TL7 (The Nuclear Age)

It all began with the Bomb. TL7, also called The Nuclear Age began, on a standard Earth, around 1945, with the power of the atom changing the course of mankind forever. The fallout (literal and figurative) from this invention lead, genre-wise, to Supers and Kaiju, two vastly different interpretations of what radiation could do. Just as TL6 had the pulp era in fiction, TL7 contains much of the mafia genre--and the space race certainly increased interest in newer pulp sci-fi.
TL7 transitions to TL8 around the 1980s with the arrival of the Digital Age.
==Developments==
*Agriculture: Chemical fertilizer, hybrid crops.
*Arms and Armor: Assault rifle, ballistic body armor, guided missile, military helicopter, military jet, nuclear weapons.
*Information Technology: Computer, high-speed press, television. 
*Machinery: Integrated circuits, laser, transistorJulius Edgar Lilienfeld patented a field-effect transistor in 1926 and 1928; Oskar Heil patented something similar in 1934. Improvements to this design led to the better known point-contact transistor developed in 1947-8.
*Material Science: Composite materials, plasticThis likely refers to oil based plastic as plant based plastic first appeared in 1856, superconductors, titanium.
*Medicine and Health: Artificial heart, organ transplants.
*Power: Gas turbine, nuclear power, photovoltaic cell.
*Transportation: High-speed train, jet aircraft, spacecraft.
== New Tropes in This Genre ==
* While telephones are TL6 (circa WWI), TL7 is where telephones become properly common. Call your buddies. Call your neighbors. Ask for operators. It's your nickel.
* Paper file-keeping gives way to computing and computers. Miles of whirring magnetic tape and blinking lights.
==Magical Settings at this TL==
*GURPS Supers: This setting has huge amounts with magic with about every magic system a viable option.
*Classic: Technomancer: A divergent reality where reliable magic has existed since 1945
*Classic: Voodoo: This is a secret magic setting "the most common magic items are the charms of the ritual magic system, though fetishes and foci can also play a part."GURPS Magic Items 3, p.11
*Classic: Warehouse 23: The Warehouse is chock full of magic items that have little in common; sometimes they come from mutually incompatible cosmologies.
==Classic/4e Note==
*TL7-8 is where GURPS Classic and 4e TLs start diverging. According to David L. Pulver, late TL7 in GURPS Classic is TL8 in GURPS 4e. See Technology Levels (Classic) for more information.
==Related Material==
*GURPS Bio-Tech
*TL7 Equipment
*TL7 Weapons
*Tech Level
*GURPS WWII
*GURPS WWII: Weird War II
*Classic: Atomic Horror
== Notes ==
==References==
*GURPS High-Tech
Category:Technology
Category:Concepts
ja:TL7