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Dyson Tree
A Dyson tree is an hypothetical genetically engineered plant (perhaps resembling a tree) capable of growing inside a comet, suggested by the physicist Freeman Dyson. Plants may be able to produce a breathable atmosphere within the hollow spaces of the comet (or maybe even within the plants themselves), utilising solar energy for photosynthesis and cometary materials for nutrients, thus providing self-sustaining habitats for humanity in the outer solar system analogous to a greenhouse in space, a shell grown by a mollusc or the actions of thermogenic plants, such as the skunk cabbage or the voodoo lily. A Dyson tree might consist of a few main trunk structures growing out from a comet nucleus, branching into limbs and foliage that intertwine, forming a spherical structure possibly dozens of kilometers across. Dyson trees in science fiction Dyson trees are mentioned a number of times in science fiction, beginning in the 1980s: *One of the first adoptions of the trope is Rachel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freeman Dyson
Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was an English-American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, and engineering. He was Professor Emeritus in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Dyson originated several concepts that bear his name, such as Dyson's transform, a fundamental technique in additive number theory, which he developed as part of his proof of Mann's theorem; the Dyson tree, a hypothetical genetically engineered plant capable of growing in a comet; the Dyson series, a perturbative series where each term is represented by Feynman diagrams; the Dyson sphere, a thought experiment that attempts to explain how a spacefaring, space-faring civilization would meet its energy requirements with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Swanwick
Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap" in ''TriQuarterly'' and "The Feast of St. Janis" in ''New Dimensions 11''. Both stories were nominees for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1981. His first novel was ''In the Drift'' (an Ace Special, 1985), a look at the results of a more catastrophic Three Mile Island incident, which expands on his earlier short story "Mummer's Kiss". This was followed in 1987 by ''Vacuum Flowers'', an adventurous tour of an inhabited Solar System, where the people of Earth have been subsumed by a cybernetic mass-mind. Some characters’ bodies contain multiple personalities, which can be recorded and edited (or damaged) as if they were wetware. In the 1990s, Swanwick moved towards the intersection between science fiction and fantasy and Mag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Baxter (author)
Stephen Baxter (born 13 November 1957) is an English hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering. Writing style Strongly influenced by SF pioneer H. G. Wells, Baxter has been Vice-President of the international H. G. Wells Society since 2006. His fiction falls into three main categories of original work plus a fourth category, extending other authors' writing; each has a different basis, style, and tone. Baxter's "Future History" mode is based on research into hard science. It encompasses the Xeelee Sequence, which consists of nine novels (including the ''Destiny's Children'' trilogy and Vengeance/Redemption duology that is set in alternate timeline), plus three volumes collecting the 52 short pieces (short stories and novellas) in the series, all of which fit into a single timeline stretching from the Big Bang singularity of the past to his ''Timelike Infinity'' singularity of the future. These stories begin in the present day and end when th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyson Sphere
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its solar power output. The concept is a thought experiment that attempts to explain how a spacefaring civilization would meet its energy requirements once those requirements exceed what can be generated from the home planet's resources alone. Because only a tiny fraction of a star's energy emissions reaches the surface of any orbiting planet, building structures encircling a star would enable a civilization to harvest far more energy. The first contemporary description of the structure was by Olaf Stapledon in his science fiction novel '' Star Maker'' (1937), in which he described "every solar system... surrounded by a gauze of light-traps, which focused the escaping solar energy for intelligent use". The concept was later popularized by Freeman Dyson in his 1960 paper "Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation". Dyson speculated that such stru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperion Cantos
The ''Hyperion Cantos'' is a series of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. The title was originally used for the collection of the first pair of books in the series, '' Hyperion'' and '' The Fall of Hyperion'', and later came to refer to the overall storyline, including ''Endymion'', ''The Rise of Endymion'', and a number of short stories. More narrowly, inside the fictional storyline, after the first volume, the Hyperion Cantos is an epic poem written by the character Martin Silenus covering in verse form the events of the first two books. Of the four novels, ''Hyperion'' received the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1990; ''The Fall of Hyperion'' won the Locus and British Science Fiction Association Awards in 1991; and ''The Rise of Endymion'' received the Locus Award in 1998. All four novels were also nominated for various science fiction awards. Works ''Hyperion'' First published in 1989, ''Hyperion'' has the structure of a frame story, similar to Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rise Of Endymion
