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Nanotechnology In Fiction
The use of nanotechnology in fiction has attracted scholarly attention. The first use of the distinguishing concepts of nanotechnology was "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", a talk given by physicist Richard Feynman in 1959. K. Eric Drexler's 1986 book '' Engines of Creation'' introduced the general public to the concept of nanotechnology. Since then, nanotechnology has been used frequently in a diverse range of fiction, often as a justification for unusual or far-fetched occurrences featured in speculative fiction.Bly, Robert W., 2005, ''The Science In Science Fiction: 83 SF Predictions that Became Scientific Reality'', BenBella Books, Inc., . Notable examples Literature In 1931, Boris Zhitkov wrote a short story titled ''"Microhands"'' ( Микроруки), where the narrator builds for himself a pair of microscopic remote manipulators and uses them for fine tasks like eye surgery. When he attempts to build even smaller manipulators operated by the first pair, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing properties of matter. This definition of nanotechnology includes all types of research and technologies that deal with these special properties. It is common to see the plural form "nanotechnologies" as well as "nanoscale technologies" to refer to research and applications whose common trait is scale. An earlier understanding of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabricating macroscale products, now referred to as molecular nanotechnology. Nanotechnology defined by scale includes fields of science such as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, energy storage, engineering, microfabrication, and molecular engineering. The associated rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blood Music (novel)
''Blood Music'' is a 1985 science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear. It is an expanded version of a short story of the same title, originally published in the June 1983 issue of '' Analog'' and the winner of both the 1983 Nebula and 1984 Hugo awards for Best Novelette. The novel won the 1986 Prix Apollo Award, given to the best science fiction novel published in France during the preceding year, under the title ''La Musique du sang''. ''Blood Music'' deals with themes including biotechnology, nanotechnology (including the grey goo hypothesis), the nature of reality, consciousness, and artificial intelligence. Plot summary Renegade biotechnologist Vergil Ulam creates simple biological computers based on his own lymphocytes. Faced with orders from his nervous employer to destroy his work, he injects them into his own body, intending to smuggle the "noocytes" (as he calls them) out of the company and work on them elsewhere. Inside Ulam's body, the noocytes multiply and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmospheric pressure is a few thousandths of Earth's, atmospheric temperature ranges from and cosmic radiation is high. Mars retains some water, in the ground as well as thinly in the atmosphere, forming cirrus clouds, frost, larger polar regions of permafrost and ice caps (with seasonal snow), but no liquid surface water. Its surface gravity is roughly a third of Earth's or double that of the Moon. It is half as wide as Earth or twice the Moon, with a diameter of , and has a surface area the size of all the dry land of Earth. Fine dust is prevalent across the surface and the atmosphere, being picked up and spread at the low Martian gravity even by the weak wind of the tenuous atmosphere. The terrain of Mars roughly follows a north-south ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Elevator
A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) anchored to the surface and extending into space. An Earth-based space elevator would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator and the other end attached to a counterweight in space beyond geostationary orbit (35,786 km altitude). The competing forces of gravity, which is stronger at the lower end, and the upward centrifugal pseudo-force (it is actually the inertia of the counterweight that creates the tension on the space side), which is stronger at the upper end, would result in the cable being held up, under tension, and stationary over a single position on Earth. With the tether deployed, climbers (crawlers) could repeatedly climb up and down the tether by mechanical means, releasing their cargo to and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbon Nanotubes
A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with a diameter in the nanometre range (nanoscale). They are one of the allotropes of carbon. Two broad classes of carbon nanotubes are recognized: * ''Single-walled carbon nanotubes'' (''SWCNTs'') have diameters around 0.5–2.0 nanometer, nanometres, about 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. They can be idealised as cutouts from a two-dimensional graphene sheet rolled up to form a hollow cylinder. * ''Multi-walled carbon nanotubes'' (''MWCNTs'') consist of nested single-wall carbon nanotubes in a nested, tube-in-tube structure. Double- and triple-walled carbon nanotubes are special cases of MWCNT. Carbon nanotubes can exhibit remarkable properties, such as exceptional tensile strength and thermal conductivity because of their nanostructure and bond strength, strength of the bonds between carbon atoms. Some SWCNT structures exhibit high electrical conductivity while others are semiconductors. In addition, ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Mars
