Dick, Philip K., 21, 130, 257, 263
Dirac, Paul, 57
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), 109–21, 123, 125–29, 132–34, 140, 156, 168, 294–95
sequences, 125, 133
Doctor Who (TV series), 25, 27, 35, 61, 93, 136–37, 140, 260, 276, 286, 289, 296, 306
Drake, Frank, 199
Drake equation, 199–201
dwarf planet, 79–80
Dylan, Bob, 125
Dyson, Freeman, 92, 292
Dyson sphere, 92, 93
Earth extinctions
Cretaceous-Paleogene, 271, 275
Holocene extinction, 272
Late Devonian, 271
Ordovician-Silurian, 271
Permian-Triassic, 271
Triassic-Jurassic, 271
Eddington valve, 82
Einstein, Albert, 23, 27, 34, 287
Einstein-Rosen bridges. See wormholes
electromagnetic drive, 224, 230
electromagnetic force, 53, 55–56, 58
electromagnetic spectrum, 71
electromagnetism, 54, 59, 107, 232–33
emergent property, 172–73, 176
Ender's Game (Card), 27, 287
energy-mass equivalency, 24, 33
energy returned on energy invested (EROEI), 97–98
entropy, 270, 280–82
epigenetic traits, 121
erasing memories, 264
EROEI. See energy returned on energy invested
escape velocity, 100, 102, 302
eukaryote cell, 116, 120
event horizon, 103–104, 107, 267
Everett, Hugh, 45, 288
evolution theory, 109
exoplanet, 165–66
faster-than-light (FTL), 17, 47, 213
Fermi, Enrico, 200
Fermi Paradox, 200
Feynman, Richard, 128
Fountains of Paradise, The (Clarke), 219, 303
Fourier, Joseph, 149
four universal forces
electromagnetic force, 53, 55–56, 58
gravity, 23–24, 30, 32–35, 37, 54, 59, 61–66, 75–76, 80–82, 87, 95, 99, 100, 102–103, 106–107, 109, 159, 160, 163–64, 175, 203, 210, 211, 214, 217, 219, 219, 225–28, 231–35, 266, 273–74, 276–79
strong nuclear force, 54, 56, 58–59, 87, 215, 234
weak nuclear force, 54, 59, 214, 234
frame-dragging, 106–107
Frankenstein (Shelley), 19, 125, 146
Frankenstein, Victor, 125
From the Earth to the Moon (Verne), 19
FTL. See faster-than-light
galactic distances, 70
Galapagos (Vonnegut), 110
gene-editing technology, 125
gene manipulation, 127, 133
gene modification, 126
general relativity, 23, 30–33, 36–37, 64, 69, 72, 76–77, 99, 103–108, 159, 210, 226, 246, 267, 281
genetic engineering, 151–52, 154
geoengineering, 151–52, 154
geologic timeline/epochs, 155
Gerrold, David, 85, 291
Gibson, William, 138, 141
credited with word “cyberspace,” 141
Gionfriddo, Kaiba, 252
global warming, 24, 150–54, 175, 179, 297
Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, 19
Goldilocks zone, 159, 165–66
gravitational lensing, 105
gravitational waves, 36, 76–77, 211, 279, 290
gravitons, 54, 214
greenhouse effect, 81, 147–48, 155, 163, 277, 297
grid cells, 174
Guth, Alan, 75
hadron, 58, 74, 233
Haldeman, Joe, 29, 287
Hawking, Stephen, 36, 74, 99, 103, 228, 258, 270, 290, 303, 306–307
Hawking radiation, 103
Hayflick, Leonard, 129
Hayflick limit, 129, 270
heat death, 282
Heinlein, Robert, 20
Heisenberg, Werner, 41–42
Heisenberg uncertainty principle, 41, 48, 94
Higgs field, 232–33
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The (Adams), 119, 177, 195
holographic principle, 265–67
holographic reality, 265
hominid, 111, 270
hominin, 111–12, 114, 120, 125, 197
Homo floresiensis, 113
Homo heidelbergensis, 112
Homo sapiens, 83, 86, 113, 120
Hoyle, Fred, 71
Hubble, Edwin, 71, 176, 290
Hubble's constant, 67
human story, 111
Hynek, Josef Allen, 206, 302
IEDs. See improvised explosive devices
Illium (Simmons), 140, 223
Imperial Earth (Clarke), 20
improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 187
Industrial Revolution, 18, 272
information paradox, 108, 267
infrared (IR) light, 147
Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing (ITOP), 251
International Space Station (ISS), 225, 232
ion engine, 209, 223, 230
ISS. See International Space Station
ITOP. See Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing
Jaynes, Julian, 180, 299
Journey in Other Worlds, A (Astor), 217, 302
Kardashev, Nikolai, 92
Kardashev scale, 96
kinetic energy, 74, 235–36, 241, 275, 280
Kovacs, Walter, 269
Kubrick, Stanley, 179
Lamoreaux, Steve K., 95
Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 74, 233
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), 77, 290
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan, 70, 176, 290, 299
Le Guin, Ursula K., 21, 41, 61, 210
Lennon, John, 174, 258
leptons, 58, 97
Le Voyageur Imprudent (Barjavel), 49, 288
light-energy weapons, 250
LIGO. See Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
Little Earnest Book upon a Great Old Subject, A (Wilson), 19, 287
Local Group, 79, 278–79
Lock In (Scalzi), 141, 296
loop quantum gravity (LQG) theory, 24, 64–66, 289
Lovelace Test, 178
Maathai, Wangari, 178
macrophage, 132
magnetism, 160
Malthus, Thomas Robert, 110, 293
many-worlds interpretation, 45–46, 48–50, 85
material engineering, 237
Marvel Comics, 83, 93, 137
Matisse, Henri, 175
membrane dimensions, 64
membrane theory, 64, 74, 86. See branes
metamaterial, 237, 245–47
metamorphosis, 134
microgravity, 160
Milky Way galaxy, 28, 93, 205, 278, 292
Milner, Yuri, 228, 303
Moore, Gordon, 182
Moore's law, 181–82, 300
Mount Tambora, eruption of, 19
M-theory, 63–64, 66
mutants, 39
nanite, 139–40
nanotechnology, 97, 123, 132, 136, 139, 243, 245
Nasa's Gravity Probe B satellite, 106
National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), 149, 296
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 149, 296–98
natural selection, 109–11, 115, 120, 125, 140
NCEI. See National Centers for Environmental Information
near-Earth objects (NEOs), 275
negative energy, 96, 104
negative greenhouse effect, 155, 297
NESD. See Neural Engineering System Design
Neural Engineering System Design (NESD), 254–55, 306
Neuromancer (Gibson), 141
neurons, 138, 172–75, 186, 255, 264
neutrino, 24, 214–15, 233–34
neutrino beam communication, 214
Niccol, Andrew, 127
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 123
Niven, Larry, 17, 92, 219
NOAA. See National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
nonillion, 78, 282
nuclear fusion, 59, 73, 81, 273
nuclear propulsion, 222, 230
observable universe, 63, 67, 69, 71–72, 93, 199
Obst, Lynda, 32
Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm, 81
Olbers's Paradox, 81
Olympos (Simmons), 140, 223
Ophiocordyceps (fungus spore), 131
optical-mining, 162
Orgel, Leslie, 109
ozone layer, 156
parallel worlds, 24, 83–85, 87–89, 291
parsec, 67–68
period-luminosity relationship, 70
PET. See positron-emission tomography
photosynthesis, 50, 115–16, 159, 166, 206
Planck, Max, 63
Planck length, 66
Podkletnov, Eugene, 228, 303
Polidori, John William, 19
positron-emission tomography (PET), 57
posthumanism, 124, 140–42
Practice Effect, The (Brin), 86, 291
Proxima Centauri, 166–67
quantum communication, 46–47, 49, 211–13
quantum computers, 47–49, 214
quantum computing, 24, 46–48, 182
quantum encryption, 213
quantum entanglement, 24, 46–47, 80, 105, 212–14, 288
quantum immortality, 50–51
quantum leap, 44
quantum particles, 212
quantum physics, 43, 45, 48, 213
quantum suicide, 24, 50–51
quantum teleportation, 24, 212
quantum trivia, 48
quark, 57–58, 62, 75, 97, 232–33
qubits, 47
ramjet, 218
Rare Earth Hypothesis, 202, 207
redshift, 71
Rees, Martin, 271, 307
Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations (Clarke), 20, 287