''The Rise of Endymion'' is a 1997 science fiction novel by American writer Dan Simmons. It is the fourth and final novel in his ''Hyperion Cantos'' fictional universe. It won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1998. Plot Premise ''The Rise of Endymion'' is set more than 275 years after the fall of the Hegemony of Man, an interstellar organization connected by farcaster portals. At the time of this novel, the Roman Catholic Church has formed the Pax, an administrative entity that formalizes the Church's control and implements a theocracy. The Church and the Pax have secretly been collaborating with representatives of the TechnoCore. The Core provides the Church with cruciforms, which allow humans to be resurrected and gain functional immortality. However, the TechnoCore fears that Aenea, daughter of a human being and a TechnoCore intelligence, will destroy their hold on 31st-century society. The world Hyperion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endymion (Simmons Novel)
''Endymion'' is the third science fiction novel by American writer Dan Simmons, first published in 1996. Part of his ''Hyperion Cantos'' fictional universe, it centers on the new characters Aenea and Raul Endymion, and was well received, like its predecessors '' Hyperion'' and '' The Fall of Hyperion''. Within a year of its release, the paperback edition had gone through five reprints. The novel was shortlisted for the 1997 Locus Award. Plot summary Background 274 years ago, Hegemony CEO Meina Gladstone ordered the destruction of all farcaster portals to stop the TechnoCore from eliminating humankind. This resulted in the collapse of civilization on most planets. Brawne Lamia, pregnant by the first John Keats cybrid, gave birth to a daughter called Aenea. Lamia died when Aenea was still young, and Silenus raised her. When Aenea was twelve years old, she entered the Time Tombs and disappeared into the future. Before the Fall, Father Paul Duré was elected as Pope under the nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. Simmons's genre-intermingling'' Song of Kali'' (1985) won the World Fantasy Award. He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz. Biography Born in Peoria, Illinois, Simmons received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970 and, in 1971, a Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis. He soon started writing short stories, although his career did not take off until 1982, when, through Harlan Ellison's help, his short story " The River Styx Runs Upstream" was published and awarded first prize in a ''Twilight Zone Magazine'' story competition, and he was taken on as a client by Ellison's agent, Richard Curtis. Simmons's first novel, ''Song of Kali'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solar Sail
Solar sails (also known as light sails and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large mirrors. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigation have been proposed since the 1980s. The first spacecraft to make use of the technology was IKAROS, launched in 2010. A useful analogy to solar sailing may be a sailing boat; the light exerting a force on the mirrors is akin to a sail being blown by the wind. High-energy laser beams could be used as an alternative light source to exert much greater force than would be possible using sunlight, a concept known as beam sailing. Solar sail craft offer the possibility of low-cost operations combined with long operating lifetimes. Since they have few moving parts and use no propellant, they can potentially be used numerous times for delivery of payloads. Solar sails use a phenomenon that has a proven, measured effect on astrodynamics. Solar pressure affec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Genesis (novel)
''Second Genesis'' is a 1986 science fiction novel by American author Donald Moffitt. In the previous novel, ''The Genesis Quest'' (1986), the alien Nar species discovered radio transmissions containing the genetic codes and cultural records of a species called Humanity, transmitted from a distant galaxy. Now the humans created with this information have discovered the biochemical key to immortality, and have decided to dedicate their now-long lives to discovering their origins in the distant Milky Way. They create a starship using a Dyson tree called ''Yggdrasil'', bound to a Bussard ramjet The Bussard ramjet is a theoretical method of spacecraft propulsion proposed in 1960 by the physicist Robert W. Bussard, popularized by Poul Anderson's novel ''Tau Zero'', Larry Niven in his ''Known Space'' series of books, Vernor Vinge in his ..., to search for the world of their ancestors, and wind up discovering both ancient wonders and a disturbing new threat; a predatory species that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Genesis Quest
''The Genesis Quest'' is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Donald Moffitt. It is part of a two-part series, the conclusion of the story being offered in ''Second Genesis (novel), Second Genesis''. Plot summary An alien race (The Nar) assemble humans from a stream of genetic information transmitted by radio from the Milky Way Galaxy. The resulting colony of humans spend some time integrated into the Nar society before growing restless, discovering the secret of human longevity, and embarking on the seemingly impossible millennia-long mission of a physical journey back to Earth. This epic journey is made in a gigantic space-grown semi-sentient Dyson tree known as ''Yggdrasil''. 1986 novels 1986 science fiction novels Novels by Donald Moffitt {{1980s-sf-novel-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Moffitt
Donald Moffitt (July 20, 1931December 10, 2014) was an American author who wrote a number of science fiction novels. Most famous among these are ''The Genesis Quest'' and '' Second Genesis''. While he was the author of many titles under his own name he also used the pseudonyms Paul Kenyon, Victor Sondheim, and Paul King. In the 1950s, Moffitt published approximately 100 short stories under 15 or more pen names (Wilson MacDonald, James D’Indy, and an assortment of others), in magazines like ''Man's Action'', ''Wildcat'', ''Gent'', and ''Monsieur'', while editing trade magazines by day. Known for his science fiction, Moffitt later turned his attention to historical mysteries. Bibliography (incomplete) As Donald Moffitt Short fiction *The Devil's Due ('' Fantastic Science Fiction Stories'', May 1960; reprinted in ''Strange Fantasy'', Fall 1969) *The Scroll (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', May 1972) *The Man Who Was Beethoven (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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