Science Reality

To be on a starship that's just sustained serious damage in a space battle and lost its thrusters and to find yourself in a totally different galaxy.... You might think that would be cause for panic or, at the very least, despondency, right? Not at all! Gnat maintains optimism, gradually gets his space frigate back in working order, and even finds upsides to what happened.

Space is a dangerous place. Here, you're either a predator or soon to fall prey to a ruthless neighbor. And if you aren't tough enough to make it on your own, you'll need the backing of a formidable power to keep you safe from bigger fish. Earth used to have such protection—the great Geckho race. But unfortunately, the Geckho fell to an enemy onslaught, leaving planet Earth to fend for itself. And now, Earth humanity has precious little time to prove to their galactic neighbors that they are not to be trifled with.

None of them wanted to leave Earth. It might have been nightmarish, but it was all they knew. Gary wanted to concentrate on his exams in hopes of leaving the CityBlock and its bullies far behind. Kailee wanted to become an actress. Darrin merely wanted to live. But when the three teenagers win a competition, they find themselves taking the trip of a lifetime, a voyage to a colony world where they can see how the colonists live.

Simon, Kat, Busara, and Elvis are on the run with the tech supervillains at the Company hot on their heels. The new VR gaming experience the Company created, OtherEarth, will change how the world experiences gaming. Paired with the hardware the Company developed, it has the potential to alter our reality forever.

2044. The world of games changed long ago. "Ascension" has become one of the most popular VRMMO games. It is a huge world divided into a hundred Floors, with each Floor a boundless location with its own countries, tribes, and millions of players. The object of the game is to unlock all the gates and conquer the top. Having joined the game, Will Thomson doesn't realize that he is all by himself. Then he accepts the first quest...Cursed Rat: level 46....

Gender identity ideology is about more than Twitter storms and using the right pronouns. In just 10 years, laws, company policies, school and university curricula, sport, medical protocols, and the media have been reshaped to privilege self-declared gender identity over biological sex. People are being shamed and silenced for attempting to understand the consequences of redefining "man" and "woman". While compassion for transgender lives is well-intentioned, it is stifling much-needed inquiry into the significance of our bodies.

What is consciousness? Why are we here? Where did it all come from - the laws of nature, the stars, the universe? Humans have been asking these questions forever, but science hasn't succeeded in providing many answers - until now. In The Grand Biocentric Design, Robert Lanza, one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People", is joined by theoretical physicist Matej Pavšic and astronomer Bob Berman to shed light on the big picture that has long eluded philosophers and scientists alike.

Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place that might sound and smell very much like our own, but that looks completely different. It plays by different rules. Certainly it refuses to succumb to the quaint notion that universes are ruled by pure logic and the harmony of numbers. But just because the Disc is different doesn't mean that some things don't stay the same.

The Singularity - the merger of man and machine into a greater whole - is finally within humanity's grasp. When programmer Jeff Lawing gets the opportunity to join Singularity Online, the world's first realistic VRMMO and the testing ground that will lead to the Singularity, he leaps to accept. Singularity is much more realistic and darker than Jeff had imagined, though.

Without consciousness there is nothing. Have you ever wondered why and how the world around you came to exist, and whether there might be an afterlife experience awaiting you after our physical bodies die? Might there actually be a God and a heaven of some sort? The hypothesis presented in this book is that our seemingly physical universe of matter and energy is a virtual simulation which is thought into existence by a universal consciousness which we call God.

For a physicist, all the world is information. The universe and its workings are the ebb and flow of information. We are all transient patterns of information, passing on the recipe for our basic forms to future generations using a four-letter digital code called DNA. In this engaging and mind-stretching account, Vlatko Vedral considers some of the deepest questions about the universe and considers the implications of interpreting it in terms of information.

In Search of Schrodinger's Cat tells the complete story of quantum mechanics, a truth stranger than any fiction. John Gribbin takes us step by step into an even more bizarre and fascinating place, requiring only that we approach it with an open mind. He introduces the scientists who developed quantum theory. He investigates the atom, radiation, time travel, the birth of the universe, super conductors and life itself. A fascinating and delightful introduction to the strange world of the quantum - an essential element in understanding today's world.

We are all treaty people. But what are the everyday impacts of treaties, and how can we effectively work toward reconciliation if we’re worried our words and actions will unintentionally cause harm? Hereditary chief and leading Indigenous relations trainer Bob Joseph is your guide to respecting cultural differences and improving your personal relationships and business interactions with Indigenous Peoples.

The aggressive invaders from another galaxy cannot be stopped. The Composite keeps capturing system after system wiping out everything in its path, and there is no sign of a force capable of standing up to it. In the search for allies, Gnat embarks on a long journey aimed at uniting the various branches of the human race. And though the potential for alliance is there, how can he convince them to set off to fight a suicidal war with such a disastrous balance of forces?

Jem, Crystal, and Ruby are back on Paradeisos Island. This time, they have software that can give them anything they want, the monsters aren’t hiding, and there is a new mystery—Elsie Dorrance, a beautiful heiress, is missing, and someone called the Queen of Chains seems to have taken her. To find Elsie, they’ll journey to FarWind, a fantasy world rich with adventure and intrigue. There will be music, laughter, and even a dragon to slay. Plus, there’s a queen who might be evil, and an emperor who holds life and death in the palm of his hand.

Carlos is dead. A soldier who died for his ideals a thousand years ago, he's been reincarnated and conscripted to fight an A.I. revolution in deep space. And he's not sure he's fighting for the right side. Seba is alive. By a fluke of nature, a contractual overlap, and a loop in its subroutines, this lunar mining robot has gained sentience. Gathering with other "freeboots", Seba is taking a stand against the corporations that want it and its kind gone.

Ren’s homecoming wish list includes: Arman not bashing everyone’s heads together (at least not without him), getting the fortress built before the Mongs attack (not at the rate they’re going with all the the thefts happening), and going home without incident (also, again, not likely). What it did not include was: Social reform, a child, araiding party, and rman actually using his words. Life once again proved reality is better than fantasy, and Ren couldn’t be happier.Except for the Mongs. He could do without the Mongs.

Online disinformation stormed our political process in 2016 and has only worsened since. Yet as Samuel Woolley shows in this urgent book, it may pale in comparison to what's to come: humanlike automated voice systems, machine learning, "deepfake" AI-edited videos and images, interactive memes, virtual reality, and more. These technologies have the power not just to manipulate our politics, but to make us doubt our eyes and ears and even feelings. Deeply researched and compellingly written, The Reality Game describes the profound impact these technologies will have on our lives.

Thomas Sowell challenges all the assumptions of contemporary liberalism on issues ranging from the economy to race to education in this collection of controversial essays, and captures his thoughts on politics, race, and common sense with a section at the end for thought-provoking quotes.

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo's new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she's always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side. Determined to put a stop to Hideo's grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone's put a bounty on Emika's head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn't all that he seems.