planetary League heavily regulated the production of computronium within its borders.  In spite of these same facts, Gazillion, inc continued to produce computronium in many of its own facilities, often enslaving the resulting AIs to power its technological empire.

Deflector Shields

Deflector shields are a defensive measure employed primarily by star-ships, (although a number of other applications exist as well) to protect them from both the harsh environment of deep space, as well as attack by hostile forces.

History

The earliest deflector shields were simple magnetic fields projected around a ship to deflect incoming charged particles.  This partially protected astronauts from cosmic radiation, and provided some defense against plasma-based weapons.

The first popular enhancement was to add some ionized gas to the field.  This blocked more radiation, and allowed the shield to be used as a magnetic sail.

Later models added reflective nanoparticles that could defend against laser weapons.

Once flux pinning technology matured, deflector shields could resist kinetic attack as well. 

All these basic techniques of deflector shield defense were developed first during Era-0 in the Spozak, and during Era-1 in human space.  Later models continued to refine and elaborate on these principals.

In practice there are two main types of deflector shields:

Energy Shields

These are the most common type of deflector shield, designed to stop energy weapons (lasers, plasma-bolts, and the like), and keep out the hard radiation of space.  The main weakness of these shields is that they can admit solid projectiles, such as torpedoes, fighters, or asteroids. Energy shields are affordable, consume a moderate amount of power, and can be built small and light.

Barrier Shields

These are rare, expensive, require a bulky, generator, and use a lot of power to operate.  Even a shield of this type designed to contain only a single prisoner without any personal space can weigh a ton, and consume enough power to operate a star-fighter.  Naturally, they are used only to protect the most valuable targets.  The main advantage to their use is that barrier shields, unlike energy shields, do not permit the passage of solid objects.

Plastanium

One of the more important technologies in Eras 1 and 2 was Plastanium, a lightweight, super strong composite material.  Spacecraft, armor, robots and buildings were made of this supermaterial.  Special tools were required to work with plastanium, as it was too strong for normal construction methods, and its nano-compositing was quantum-locked into a super rigid structure that required exotic energies to manipulate.

The Graviscope

First invented late in Era-0, the graviscope is an instrument that makes gravitational waves visible.  The first graviscopes were large and unwieldy, mainly used in ground-based observatories.  The graviscope revealed much about space, showing the locations of black holes, dark matter clusters, and many other objects that would not otherwise have been found.

Graviscopes are also useful for detecting ships traveling faster than light, as doing so distorts the fabric of space-time, creating gravitational waves.

Midway through Era-1, graviscope technology was developed to the point that it became a practical instrument for space voyages.  As a result, space travel became substantially safer.  Ships that would have previously been lost in gravitational-wave storms, or swallowed by black holes were able to avoid these fates.

Early graviscopes were based on laser interferometry, while later designs changed to a mechanism combining nanotechnology with the exotic material known as gravitonium.

There was a previous version of the graviscope used in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, but it was never developed there beyond the level of the ground-based observatory.  The legendary engineer Kroah Dashan wrote a famous treatise on the use of graviscope data in finding the optimal placement for stargates.

Plushite

Overview

Initially developed by engineers working for Comfort Systems, Inc. midway through Era-1, Plushite is a smart metamaterial used mainly in luxury furniture and clothing.  

Plushite conforms itself to the body of anyone who reclines on, or wears it.  More expensive grades also include bonus features such as temperature regulation, and even massage mode.  Even when inactive, Plushite is velvety-soft to the touch.

Plushite is difficult to fabricate, and accordingly expensive.  It is a luxury good primarily consumed by the wealthy, and its use is a status symbol.

In order to function as intended, a piece of Plushite needs to be connected to a base unit including a power supply and control circuitry.  Malicious parties with access to the control unit  have been able to subvert its programming to inconvenience, discomfort, and even assassinate users of Plushite.