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The Quantum Thief
''The Quantum Thief'' is the debut science fiction novel by Finnish writer Hannu Rajaniemi and the first novel in a trilogy featuring the character of Jean le Flambeur; the sequels are '' The Fractal Prince'' (2012) and '' The Causal Angel'' (2014). The novel was published in Britain by Gollancz in 2010, and by Tor in 2011 in the US. It is a heist story, set in a futuristic Solar System, that features a protagonist modeled on Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc. The novel was nominated for the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel, and was second runner-up for the 2011 Campbell Memorial Award. Setting Several centuries after the technological singularity largely destroyed earth, various posthuman factions compete for dominance in the solar system. Though sentient superintelligent AGI has never been successfully developed, civilization has been greatly transformed by the proliferation of Hansonian brain emulations (termed "gogols" in reference to the autho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hannu Rajaniemi
Hannu Rajaniemi (born 9 March 1978) is a Finnish American author of science fiction and fantasy, who writes in both English and Finnish. He lives in Oakland, California, and was a founding director of a commercial research organisation ThinkTank Maths. Early life Rajaniemi was born in Ylivieska, Finland in 1978. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Oulu, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to starting his PhD candidature, he completed his national service as a research scientist for the Finnish Defence Forces. While pursuing his PhD in Edinburgh, Rajaniemi joined Writers' Bloc, a writers' group in Edinburgh that organizes semi-regular spoken word performances and counts Charlie Stross amongst its members. Career Early works included his first published short story "Shibuya no Love" in 2003 and his short story "Deus Ex Homine" in Nova Scotia, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campbell Memorial Award
The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction novel published in English in the preceding calendar year. It is the novel counterpart of the Theodore Sturgeon Award for best short story, awarded at the same conference by the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust. The award is named in honor of John W. Campbell (1910–71), whose science fiction writing and role as editor of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' made him one of the most influential editors in the early history of science fiction. The award was established in 1973 by writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss "as a way of continuing his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best possible work." ''Locus'' magazine has listed it as one of the "major awards" of written science fiction. The winning novel is selecte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gravitational Singularity
A gravitational singularity, spacetime singularity or simply singularity is a condition in which gravitational field, gravity is so intense that spacetime itself breaks down catastrophically. As such, a singularity is by definition no longer part of the regular spacetime and cannot be determined by "where" or "when". Gravitational singularities exist at a junction between general relativity and quantum mechanics; therefore, the properties of the singularity cannot be described without an established theory of quantum gravity. Trying to find a complete and precise definition of singularities in the theory of general relativity, the current best theory of gravity, remains a difficult problem. A singularity in general relativity can be defined by the Curvature invariant (general relativity), scalar invariant Curvature of Riemannian manifolds, curvature becoming Infinity, infinite or, better, by a Geodesics in general relativity, geodesic being Geodesic manifold#Non-examples, incom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No-cloning Theorem
In physics, the no-cloning theorem states that it is impossible to create an independent and identical copy of an arbitrary unknown quantum state, a statement which has profound implications in the field of quantum computing among others. The theorem is an evolution of the 1970 no-go theorem authored by James Park, in which he demonstrates that a non-disturbing measurement scheme which is both simple and perfect cannot exist (the same result would be independently derived in 1982 by Wootters and Zurek as well as Dieks the same year). The aforementioned theorems do not preclude the state of one system becoming entangled with the state of another as cloning specifically refers to the creation of a separable state with identical factors. For example, one might use the controlled NOT gate and the Walsh–Hadamard gate to entangle two qubits without violating the no-cloning theorem as no well-defined state may be defined in terms of a subsystem of an entangled state. The no-cloning th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sobornost
Sobornost ( rus, собо́рность, p=sɐˈbornəstʲ "spiritual community of many jointly-living people") is a Russian term whose usage is primarily attributed to the 19th-century Slavophile Russian writers Ivan Kireyevsky (1806-1856) and Aleksey Khomyakov (1804-1860). The term expresses the need for co-operation between people at the expense of individualism, on the basis that opposing groups focus on what is common between them. Khomyakov believed that the Western world was progressively losing its unity because it was embracing Aristotle and his defining individualism. Kireyevsky believed that G. W. F. Hegel and Aristotle represented the same ideal of unity. Khomyakov and Kireyevsky originally used the term ''sobor'' ( ru , собор) to designate co-operation within the Russian ''obshchina'', united by a set of common convictions and Eastern Orthodox values, as opposed to the cult of individualism in the West. The term ''sobor'' in Russian has multiple co-relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (russian: Никола́й Фёдорович Фёдоров; surname also Anglicized as "Fedorov", June 9, 1829 – December 28, 1903) was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, who was part of the Russian cosmism movement and a precursor of transhumanism. Fyodorov advocated radical life extension, physical immortality and even resurrection of the dead, using scientific methods. Early life and education Fyodorov's parents were the (noble) Pavel Ivanovich Gagarin and Elisaveta Ivanova, a woman of lower-class nobility. He studied at the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa. From 1854 to 1868, he served as a teacher in various small Russian towns. In 1878, he joined the Rumyantsev Museum staff as a librarian. Fyodorov opposed the idea of property of books and ideas and never published anything during his lifetime. His selected articles were printed posthumously with the title ''Philosophy of the Common Task'' (also known as ''Philosophy of Physical Resur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomical Engineering
