Lost in Transmission

by Wil McCarthy

  Apoapsis —(n) The point along an orbit at which gravitational potential is maximized and kinetic energy is minimized. The point of “maximum altitude” above the orbit's center.

  Apoptosis —(n) The “programmed cell death” of eukaryotic cells in a multicellular organism as a function of time, location within the body, and external factors such as injury or radiation damage.

  Archaea —(n) A domain of single-celled organisms characterized by methane recycling, the compounding of heavy metals, and high tolerance for extremes of temperature and pressure, including vacuum. Archaea are thought to be ancestral to both the eukaryotic and prokaryotic domains.

  Astrogation —(n) Astral navigation. In common use, the art or process of navigating a starship.

  AU —(n) Astronomical unit; the mean distance from the center of Sol to the center of Earth. Equal to 149, 604, 970 kilometers, or 499.028 light-seconds. The AU is the primary distance unit for interplanetary navigation.

  Biometric —(adj) Of or pertaining to the metric analysis of living organisms. In common use, the authentication of identity through biometry.

  Blish, James Benjamin —(prop n) American romanticist of the Old Modern period.

  Blitterstaff —(n) An antiautomata weapon employing a library of rapidly shifting wellstone compositions. Attributed to Bruno de Towaji.

  Bootward —(adj or adv) One of the six ordinal directions onboard a ship: along the positive yaw axis, perpendicular to the port/starboard and fore/aft directions, and parallel and opposite to caps.

  Brickmail —(n) An allotrope of carbon consisting of benzene rings interlocked in a three-dimensional matrix. Brickmail is the toughest known nonprogrammable substance.

  Capward —(adj or adv) One of the six ordinal directions onboard a ship: along the negative yaw axis, perpendicular to the port/starboard and fore/aft directions, and parallel and opposite to boots.

  Cephalization —(n) A tendency in the evolution of organisms to concentrate sensory organs and neural aggregations in a forward head, typically including or adjacent to the mouth of the digestve tract.

  Cerenkov radiation —(n) Electromagnetic radiation emitted by particles temporarily exceeding the local speed of light, e.g., upon exit from a collapsium lattice.

  Chaotetic —(adj) Of or pertaining to the measurement of fractal periodicity in apparently random data.

  Chondrite —(n) Any stony meteoroid characterized by the presence of chondrules, or round particles of primordial silicate formed during the early heating of a stellar nebula. Chondrites are similar in composition to the photospheres of their parent stars, except in iron content.

  Chromosphere —(n) A transparent layer, usually several thousand kilometers deep, between the photosphere and corona of a star, i.e., the star's “middle atmosphere.” Temperature is typically several thousand kelvins, with roughly the pressure of Earth's atmosphere in low Earth orbit.

  Collapsar —(n) see Hypermass

  Collapsiter —(n) A high-bandwidth packet-switching transceiver composed exclusively of collapsium. A key component of the Nescog.

  Collapsium —(n) A rhombohedral crystalline material composed of neuble-mass black holes. Because the black holes absorb and exclude a broad range of vacuum wavelengths, the interior of the lattice is a supervacuum permitting the supraluminal travel of energy, information, and particulate matter. Collapsium is most commonly employed in telecommunications collapsiters; the materials employed in ertial shielding are sometimes referred to as collapsium, although the term “hypercollapsite” is more correct.

  Collapson —(n) A cubic structure of eight neuble-mass black holes in sympathetic pseudozitterbewegung vibration. The most stable collapsons measure 2.3865791101 centimeters edge to edge.

  Collapson node —(n) A neuble-mass black hole which is part of a collapson.

  Converge (also reconverge) —(v) To combine two separate entities, or two copies of the same entity, using a fax machine. In practice, rarely applied except to humans.

  Coriolis force —(n) An apparent force on the surface of a rotating body that causes apparent deflection of trajectories from the “expected” course in the rotating coordinate frame of the body. In meteorology, the force responsible for large-scale cyclonic weather systems.

  Cross-range —(adj) Perpendicular to the direction of travel. Generally used to describe velocity and position state errors.

  Cryoleum —(n) Any structure or facility where cryogenic goods (typically corpses) are on or available for display (e.g., for the purposes of ritual mourning).

