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The only thing we can be absolutely sure of is our own consciousness. But what is consciousness? Is it a property that is unique to humans or do we share it with other life forms? Or is the philosophical doctrine of panpsychism correct--are stars and the entire Universe conscious in some sense? Early chapters in this book examine the prehistory, mythology, and history of this topic. Arguments are presented from the viewpoints of shamans, philosophers, poets, quantum physicists, and novelists. A simple "toy" model of panpsychism is then presented, in which a universal field of proto-consciousness interacts with molecular bonds via the vacuum fluctuation pressure of the Casimir effect. It is s...
The Space Age is nearly 50 years old but exploration of the outer planets and beyond has only just begun. Deep-Space Probes Second Edition draws on the latest research to explain why we should explore beyond the edge of the Solar System and how we can build highly sophisticated robot spacecraft to make the journey. Many technical problems remain to be solved, among them propulsion systems to permit far higher velocities, and technologies to build vehicles a fraction of the size of today’s spacecraft. Beyond the range of effective radio control, robot vehicles for exploring deep space will need to be intelligent, ‘thinking’ craft – able to make vital decisions entirely on their own. Gregory Matloff also looks at the possibility for human travel into interstellar space, and some of the immense problems that such journeys would entail. This second edition includes an entirely new chapter on holographic message plaques for future interstellar probes – a NASA-funded project.
This book presents a visionary concept for future development of space travel. It describes the enabling technology for future propulsion concepts and demonstrates how mankind will ‘live off the land in space’ in migration from Earth. For the next few millennia at least (barring breakthroughs), the human frontier will include the solar system and the nearest stars. Will it be better to settle the Moon, Mars, or a nearby asteroid and what environments can we expect to find in the vicinity of nearby stars? These are questions that need to be answered if mankind is to migrate into space.
What was our planet like before the advent of our modern civilization? What effects has our civilization had on the planet and its ecological systems? Paradise Regained discusses these questions and then creates a scenario for the re-greening of Earth. The authors introduce new and innovative ideas on how humankind might use the resources of the solar system for terrestrial benefit. Earth would then become a place for a technologically advanced human civilization to live in synchronization, if not in harmony, with the environment which gave us birth. Since the formation of our solar system, the resources and ecological state of Earth have undergone many changes. The environmental challenges ...
This book presents a visionary concept for future development of space travel. It describes the enabling technology for future propulsion concepts and demonstrates how mankind will ‘live off the land in space’ in migration from Earth. For the next few millennia at least (barring breakthroughs), the human frontier will include the solar system and the nearest stars. Will it be better to settle the Moon, Mars, or a nearby asteroid and what environments can we expect to find in the vicinity of nearby stars? These are questions that need to be answered if mankind is to migrate into space.
"The Starflight Handbook is an compendium of the many and varied methods for traversing the vast interstellar gulf."--Publisher.
The technology of the next few decades could possibly allow us to explore with robotic probes the closest stars outside our Solar System, and maybe even observe some of the recently discovered planets circling these stars. This book looks at the reasons for exploring our stellar neighbors and at the technologies we are developing to build space probes that can traverse the enormous distances between the stars. In order to reach the nearest stars, we must first develop a propulsion technology that would take our robotic probes there in a reasonable time. Such propulsion technology has radically different requirements from conventional chemical rockets, because of the enormous distances that m...
What was our planet like in years past? How has our civilization affected Earth and its ecology? Harvesting Space for a Greener Planet, the Second Edition of Paradise Regained: The Regreening of the Earth, begins by discussing these questions, and then generates a scenario for the restoration of Earth. It introduces new and innovative ideas on how we could use the Solar System and its resources for terrestrial benefit. The environmental challenges that face us today cannot be resolved by conservation and current technologies alone. Harvesting Space highlights the risk of humankind’s future extinction from environmental degradation. Population growth, global climate change, and maintaining ...
The Ancient Alien Theory: Part Six and ancientalienpedia.com are both a written and online resource. The written guide serves as an opportunity to log out, shut down, and unplug from the online world. The online guide serves as a gateway to the Ancient Alien Theory, with links to online sources, books, and authors. Just as Bill Birnes' created The UFO Magazine Encyclopedia to provide a comprehensive guide to UFOs and extraterrestrial contact, AncientAlienPedia is providing a database to the Ancient Alien Theory. This all-inclusive guidebook saves readers countless of hours of searching for this information which is scattered across hundreds of websites and books. The AncientAlienPedia will prove to be an essential reference for the highly controversial Ancient Alien Theory.
We are composed of the same atoms as the rocks, soil, mountains and nothing more. They are apparently aware of nothing, whereas we are aware of the physical world, ourselves and much more besides. How is this possible? Science says our minds emerge from wholly unknowing matter. The idea that mind and matter are, in fact, one and the same has long been considered an elegant, although impractical answer to the question above. The Case for a Living Universe argues there is an element of mind in all matter, and that our consciousness is one instance of an aware intelligence present throughout nature. Unlike most philosophy books, it gives the non-human world its proper status, by describing recent studies into animal cognition and the clever behaviours of some non-animal life. It examines how Western culture, through religion, science and philosophy, have worked to separate us from nature, and argues the reason mind in nature is usually considered an eccentric or mystical idea, is because we humans have wrongly elevated ourselves above all other species. As Charles Darwin once wrote: "He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke."