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Flatlander (story)
"Flatlander" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1967. It is the third in the series of ''Known Space'' stories featuring crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The short story was originally published in ''Worlds of If'', March 1967, and reprinted in ''Neutron Star'', and ''Crashlander''.''Crashlander'', Larry Niven, New York: Ballantine, 1994, pp. 57–101 () Plot summary Traveling to Earth after his trip to the core of the Milky Way Galaxy, Beowulf "Bey" Shaeffer befriends Gregory Pelton, a fabulously wealthy and gregarious flatlander (Earth-born human) who calls himself Elephant. Irritated at always being labeled a flatlander despite having logged many hours in space, Elephant decides to visit the most unusual system in or near Known Space and has his agents put in a call to meet with the nearest Outsider vessel. Elephant, as well as two women named Diana and Sharrol, show Shaeffer around Earth for a few days; Shaeffe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by '' Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outside organizations relevant to the field at issue. For e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithosphere
A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust (geology), crust and the portion of the upper mantle (geology), mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of up to thousands of years or more. The crust and upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle are distinguished on the basis of chemistry and mineralogy. Earth's lithosphere Earth's lithosphere, which constitutes the hard and rigid outer vertical layer of the Earth, includes the crust and the uppermost mantle. The lithosphere is underlain by the asthenosphere which is the weaker, hotter, and deeper part of the upper mantle. The lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary is defined by a difference in response to stress. The lithosphere remains rigid for very long periods of geologic time in which it deforms elastically and through brittle failure, while the asthenosphere deforms viscously and accommodates strain through plasticity (physics), pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Soft Weapon
"The Soft Weapon" is a science fiction short story by the American writer Larry Niven, set in his ''Known Space'' universe. It was first published in the February 1967 issue of '' If''.- - - The story introduces the character of Nessus, a Puppeteer who later became one of the main characters of the novel ''Ringworld''. The story is retold, from the point of view of Nessus, in ''Juggler of Worlds''. "The Soft Weapon" was first published in ''If'' in 1967 and has since been included in the short story collections ''Neutron Star'' (1968) and ''Playgrounds of the Mind'' (1991). Plot Nessus is returning from a diplomatic mission to the Outsiders, having purchased what is apparently a Thrint stasis box, on a passenger ship run by a human couple, Jason and Anne Marie Papandreou. They stop at Beta Lyrae to sight-see where they unexpectedly discover, by deep-radar, another stasis box. However, the box had been placed there as a trap by Kzinti pirates. The rogue Kzinti are using a dum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fly-by-Night (story)
Fly by Night or Fly-by-Night may refer to: Film and television * ''Fly-by-Night'' (film), a 1942 American thriller * ''Fly by Night'' (TV play), a 1962 Australian TV play * ''Fly by Night'', a 1992 film directed by Steve Gomer * ''Fly by Night'' (film), a 2019 Malaysian crime thriller * ''Fly by Night'' (TV series), a 1991 Canadian adventure series starring David James Elliott * "Fly by Night" (''Mighty Max''), an episode of the television series ''Mighty Max'' Fiction * ''Fly by Night'' (Hardinge novel), a 2005 children's novel by Frances Hardinge * ''Fly-by-Night'' (Peyton novel), a 1968 children's novel by K. M. Peyton * "Fly-by-Night", a short story by Larry Niven included in the ''Man-Kzin Wars'' collections * "Fly-by-Night", a mysterious flower in the Japanese animated film ''Mary and the Witch's Flower'' Music * ''Fly by Night'' (album), a 1975 album by Rush * "Fly by Night" (Rush song), 1975 * "Fly by Night" (Andy Williams song), 1961 * "Fly by Night", a song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghost (Niven)
''Crashlander'' is a fix-up novel by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1994 () and set in his ''Known Space'' universe. It is also a term used in the Known Space universe, denoting a human born on the planet ''We Made It''. Plot summary Crashlander brings together the short stories featuring the space pilot Beowulf Shaeffer — "Neutron Star" (1966), "At the Core" (1966), "Flatlander" (1967), "Grendel" (1968), "The Borderland of Sol" (1975), and "Procrustes" (1993). The stories are linked, and some of them extended, by a framing story, "Ghost". This story recounts Shaeffer's reunion with a ghostwriter whom Shaeffer had used to write about his adventures at the neutron star and at the core, Ander Smittarasheed. Ander, working for ARM agent Sigmund Ausfaller, has come to question him about his dealings with Pierson's Puppeteers, General Products and Carlos Wu, as well as what happened to Wu and ARM agent Feather Filip. Wu, Shaeffer and Sharrol Janss and their child ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procrustes (story)
"Procrustes" is an English-language science fiction short story written in 1993 by Larry Niven. It is the sixth in the series of stories about crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The short story was originally published in ''Bridging the Galaxies'' (1993). The story is retold, from the point of view of Sigmund Ausfaller, in ''Juggler of Worlds''. Plot summary Beowulf "Bey" Shaeffer, half-dreaming, fitfully remembers events leading up to the moment he is shot with an ARM punchgun, a weapon best described as a large-caliber handgun. The recent events, and his memories leading up to them, keep replaying in his head, and Shaeffer realizes that he must be inside Carlos Wu's special autodoc, and that he must be terribly damaged. When he finally awakens, Shaeffer learns he has been in the autodoc for four months and eleven days. He crawls out of the autodoc, feeling unbalanced, and finds himself on the same deserted island on which they had all landed, though he is alone. Moving to the center ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Borderland Of Sol (story)
