Science Reality

The universe, in all its boundless complexity, is a riddle that has captivated human curiosity for millennia. We gaze into the night sky not just to admire the stars, but to ask the questions that seem to echo back at us from the void: What is everything made of? How did we get here? And why does the universe behave the way it does?

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.

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.

Diamo uno sguardo a ciò che è - perché non è qui - come alla fine sarà ovunque - e chi è meglio posizionato per beneficiarne. Crediamo che l'accumulo di tecnologia nell'industria dei videogiochi porterà alla fine ad un internet più completo e robusto che noi chiamiamo il Metaverso. Il profondo impatto si sentirà ben oltre ogni singola industria. La sua forma finale è lontana decenni, ma nel frattempo, aspettatevi molte interruzioni a breve termine.

Braving Britannia is an oral history of the groundbreaking PC video game, Ultima Online, which launched in 1997 and still operates today. The audiobook features interviews with players as they share how the game affected their lives. In a fantasy world of limitless potential, the only thing players seem to enjoy more than playing the game is talking about it, and yet, the true stories behind the avatars have largely gone unpublished for the past 20 years. Until now.

This audiobook covers frequently asked questions about emerging technology trends such as blockchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, artificial intelligence, machine learning, artificial neural networks, deep learning, augmented reality, connected homes, quantum computing, and more.

Seventeen-year-old Adam has grown up in an ultra-tech society hidden deep underground. When a mysterious girl helps him discover that he is part of a deadly genetics experiment, and that the topside world is not what he had been told, he must escape his malevolent handlers and search for answers above.

What if everything you've ever known—every thought, every emotion, every moment—was part of a simulation? Once dismissed as science fiction, the Simulation Hypothesis has surged into mainstream discussion, embraced by philosophers, physicists, and tech visionaries alike. As computing power soars and virtual realities grow more immersive, the idea that our universe might itself be a simulation becomes less absurd—and more plausible. But if we are in a simulation, the next question is both thrilling and unsettling: Who—or what—is running it? And why?

Is your baby defective or evolved? A dangerous secret lurks beneath the innocent faces of newborn babies. Hope Kerman is one of the first children to be born of The Third Gender, a birth defect that turns young adults into human parasites. Thriving by absorbing memories, knowledge, and experience from their victims, the Third Gender is quickly gaining power. Hope fights her natural urge to feed on others, but it's a battle she might not win. Ben Ziegler is a flawed FBI agent, determined to stop the Third Gender's rapid rise to power.

In the tradition of Neil Postman's masterpiece Amusing Ourselves to Death, Audience of One shows how American media have shaped American society and politics, by interweaving two crucial stories. The first story follows the evolution of television from the three-network era of the 20th century, which joined millions of Americans in a shared monoculture, into today's zillion-channel, internet-atomized universe, which sliced and diced them into fractious, alienated subcultures. The second story is a cultural critique of Donald Trump.

Why live, when dying brings you straight to heaven? The mysterious tech firm Broumgard pioneers a new form of virtual reality that mirrors, even exceeds, real life. Before long, people are dying to escape their humdrum lives for the virtual ecstasy of the Lobby. Literally. When the world discovers that dying while connected to the Lobby might mean an eternity in virtual heaven, people are willing to do anything to get inside.

Digitally reincarnated into the world's most powerful online video game, Clay must now find out what's happening on the outside to save those living in his world. On top of this, he's been pushed into a quest by a young paranoid king, nations are preparing for war, and a malevolent glitch continues its path of destruction.

Every player in Barliona has heard of the Gray Lands - the land of the dead. Few have managed to travel there and speak with the heroes and villains of old. And of this minuscule number, only one bard has managed to bring the souls of the dead back to the world of the living: the Bard of Shadow. Now, it is up to her to determine the future of her race. Shall the Biota race become full-fledged members of Barliona, or will they oppose all that lives?

Laura used to believe in fairy tales and true love. Not after her mom took her own life; the bitter end to a once promising romance. But the arrival of a mysterious guardian proves the fairy tale world does exists, and it needs her help to stop the unholy forces that seek to destroy it. As Laura journeys to find the way home across strange kingdoms of mechanical soldiers, a mad king, a fairy tale prince and more, she soon learns of the mysterious connections between her and the fantasy realm. To survive it, she must face her deepest fears and secrets she never wants to unveil.

Eure schöne neue Welt ist tödlich! Mit einem Schlag endet Vivians sorgenfreies Leben: Ihre Mutter Sofia wurde ermordet! Die erfolgreiche Game-Entwicklerin stand kurz vor dem Release eines bahnbrechenden Computerspiels. "White Maze" wird mit neuartigen Lucent-Kontaktlinsen gespielt - dank ihnen erleben die Spieler virtuelle Game-Welten mit allen Sinnen. Aber warum zerstörte Vivians Mutter kurz vor ihrem Tod die Prototypen der Linsen Zusammen mit dem schulbekannten Hacker Tom will Viv den Mord an Sofia aufklären. Dazu muss Viv selbst Lucent-Linsen einsetzen und tief in die virtuelle Welt eintauchen.

Joe's body is failing him. In order to make his last weeks of life more palatable, he goes into full digital immersion. This new process will allow him to play in a virtual environment with a fake but healthy and strong virtual body. As soon as he steps into this new environment he meets his virtual assistant, an Evolving Intelligence (E.I.), who takes the form of someone close to him. But before Joe and Spooky can begin playing the game, they are both summoned to a reality where magic is real.

Now that Malina is the Gatekeeper-in-Training of the underworld, her life is a wee bit different. Instead of spending her days killing innocents, she's protecting them by catching the bad guys who want to drink their blood and steal their souls. Plus, she's immortal, can eat without gaining an ounce, and is damn near hard to kill. Pretty good, right? Unfortunately, not everything is going as smoothly as Malina would like.

Adopted by Brahma Corp's Assassin Guild and raised as one of their own, Malina Hayes is about to make her 50th kill. After bringing down 49 of London's worst criminals, this latest job shouldn't be a big deal. But if Malina is successful, she'll receive her first milestone mark. Ascension in the ranks, better pay, and a swanky flat in Soho all sound like very good reasons to make this kill count. But fate and destiny have different plans for Malina. Seconds away from receiving the coveted milestone mark, Malina is torn away from the world she knows.

On a secret military base tucked in a remote desert mountain, a dangerous machine lies hidden from the American public. Known as the Actuator, this machine is capable of transforming entire communities into alternate realities. In theory, these often terrifying realities are reversible. The scientists in charge of this machine employ operatives called Machine Monks, who attune their minds to manifest single ideas from the realms of fantasy and science fiction.

Orson Reid: college freshman, gamer, and quite possibly the legendary boogeyman of the magical world. And you thought your life was weird. It all started the night Orson kissed his best friend, Elyse, and she kissed him back. Yes, the kiss was life changing, but in ways Orson never could have imagined. It seems he contracted a "virus" that is making him taller, faster, and stronger. But his life doesn't go completely off the rails until the night Elyse shows up at his house, strips out of her clothes, and shape-shifts into a giant cat - a panther, to be exact.