  Day, Barnardean —(n) A measure of time equal to the stellar (not sidereal) day of Sorrow, aka Planet Two. There are 23 pids, or 460 Barnardean hours, or 1,653,125 standard seconds in the Barnardean day.

  Declarant —(n) The highest title accorded by the Queendom of Sol; descended from the Tongan award of Nopélé, or knighthood. Only twenty-nine Declarancies were ever issued.

  De'sastres —(n) Calamities or misfortunes, normally used only in the plural. From the Tongan.

  Deutrelium —(n) A mixture (generally frozen or slushy) of equal numbers of deuterium (2H) and trelium (3He) atoms, used preferentially in magnetic-confinement fusion reactors.

  Dewar —(n) A container consisting of an inner and outer jacket separated by a vacuum space, typically used for the storage of cryogenic liquids. Also “Dewar flask.”

  Di-clad —(adj) Sheathed in an outer layer of monocrystalline diamond or other allotropes of carbon.

  Dinite —(n) Any detonating or deflagrating explosive consisting primarily of ethylene glycol dinitrate.

  Doldrums, the —(n) Any region of space where ambient light is insufficient to drive a photosail. Colloquially, any period of listlessness, depression, or inactivity, as during an uneventful voyage.

  Downrange —(adj) Along the direction of travel. Generally used to describe velocity and position state errors.

  Drip line, the —(n) The pressure at which protons and electrons begin to condense into neutrons. As a practical consequence, the pressure at which atomic matter begins to condense into neutronium.

  Droit du seigneur —(n) Privilege, especially inherited or undeserved.

  Elementals, the —(n) Queendom-era cartel responsible for some 70% of the traffic in purified elements throughout the Queendom of Sol, with even higher percentages for certain key metals and rare earths.

  Ertial —(adj) Antonym of inertial, applied to inertially shielded devices. Attributed to Bruno de Towaji.

  Eukaryote —(n) Any member of a domain of single-celled organisms characterized by intracellular organelles, including mitochondria and an organized nucleus. All known multicellular organisms are eukaryotic, although single-celled eukaryotes are thought to be descended from archaea.

  eV —(abbrev) Electron volt. A unit of energy sometimes employed as a measure of the electrical or optical resistivity of materials. One eV is equivalent to 1.6 ¥ 10-19 Joules.

  Extrasolar —(adj) Existing outside of Sol system.

  Fakaevaha —(n) A mistake or accident.

  Fax —(n) Abbreviated form of “facsimile.” A device for reproducing physical objects from stored or transmitted data patterns. By the time of the Restoration, faxing of human beings had become possible, and with the advent of collapsiter-based telecommunications soon afterward, the reliable transmission of human patterns quickly became routine.

  Faxation —(n) The act or process of using a fax machine.

  Faxborn —(adj) Created artificially in a fax machine, with no natural counterpart. In practice, applied only to human and human-derived beings.

  Faxel —(n) Facsimile element. One element of a fax machine print plate which is capable of producing and placing a stored atom with 100-picometer precision.

  Faxware —(n) Anything produced by a fax machine. Colloquially, the control systems and filters employed by a fax machine or fax network.

  Fetu'ula —(n) Any vehicle propelled or controlled by the pressure of light, including sunlight, starl
ight, and radiation from artificial sources. The term “solar sailcraft” is sometimes applied colloquially, but in fact sailcraft are a subset of fetu'ulae. From the Tongan fetu'u (“star”), and la (“sail”).

  Fill-in —(n) A temporary or disposable component. Colloquially, a friend or lover of temporary convenience.

  Flatspacer —(prop n) A member of the Flatspace Society, a Queendom-era lobbying organization dedicated to the prohibition of collapsium.

  Fresnel condensate —(n) A coherent matter wave, approximately two-dimensional, which is capable of focusing high-frequency electromagnetic waves, including gravity.

  Fuff —(v) A polite term for sexual intercourse, popular in the Queendom of Sol and its colonies.

  Gaussian —(adj) Bounded and pseudorandom, having the shape of a Gaussian or “normal” distribution. The scatter of a shotgun is Gaussian in the cross-range directions.

  Geriatry —(n) The condition of physical decrepitude which occurs in natural organisms over the course of their presumed life spans. Geriatry is characterized by high rates of apoptosis triggered by lipofuscin buildup, and cellular senescence triggered by telemere shortening.