Rex, Clyde, 134
Ringworld (Niven), 92
RNA (ribonucleic acid), 118–19, 121, 126
Robinson, Kim Stanley, 17, 165
robocops, 193
robotic evolution, 187
robotic tele-surgery, 192
Rodgers, Aaron, 102
Sagan, Carl, 67, 145, 164
Sagittarius A*, 28, 78, 99
Sakurazaka, Hiroshi, 83
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 173
Scalzi, John, 141, 296
Scheutz, Matthias, 190, 301
Schrödinger cat thought experiment, 50
Schrödinger wave equation, 42, 48, 85
Schwarzschild, Karl, 102
SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer) method, 130
scramjet, 218
Seldon, Hari, 175
Shaw, George Bernard, 209
Shay, Susanne, 49, 286
Shelley, Mary, 19, 21, 125
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 19
Shirow, Masamune, 137
shrinking horizon, 70
singularity, 33, 36, 71, 100–102, 105, 107
Snicket, Lemony, 167
solar sails, 19, 221–22, 229–30, 303
solar system, 68, 79–81, 159, 163, 165–66, 199, 202, 211, 228, 273, 278, 291, 301, 307
solar wind, 160, 163–64, 221
Solo, Han, 68
space elevator, 20, 219–21, 229
spacetime, 27, 29, 31–37, 62, 64, 66, 69, 71, 74–77, 80, 99–100, 105–107, 109, 210–11, 214, 225, 234, 282
spaghettification, 103, 107
spatial cloaking, 244–45, 247
spatial entanglement, 51
special relativity, 27–30, 32–33, 35, 37–38, 96, 175, 209, 226
special relativity paradox, 37
speciation, 119
standard candles (cosmic yardsticks), 70
Stapledon, Olaf, 92, 292
Star Maker (Stapledon), 92, 292
Star Trek universe, 69, 119, 140, 210, 224, 250–51
steady state, 71
stem cell, 129, 251
STEM experts, 17
string theory, 23–24, 61–66, 74, 80, 84, 86–88, 210, 214
Stross, Charles, 83, 140, 157, 291, 296
Sturgeon, Theodore, 28
subatomic uncertainty, 51
sun, history of our, 81
superatom, 236, 240–41
superconductor, 228, 241–43, 304
super-galaxy, 279
supernova, 56, 70, 76, 100
superposition, 43–45, 47, 49–50, 213
supersized galaxies, 278
survival of the fittest, 110
tachyon particles, 96
technological singularity, 178–81, 299
tectonic plates, 161
temporal cloaking, 244–47
terraforming, 24, 68, 158, 163–65, 167–68, 278, 298
thermodynamics, 81, 239, 280–82
Thiel, Peter, 249
Thorne, Kip, 32
Three-Body Problem, The (Cixin), 64, 154, 289, 297
three-dimensional cube, 24
three-dimensional universe, 62, 64, 74, 265
3-D printing, 251–52
Three Laws of Robotics, 189
time dilation, 27, 29–32, 69, 107–108
time-traveling text messages, 24, 51
time-travel paradox, 49
transhuman brain, 138
transhumanism, 124, 141–42, 152, 157, 226
transit method, 166, 315
turbojet, 218
twentieth-century physics
Einstein's theories, 23
quantum mechanics, 23–24, 41–50, 54, 57, 61–66, 73, 80, 85, 94–95, 105–109, 210, 214, 236, 258, 267, 285, 288
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (Verne), 19
two-dimensional string, 36
two-quark combination, 58
Tyndall, John, 149
ufology, 206
ultraviolet (UV) light, 147
unidentified flying objects (UFOs), 206
universal Dark Age, 76
universe, facts about our, 77
Vader, Darth, 137, 233
Verne, Jules, 19
virtual particles, 24, 94–96, 103, 224, 292
volatiles, 162, 165, 168
volcanic winter, 19, 113, 146
Water Knife, The (Bacigalupi), 154, 297
Watts, Peter, 207
wave-particle duality, 42, 52, 56, 212
weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), 234
Wheeler, John, 31
Williamson, Jack, 159, 298
WIMPs. See weakly interacting massive particles
wobble method, 166
wormholes, 34
zero-point energy (vacuum energy), 24, 94–96
zeta-pseudosubstrate inhibitory peptide (ZIP), 264
ZIP. See zeta-pseudosubstrate inhibitory peptide
zombie apocalypse, 131
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