Science Reality

Two stones changed the course of history before; it’s time for a repeat performance...It’s a discovery of the modern age for archaeologists, Tim Adams and Evelyn Davidson, when they find two tablets in the shadows of the Great Pyramids at Giza. It’s a sign of the times...What they dust off these ancient relics is the basis of quickly unravelling governments and religions. To slot the pieces of this complicated puzzle together, Tim and Evelyn must travel back to antiquity itself, where religion and law went hand in hand.

Fictional stories have long held an uncanny power over hearts and minds, especially those of young people. In Dangerous Fictions, Lyta Gold traces arguments both historical and contemporary that have labeled fiction as dark, immoral, frightening, or poisonous. Within each she asks: How “dangerous” is fiction, really? And what about it provokes waves of moral panic and even censorship?

Virtual reality is able to effectively blur the line between reality and illusion, pushing the limits of our imagination and granting us access to any experience imaginable. With well-crafted simulations, these experiences, which are so immersive that the brain believes they're real, are already widely available with a VR headset and will only become more accessible and commonplace. But how does this new medium affect its users, and does it have a future beyond fantasy and escapism? In Experience on Demand, Jeremy Bailenson draws on two decades spent researching the psychological effects of VR and other mass media to help listeners understand this powerful new tool.

When disaster strikes a cargo flight over the arctic, pilot Andre decides it's time to upload. He pays to have his brain sliced and scanned so his mind can live in the computerized, virtual world of Talespace. Since Talespace runs on the logic of a game, Andre takes full advantage. He becomes a high-flying pegasus learning the magic of the sky and battling monsters for the Night Queen. He's even in time for a fun little war.

When New Reality, a fully immersive, five-dimensional entertainment experience, was introduced to the world, everyone logged on. Everyone except Jake and Tom. It doesn't take long for the world to crumble into ruin, leaving Jake and Tom wandering through leveled cities occupied by New Reality dreamers. In order to find one gamer among many, they must risk everything-going up against Rixon, the corporation behind New Reality.

The invention of the printing press catalyzed Martin Luther’s reformation; radios and televisions delivered Billy Graham’s gospel proclamations to millions of households. Technological advancements have undoubtedly advanced kingdom work for centuries - but is the same true for the burgeoning technologies of today? As virtual reality becomes increasingly prominent throughout society, churches must assess how to respond thoughtfully and biblically.

Alexandra McInnes hat als Pilotin der Special Forces zahlreiche Einsätze erfolgreich geflogen. Doch bei einem verheerenden Unfall wird sie schwer verletzt. Der Kybernetiker Dr. Jensen eröffnet ihr die Möglichkeit, an einem einzigartigen Experiment teilzunehmen: Sie soll ihr Bewusstsein in das Online-Spiel Vorena übertragen und dort vollständig geheilt weiterleben. Als Alexandra die gigantische Welt Vorenas betritt, verändert dies alles. Fortan muss sie als Kämpferin Questen erfüllen, sich mit anderen Spielern verbünden und Reiche erobern.

In Step into the Metaverse, Dr. Mark van Rijmenam delivers a startlingly insightful discussion about how the world as we know it will fundamentally change as the physical and the digital worlds merge into the metaverse, impacting the everyday experiences of people, companies, and societies. The author maps out the extraordinary opportunities and challenges facing business leaders, consumers, regulators, policymakers, and other metaverse stakeholders trying to navigate the future of the Internet.

Explore an Earth being devoured by entropy, in the ultimate runaway environmental crisis. Dive the depths of the sea to prevent the mother of all oil spills. Rocket into space as a tourist. Mine the asteroids with your enhanced border collie, in the can-do spirit of classic science fiction. These stories appeared in publications as varied as Science Fiction Age, F&SF, and the Boston Sunday Herald.

Is Present Realty: The Super-Science of the Transcendental Value investigates our reality as an entity who has the power to shape the present and be the light that affirms our presence in the eternal future. The transcendental value of the past is immanent within the present. The present becomes the subject of scientific investigation.

Becky Jones is as independent as they come, as a marketing executive determined to succeed on her own terms. But her career plan goes sideways when two men try to kill her - and her rescuer whisks her away to an enchanted realm. Her realm. In Tsinia. She is Thya, heir to the throne and gifted with magical abilities, destined to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Her people are kind and peaceful, desperate to forget the evil that looms over them.

"Dropkat real'nosti, ili magija blefa" - roman Nadezhdy Mamaevoj, fjentezi. Ne golovokruzhitel'naja krasavica, da eshhe i s somnitel'nym pridanym - chem ne razmennaja moneta dlja otchima? I suzhdena by byla Vassarii rol' bezropotnoj zheny pri starike-muzhe, esli by ne avantjurnyj nrav, da nasledstvo, ostavlennoe dedom. Kakoe nasledstvo, sprosite vy? Lovkie ruki i umenie vesti igru, chto prisushhi lish' nastojashhemu shuleru.

Second Lives takes us on a revelatory journey through the electronic looking glass as Tim Guest investigates one of the most bizarre phenomena of the 21st century: virtual lives.

Details some of the many lives Michael has lived in his impossibly long life.

Trapped inside the game that they once loved, Iron Riot are now faced with a slow death by dehydration as their bodies in the real world are left to rot. The Masters, enigmatic creators of Strata, are willing to let anyone die so long as it preserves their perfect imaginary world. But there was one thing that they haven’t accounted for: A rat with a plan. If Iron Riot can finish the game before the timer runs out, defeat the Archdukes, beat the system, and show everyone what they are capable of, then they’ll have the attention of the whole world.

Das Rennen um die Entwicklung einer superintelligenten Künstlichen Intelligenz hat begonnen. Und das Land, das gewinnt, wird den Globus beherrschen. Als Amerikas Programm zur Erschaffung einer mächtigen KI sabotiert wird, beginnt für den US-Agenten Cameron Carr eine verzweifelte Suche nach dem Schuldigen, wobei das Schicksal der Menschheit auf dem Spiel steht. In den richtigen Händen könnte eine solche KI die Zivilisation in ungeahnte Höhen führen. Aber in den falschen Händen könnte diese Technologie die größte Bedrohung darstellen, die die Menschheit je gesehen hat.

Life doesn't pick winners and losers. That's for the corporations to decide. And they picked Liam Argyle for a carefree life of fame and fortune as host of the world's most popular reality show competition. After two seasons of parading about the world's biggest victims on The Grass Is Greener, he's been forced to put a happy face on one tragedy too many - and he won't turn a blind eye to the horrors of the corporate dystopian world of the 2070s any longer. Now, Liam is out to destroy the very people who made him a star.

Called a “chronicler of a world on the move” by The New York Review of Books, Anna Badkhen seeks what separates and binds us at a time when one in seven people has left their birthplace, while a pandemic dictates the direst season of rupture in humankind’s remembering. Her new essay collection, Bright Unbearable Reality, comprises 11 essays set on four continents—roving everywhere from Oklahoma to Azerbaijan—and united by a common thread of communion and longing.

This is the optimistic story of our fraught relationship to universal consciousness, the domain that transcends every local mind. It is also the story of how reality is relative and changeable to the way each of us makes meaning. Truth, on the other hand, represents the permanent and timeless state of being beyond history and culture that is called nonlocal universal consciousness. This is the state of nonpersonal awareness within insight and eyesight.

Louis Parker is the divorced father of two teenagers who is still trying to find his life's purpose. After losing his job, Louie' financial situation convinces him he has nothing to lose if he agrees to test out a radical new virtual reality video game for a substantial fee. But Louie quickly learns that virtual reality is a lot more complicated than he realized. By the end of his seven days, is Louie trapped in virtual reality forever? If he is able to return to his own reality, is it the same one he started from, or has it immeasurably changed.