Engineering on an astronomical scale, or astronomical engineering, ''i.e.'', engineering involving operations with whole astronomical objects (planets, stars, etc.), is a known theme in science fiction, as well as a matter of recent scientific research and exploratory engineering. In the Kardashev scale, Type II and Type III civilizations can harness energy on the required scale. Kardashev, Nikolai.On the Inevitability and the Possible Structures of Supercivilizations, The search for extraterrestrial life: Recent developments; Proceedings of the Symposium, Boston, MA, June 18–21, 1984 (A86-38126 17-88). Dordrecht, D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1985, p. 497–504. This can allow them to construct megastructures. Examples Exploratory engineering *Dyson spheres or Dyson swarm and similar constructs are hypothetical megastructures originally described by Freeman Dyson as a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to enclose a star completely and capture most or all of its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computronium
Computronium is a material hypothesized by Norman Margolus and Tommaso Toffoli of MIT in 1991 to be used as "programmable matter", a substrate for computer modeling of virtually any real object. It also refers to a arrangement of matter that is the best possible form of computing device for that amount of matter. In this context, the term can refer both to a theoretically perfect arrangement of hypothetical materials that would have been developed using nanotechnology at the molecular, atomic, or subatomic level (in which case this interpretation of computronium could be unobtainium), and to the best possible achievable form using currently available and used computational materials. According to the Barrow scale, a modified variant of the Kardashev scale created by British physicist John D. Barrow, which is intended to categorize the development stage of extraterrestrial civilizations, it would be conceivable that advanced civilizations do not claim more and more space and reso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Souls
''Dead Souls'' (russian: «Мёртвые души», ''Mjórtvyje dúshi'') is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adventures of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov (Russian: Павел Иванович Чичиков) and the people whom he encounters. These people typify the Russian middle aristocracy of the time. Gogol himself saw his work as an "epic poem in prose", and within the book characterised it as a " novel in verse". Gogol intended the novel to be the first part of a three-volume work, but burned the manuscript of the second part shortly before his death. Although the novel ends in mid-sentence (like Sterne's ''Sentimental Journey''), it is regarded by some as complete in the extant form. Title The original title, as shown on the illustration (cover page), was "The Wanderings of Chichikov, or Dead Souls. ''Poema''", which contracted to merely "Dead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol was one of the first to use the technique of the grotesque, in works such as " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and "Nevsky Prospekt". These stories, and others such as " Diary of a Madman", have also been noted for their proto-surrealist qualities. According to Viktor Shklovsky, Gogol's strange style of writing resembles the "ostranenie" technique of defamiliarization. His early works, such as ''Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'', were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and folklore. His later writing satirised political corruption in the Russian Empire (''The Government Inspector'', '' Dead Souls''). The novel ''Taras Bulba'' (1835), the play ''Marriage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Hanson
Robin Dale Hanson (born August 28, 1959) is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He is known for his work on idea futures and markets, and he was involved in the creation of the Foresight Institute's Foresight Exchange and DARPA's FutureMAP project. He invented market scoring rules like LMSR ( Logarithmic Market Scoring Rule) used by prediction markets such as Consensus Point (where Hanson is Chief Scientist), and has conducted research on signalling. Background Hanson received a BS in physics from the University of California, Irvine in 1981, an MS in physics and an MA in Conceptual Foundations of Science from the University of Chicago in 1984, and a PhD in social science from Caltech in 1997 for his thesis titled ''Four puzzles in information and politics: Product bans, informed voters, social insurance, and persistent disagreement''. Before getting his PhD he rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artificial General Intelligence
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the ability of an intelligent agent to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of some artificial intelligence research and a common topic in science fiction and futures studies. AGI is also called strong AI,: Kurzweil describes strong AI as "machine intelligence with the full range of human intelligence." full AI, or general intelligent action, although some academic sources reserve the term "strong AI" for computer programs that experience sentience or consciousness. Strong AI contrasts with ''weak AI'' (or ''narrow AI''), which is not intended to have general cognitive abilities; rather, weak AI is any program that is designed to solve exactly one problem. (Academic sources reserve "weak AI" for programs that do not experience consciousness or do not have a mind in the same sense people do.) A 2020 survey identified 72 active AGI R&D projects spread across 37 countries. Characteristics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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