  Ghost —(n) Any electromagnetic trace preserved in rock or metal. Colloquially, a visual image of past events, especially involving deceased persons. The term may also refer to interactive messages, especially from distant or deceased persons.

  Gigahertz —(n) A measure of frequency equal to one billion cycles per second. Many short-range radio broadcasts occur in the gigahertz frequency bands.

  Gigaton —(n) One billion metric tons, or 1012 kilograms. Equal to the mass of a standard industrial neuble or collapson node (“black hole”).

  Gigawatt —(n) One billion watts, a measure of power equivalent to the sustained output of a large terrestrial lightning bolt.

  Gigayear —(n) One billion years, or one thousand megayears.

  Graser —(n) A gravity projector whose emissions are coherent, i.e., monochromatic and phase-locked. Attributed to Bruno de Towaji.

  Gravitic —(adj) Of or pertaining to gravity, either natural or artificial.

  Halochondria —(n) Organelles occurring naturally in the native eukaryotic organisms of the Barnardean world of Sorrow, aka Planet Two. Halochondria metabolize molecular chlorine and bromine to produce chloride and bromide ions and energy-storing organophosphates.

  Halogen —(n) Any group VIIB atom of the halogen family, or any molecule or gas composed of same. The halogens include fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine, and several hundred presently known transuranic elements.

  Heinlein, Robert Anson —(prop n) American romanticist of the Old Modern period.

  Holie —(n) Abbreviated form of “hologram.” Any three-dimensional image. Colloquially, a projected, dynamic three-dimensional image, or device for producing same.

  Hour, Barnardean —(n) A measure of time equal to 0.998264 standard hours, or 3593.75 standard seconds. Since the Barnardean day is 460.8 standard hours long, the Barnardean hour permits the day to be divided into 23 twenty-hour “pids” or 46 ten-hour “shifts,” and avoids the problems of attempting to base a clock on divisions of the prime number 461. Attributed to Bascal Edward de Towaji Lutui.

  Hypercollapsite —(n) A quasi-crystalline material composed of neuble-mass black holes. Usually organized as a vacuogel.

  Hypercomputer —(n) Any computing device capable of altering its internal layout. Colloquially, a computing device made of wellstone.

  Hypermass —(adj) A mass which has been hypercompressed; a black hole.

  Imbria —(prop n) Temperate Luner nation of the northern hemisphere, on the former Nearside, with a population of approximately 10 million.

  Immorbid —(adj) Not subject to life-threatening disease or deterioration.

  Impervium —(n) Public domain wellstone substance; the hardest superreflector known.

  Indeceased —(n, adj) Luner colloquialism for senile Olders who are incapable of useful learning or work.

  Inload —(v) To download information directly into the brain, as through a neural halo.

  Instantiate (also print) —(v) To produce a single instance of a person or object; to fax from a stored or received pattern.

  Instelnet —(prop n) The low-bandwidth lightspeed data network connecting the Queendom of Sol and its thirteen colony systems.

  Judder —(v, n) To vibrate energetically. As a noun, a motion artifact produced when stored images are played back incorrectly. Judder can be employed deliberately as part of an error correction scheme in defective fax machine print plates.

  Juke —(v) To move unexpectedly out of position. Colloquially, to cheat or deceive.

  Juris Doctor —(n) A formal law degree conferred by Queendom authorities or their proxies.

  Kataki hau o kai —Traditional Tongan encouragement to begin a meal. Literally: “For your patience, come and eat.”

  kps —(abbrev) Kilometers per second, a measure of velocity for celestial bodies and interplanetary/interstellar vehicles. The speed of light is 300,000 kps. (Also kips, kiss.)

  Kuiper Belt —(n) A ring-shaped region in the ecliptic plane of any solar system in which gravitational perturbations have amplified the concentration of large, icy bodies or “comets.” Sol's Kuiper Belt extends from 40 AU at its lower boundary to 1000 AU at its upper and has approximately one-fourth the overall density of the much smaller Asteroid Belt. The total mass of the Kuiper Belt exceeds that of Earth.

  Light-minute —(n) The distance traveled by light through a standard vacuum in one minute: 17,987,547.6 kilometers or 0.12 AU.

  Light-second —(n) The distance traveled by light through a standard vacuum in one second: 299, 792.46 kilometers.

