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Bush Robot
A bush robot is a hypothetical machine whose body branches in a fractal way into trillions of nanoscale fingers, to achieve very high dexterity and reconfigurability. The concept was described by Hans Moravec in a final report for NASA in 1999, who projected that development of the necessary technology will take half a century. Bush robots are also referenced as very recent technology in the Transhuman Space and Eclipse Phase roleplaying games. They are also featured in some novels, such as '' Rocheworld'' by physicist Robert L. Forward, ''Iron Sunrise'' and '' Singularity Sky'' by Charles Stross, ''Matter'' by Iain M. Banks, ''The Turing Option'' by Harry Harrison and artificial intelligence expert Marvin Minsky, '' The Return of Bruce Wayne'' #6 by Grant Morrison and Lee Garbett, ''The Big Chill'' by Alan Moore and Carlos D'Anda (as the last form of life in the universe) and ''The Adventures of Lando Calrissian'' by L. Neil Smith Lester Neil Smith III (May 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fractal
In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illustrated in successive magnifications of the Mandelbrot set. This exhibition of similar patterns at increasingly smaller scales is called self-similarity, also known as expanding symmetry or unfolding symmetry; if this replication is exactly the same at every scale, as in the Menger sponge, the shape is called affine self-similar. Fractal geometry lies within the mathematical branch of measure theory. One way that fractals are different from finite geometric figures is how they scale. Doubling the edge lengths of a filled polygon multiplies its area by four, which is two (the ratio of the new to the old side length) raised to the power of two (the conventional dimension of the filled polygon). Likewise, if the radius of a filled sphere i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Turing Option
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interstellar (film)
''Interstellar'' is a 2014 epic science fiction film co-written, directed, and produced by Christopher Nolan. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, Matt Damon, and Michael Caine. Set in a dystopian future where humanity is struggling to survive, the film follows a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home for mankind. Brothers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan wrote the screenplay, which had its origins in a script Jonathan developed in 2007. Caltech theoretical physicist and 2017 Nobel laureate in Physics Kip Thorne was an executive producer, acted as a scientific consultant, and wrote a tie-in book, '' The Science of Interstellar''. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot it on 35 mm movie film in the Panavision anamorphic format and IMAX 70 mm. Principal photography began in late 2013 and took place in Alberta, Iceland, and Los Angeles. ''Interstellar'' uses extensive pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Macleod
Kenneth Macrae MacLeod (born 2 August 1954) is a Scottish science fiction writer. His novels ''The Sky Road'' and ''The Night Sessions'' won the BSFA Award. MacLeod's novels have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Campbell Memorial awards for best novel on multiple occasions. A techno-utopianist, MacLeod's work makes frequent use of libertarian socialist themes; he is a three-time winner of the libertarian Prometheus Award. Prior to becoming a novelist, MacLeod studied biology and worked as a computer programmer. He sits on the advisory board of the Edinburgh Science Festival. Biography MacLeod was born in Stornoway, Scotland on 2 August 1954. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics. He was a Trotskyist activist in the 1970s and early 1980s and is married and has two children. He lived in South Queensferry near Edinburgh before moving to G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Lando Calrissian
Landonis Balthazar "Lando" Calrissian III is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) as an old friend of Han Solo and the administrator of the floating Cloud City on the gas planet Bespin. Prior to the events of the film, Lando made a career as a gambler, con artist, playboy, mining engineer, and businessman, and was the Ship-owner, owner of the ''Millennium Falcon'' until losing the ship to Han in a bet. In the film, when Cloud City is threatened by the Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Galactic Empire, Lando reluctantly betrays Han to Darth Vader, but later redeems himself by helping Han's friends escape from the Empire. In ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), after becoming a general in the Rebel Alliance, Lando helps rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt and leads the attack on the second Death Star. Lando is portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the original trilogy, as well as the sequel film ''The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heat Death Of The Universe
The heat death of the universe (also known as the Big Chill or Big Freeze) is a hypothesis on the ultimate fate of the universe, which suggests the universe will evolve to a state of no thermodynamic free energy, and will therefore be unable to sustain processes that increase entropy. Heat death does not imply any particular absolute temperature; it only requires that temperature differences or other processes may no longer be exploited to perform work. In the language of physics, this is when the universe reaches thermodynamic equilibrium. The Heat Death theory has become the leading theory in the modern age with the fewest unpredictable factors. If the topology of the universe is open or flat, or if dark energy is a positive cosmological constant (both of which are consistent with current data), the universe will continue expanding forever, and a heat death is expected to occur, with the universe cooling to approach equilibrium at a very low temperature after a very long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell''. He is widely recognised among his peers and critics as one of the best comic book writers in the English language. Moore has occasionally used such pseudonyms as Curt Vile, Jill de Ray, Brilburn Logue, and Translucia Baboon; also, reprints of some of his work have been credited to The Original Writer when Moore requested that his name be removed. Moore started writing for British underground and alternative fanzines in the late 1970s before achieving success publishing comic strips in such magazines as '' 2000 AD'' and ''Warrior''. He was subsequently picked up by DC Comics as "the first comics writer living in Britain to do prominent work in America", where he worked on major characters such as Batman ('' Batman: The Killing Joke'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Garbett
Lee Garbett is a British comic book artist born in the West Midlands. He has worked on British comics. As of February 2011, he is working freelance after a period of exclusivity with DC Comics. Career He created the 4-issue mini-series ''Dark Mists'' with Annika Eade, which follows a group of Geisha blackmailed into becoming assassins. After AP Comics folded the title was picked up and reprinted by Markosia. Lee left the series after issue No. 3 and moved to '' 2000 AD'', most notably on the series ''London Falling'', co-created with Simon Spurrier. He also worked on a ''Judge Dredd'' strip for the Judge Dredd Megazine. He then moved to US publisher, DC Comics and their Wildstorm imprint. There he first worked on '' The Highwaymen'' before working with Keith Giffen on ''Midnighter'' and the DC/Wildstorm Universe crossover ''Dreamwar''. He is also providing the art for the two-part ''Batman'' story which follows the Batman R.I.P. storyline and links into Final Crisis. Lee dre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...s, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for the American comic book publisher DC Comics, penning lengthy runs on ''Animal Man (comic book), Animal Man'', ''Doom Patrol'', ''JLA (comic book), JLA'', ''Action Comics'', and ''The Green Lantern'' as well as the graphic novels ''Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Arkham Asylum'' and ''Wonder Woman: Earth One'', the meta-series ''Seven Soldiers'' and ''The Multiversity'', the mini-series ''DC One Million'' and ''Final Crisis'', both of which served as centrepieces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Return Of Bruce Wayne
''Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne'' is a 6-issue American comic book limited series published by DC Comics beginning in May to November 2010, written by Grant Morrison and featuring a team of rotating artists starting with Chris Sprouse and Frazer Irving. The series picks up from ''Final Crisis'' #6. The series detailed the journey Bruce Wayne takes through the timestream of the DC Universe after being deposited in the distant past by Darkseid in ''Final Crisis''. Wayne has to overcome amnesia and "history itself" in order to make his way back to present-day Gotham City and retake his rightful place as Batman. The series ran for six issues, each covering a different time period. The time periods are prehistory, the witch hunts, pirates at sea, the Wild West, 20th-century Gotham City just a few months after Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, and the present day, and usually depict the Batcave or Wayne Manor. Bruce Wayne also visits "the end of time". Publication history In an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky (August 9, 1927 – January 24, 2016) was an American cognitive and computer scientist concerned largely with research of artificial intelligence (AI), co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts concerning AI and philosophy. Minsky received many accolades and honors, including the 1969 Turing Award. Biography Marvin Lee Minsky was born in New York City, to an eye surgeon father, Henry, and to a mother, Fannie (Reiser), who was a Zionist activist. His family was Jewish. He attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and the Bronx High School of Science. He later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He then served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1945. He received a B.A. in mathematics from Harvard University in 1950 and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1954. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Theory of neural-analog reinforcement systems and its application to the brain- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Harrison (writer)
Harry Max Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey; March 12, 1925 – August 15, 2012) was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel ''Make Room! Make Room!'' (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture ''Soylent Green'' (1973). Long resident in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, Harrison was involved in the foundation of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and was, with Brian Aldiss, co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group. Aldiss called him "a constant peer and great family friend". His friend Michael Carroll (author), Michael Carroll said of Harrison's work: "Imagine ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' or ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', and picture them as science-fiction novels. They're rip-roaring adventures, but they're stories with a lot of heart." Novelist Christopher Priest (novelist), Christopher Priest wrote in an obituary Career Before becoming an editor and writer, Harrison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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