"The Borderland of Sol" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Larry Niven. It is the fifth in the ''Known Space'' series of stories about Crashlander II, crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The story was originally published in ''Analog'', January 1975, printed in the collection ''Tales of Known Space'', Niven, Del Ray, reissued 1985 (), and reprinted in ''Crashlander'', Larry Niven, New York: Ballantine, 1994, pp. 160–207 (). The story won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1976 and was nominated for the Locus Award, Locus Poll Award for Best Novelette in 1976. It is one of the earliest works of fiction to feature a Black holes in fiction, black hole. Segments of the novel ''Fleet of Worlds'' serve as a prequel to the story. Plot summary A rash of spaceship disappearances around Earth results in a dearth of available transit, stranding Beowulf "Bey" Shaeffer on Jinx (Known Space), Jinx away from his love, Sharrol Janss. While visiting the Institute of Knowledge he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutron Star (short Story)
"Neutron Star" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven. It was originally published in the October 1966 issue (Issue 107, Vol 16, No 10) of ''Worlds of If''. It was later reprinted in the collection of the same name and ''Crashlander''.New York: Ballantine, 1994, pp. 8-28, The story is set in Niven's fictional ''Known Space'' universe. It is notable for including a neutron star before their (then hypothetical) existence was widely known. "Neutron Star" is the first to feature Beowulf Shaeffer, the ex-pilot and reluctant hero of many of Niven's ''Known Space'' stories. It also marked the first appearance of the nearly indestructible General Products starship hull, as well as its creators, the Pierson's Puppeteers. The star itself, BVS-1, is featured in the novel ''Protector'' (1973), where it is named "Phssthpok's Star". A prelude to the story is also included in the novel ''Juggler of Worlds''. Plot summary Beowulf Shaeffer, a native o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antimatter
In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioactive decay, but only a tiny fraction of these have successfully been bound together in experiments to form antiatoms. Minuscule numbers of antiparticles can be generated at particle accelerators; however, total artificial production has been only a few nanograms. No macroscopic amount of antimatter has ever been assembled due to the extreme cost and difficulty of production and handling. Theoretically, a particle and its antiparticle (for example, a proton and an antiproton) have the same mass, but opposite electric charge, and other differences in quantum numbers. A collision between any particle and its anti-particle partner leads to their mutual annihilation, giving rise to various proportions of intense photons (gamma rays), neutrin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierson's Puppeteers
Pierson's Puppeteers, often known just as Puppeteers, are a fictional alien race from American author Larry Niven's ''Known Space'' books. The race first appeared in Niven’s novella ''Neutron Star''. Biology and sociology The sobriquet "Pierson's" comes from the name of the human who made first contact in the early 26th century in the ''Known Space'' timeline. According to the Niven story ''The Soft Weapon'', Pierson was a crewman aboard a spaceship at a time when there was a camp revival of the ancient ''Time for Beany'' TV show featuring Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, an animated character based on a hand puppet; Pierson accordingly described the alien he had met as a Puppeteer, given some resemblance of the head and neck with Cecil. Puppeteers dealing with humans usually give themselves the names of centaurs and other figures in Greek mythology, such as Nessus, Nike and Chiron. Puppeteers' names for themselves are reportedly highly complex, and unpronounceable by humans. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jinx (Known Space)
Known Space is the fictional setting of about a dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by Larry Niven. It has also become a shared universe in the spin-off ''Man-Kzin Wars'' anthologies. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) catalogs all works set in the fictional universe that includes Known Space under the series name Tales of Known Space, which was the title of a 1975 collection of Niven's short stories. The first-published work in the series, which was Niven's first published piece was "The Coldest Place", in the December 1964 issue of '' If'' magazine, edited by Frederik Pohl. This was the first-published work in the 1975 collection. The stories span approximately one thousand years of future history, from the first human explorations of the Solar System to the colonization of dozens of nearby systems. Late in the series, Known Space is an irregularly shaped "bubble" about 60 light-years across. The epithet "Known Space" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GP Hull
Pierson's Puppeteers, often known just as Puppeteers, are a fictional alien race from American author Larry Niven's '' Known Space'' books. The race first appeared in Niven’s novella ''Neutron Star''. Biology and sociology The sobriquet "Pierson's" comes from the name of the human who made first contact in the early 26th century in the ''Known Space'' timeline. According to the Niven story '' The Soft Weapon'', Pierson was a crewman aboard a spaceship at a time when there was a camp revival of the ancient '' Time for Beany'' TV show featuring Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, an animated character based on a hand puppet; Pierson accordingly described the alien he had met as a Puppeteer, given some resemblance of the head and neck with Cecil. Puppeteers dealing with humans usually give themselves the names of centaurs and other figures in Greek mythology, such as Nessus, Nike and Chiron. Puppeteers' names for themselves are reportedly highly complex, and unpronounceable by hum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