  Light-year —(n) The distance traveled by light through a standard vacuum in one year: 9.4607 trillion kilometers or 63,238 AU.

  Lipofuscin —(n) An inert pigment whose buildup within the cells of a multicellular organism is both a marker and a determinant of geriatry. Lipofuscin levels in excess of 3% of cell volume are generally considered fatal in the long term.

  Luddite —(n) A follower, adherent, or admirer of the principles of Ned Ludd, an organizer of nineteenth-century English craftsmen who rioted for the destruction of industrial technologies seen as displacing or dehumanizing.

  Luna —(prop n) Original name of Earth's moon.

  Lune (also the Squozen Moon, the Half Moon )—(prop n) Name attaching to Earth's moon following the terraforming operations which reduced its diameter from 3500 to 1400 kilometers.

  Maglev —(n) Any vehicle, device, or system employing levitation by means of magnetic fields.

  Malo e lelei —Traditional Tongan greeting widely used within the Queendom. Literally: “Thank you for coming.”

  Matter programming —(n) The discipline of arranging, sequencing, and utilizing pseudomaterials in a wellstone or other programmable-matter matrix, often including the in situ management of energy and computing resources.

  Megaklick —(n) A near-planetary measure of distance: one million kilometers, or 3.33564 light-seconds.

  Megayear —(n) One million years.

  Meritocratic —(adj) Of or pertaining to meritocracy. A state in which effort and talent are presumed to yield social or monetary advancement.

  Microgee —(n) A measure of gravitational acceleration: one-millionth of a gee, or 9.8 micrometers per second squared.

  Millibar —(n) A measure of atmospheric pressure equivalent to one-thousandth of an Earth atmosphere at sea level. Partial pressures of oxygen in the 70-millibar range are generally considered breathable.

  Monospecific —(adj) Composed of a single species.

  Mutagen —(n) Any agent that tends to increase the extent or frequency of genetic mutation.

  Nanobe —(n) Any living or self-replicating system smaller than 500 nanometers in linear dimension. Most often used in reference to implantable medical devices.

  Narrowband —(adj) Describes any signal, carrier, or network with a bandwidth
less than 100 MHz or an effective data rate less than 100 Mbit/sec.

  Nasen —(n) An acronym: Neutrino Amplification through Stimulated EmissioN. A monochromatic beam of high-energy neutrinos sometimes employed for interplanetary communication thanks to its extremely small divergence angle. However, the difficulty of generating such a beam, plus its ready interactions with matter, limit its usefulness except as a weapon.

  Nescog, the —(prop n) NEw Systemwide COllapsiter Grid. Sol system's successor to the Inner System Collapsiter Grid or Iscog; an ultra-high-bandwidth telecommunications network employing numerous supraluminal signal shunts.

  Neuble —(n) A diamond-clad neutronium sphere, explosively formed, usually incorporating one or more layers of wellstone for added strength and versatility. A standard industrial neuble masses one billion metric tons, with a radius of 2.67 centimeters.

  Neutronium —(n) Matter which has been supercondensed, crushing nuclear protons and orbital electron shells together into a continuous mass of neutrons. Unstable except at very high pressures. Any quantity of neutronium may be considered a single atomic nucleus; however, under most conditions the substance will behave as a superfluid.

  Neutronium barge (also Neutronium dredge )—(n) A space vessel, typically one billion cubic meters (1000 ¥ 1000 ¥ 1000 m) or larger, whose primary function is to gather mass, supercompress it into neutronium, and transport it to a depot or work site. Although less numerous, smaller neutronium barges also existed for transport only.

  Nubia —(prop n) Subtropical Luner nation of the southern hemisphere, on the former Nearside, with a population of approximately 100 million.

  Older —(prop n) Informal title or ethnic slur applied to immorbid Queendom residents by the morbid, mortal peoples of Lune.

  Oort cloud —(n) A roughly spherical shell surrounding any solar system, in which gravitational perturbations have amplified the concentration of large, icy bodies or “comets.” Sol's Oort cloud extends from 30,000 AU at its lower boundary to 100,000 AU at its upper, and has approximately 300,000 times the mass and one-billionth the overall density of the much smaller Asteroid Belt. The orbits of Oort bodies can have periods of millions of years, and may be inclined in any direction. The total mass of Sol's Oort cloud exceeds that of Jupiter.