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary color (made from magenta and yellow) in the CMYK color model, and is the complementary color of cyan. Reds range from the brilliant yellow-tinged scarlet and vermillion to bluish-red crimson, and vary in shade from the pale red pink to the dark red burgundy. Red pigment made from ochre was one of the first colors used in prehistoric art. The Ancient Egyptians and Mayans colored their faces red in ceremonies; Roman generals had their bodies colored red to celebrate victories. It was also an important color in China, where it was used to color early pottery and later the gates and walls of palaces. In the Renaissance, the brilliant red costumes for the nobility and wealthy were dyed with kermes and cochineal. The 19th century brought the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has won numerous awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the World Fantasy Award. ''The Atlantic'' has called Robinson's work "the gold standard of realistic, and highly literary, science-fiction writing." According to an article in ''The New Yorker'', Robinson is "generally acknowledged as one of the greatest living science-fiction writers." Early life and education Robinson was born in Waukegan, Illinois. He moved to Southern California as a child. In 1974, he earned a B.A. in literature from the University of California, San Diego. In 1975, he earned an M.A. in English from Boston University. In 1978 Robinson moved to Davis, California, to take a break from his graduate studies at the Univers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assemblers Of Infinity
''Assemblers of Infinity'' is a science-fiction novel by American writers Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason. It first appeared in print in serialized form in the American magazine ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' from September to December 1992 and was published in 1993 by Bantam Spectra. In 1994 it was nominated for the Nebula Award for best science fiction novel: this was the only Nebula nomination that both Anderson and Beason ever had. It was also placed 25th SF Novel in the 1994 Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll .... The book is currently out of print, but is still available as e-book. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skynet (Terminator)
Skynet is a fictional artificial neural network-based conscious group mind and artificial general superintelligence system that serves as the main antagonist of the ''Terminator'' franchise. Skynet is an AGI, an ASI and a Singularity. In the first film, it is stated that Skynet was created by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC- NORAD. When Skynet gained self-awareness, humans tried to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a countervalue nuclear attack, an event which humankind in (or from) the future refers to as Judgment Day. In this future, John Connor forms a human resistance against Skynet's machines—which include Terminators—and ultimately leads the resistance to victory. Throughout the film series, Skynet sends various Terminator models back in time to attempt to kill Connor and ensure Skynet's victory. The system is rarely depicted visually in any of the ''Terminator'' media, since it is an artificial intelligence system. In '' Terminator Salvatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Ancient Greek word πρόλογος includes the modern meaning of ''prologue'', but was of wider significance, more like the meaning of preface. The importance, therefore, of the prologue in Greek tragedy#Structure, Greek drama was very great; it sometimes almost took the place of a romance, to which, or to an episode in which, the play itself succeeded. Latin On the Latin stage the prologue was often more elaborate than it was in Athens, and in the careful composition of the poems which Plautus prefixes to his plays we see what importance he gave to this portion of the entertainment; sometimes, as in the preface to the ''Rudens'', Plautus rises to the height of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-1000
The T-1000 is a fictional character in the ''Terminator'' franchise, debuting as the main antagonist in the 1991 film '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. The character was originally portrayed by Robert Patrick, marking his breakout role. In the franchise, the T-1000 is a Terminator, a line of android assassins created by the artificial intelligence Skynet. In the future, Skynet is engaged in a war against humans, who are led by John Connor. In ''Terminator 2'', the T-1000 is sent back in time to kill John while he is still a child. The T-1000 is made up of a liquid metal, known in the film as ''mimetic polyalloy'', which allows it to shapeshift into other people or objects that come into contact with it. The liquid metal effects were created through computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic, and through practical effects by Stan Winston. The character, including Patrick's performance and the visual effects required to depict it, were praised by critics. Since th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randall Frakes
Randall Frakes is a film and science fiction writer primarily known for his work with long-time friends Bill Wisher and James Cameron on ''The Terminator'' and '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' While Frakes was in the U.S. Army, he was stationed in Europe, where he edited the newspaper for the 16th Signal Battalion. While editor, he won a '' Stars and Stripes'' award for investigative journalism. After the Army, he earned a degree in Film Writing and Production from Columbia College, while also writing for '' Analog'', '' Fantastic'', and ''Fantasy & Science Fiction''. His first film work was as a special effects cameraman for Roger Corman, and a number of unproduced screenplays, before his collaborations with Wisher and Cameron, kicked off his film-writing career. Filmography * '' Xenogenesis'' (1978 short), writer, director, and producer (with James Cameron) * '' Battle Beyond the Stars'' (1980), additional photographer * ''Escape from New York'' (1981), photographic effect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
