Supercompress (also Supercondense)—(v) To compress to the point of proton-electron recombination, i.e., until neutronium is formed. Colloquially, to compress beyond any point the speaker finds impressive. Superferromagnetism—(n) Any ferromagnetism exceeding the field densities possible with atomic matter.
Superreflector—(n) Any material capable of reflecting 100% of incident light in a given wavelength band. No universal superreflectors are known. (Approximations of 100% reflectance are generally referred to as “mirrors.”)
Sweetpaper—(n) An edible composite of polymerized and unpolymerized glucose, most typically served as a garnish.
Ta’e fakalao—(adj) Contraband or forbidden by law, as distinct from tapu or taboo (forbidden by custom or religion).
Tali fiefia—Traditional Tongan welcome, widely employed throughout the Queendom. Literally: “joyous reception.”
Tapa—(n) A traditional Polynesian cloth made from the inner bark of the mulberry tree, and decorated in batik floral or faunal patterns using a variety of natural dyes and bleaches. Colloquially, the phrase “tapa pattern” or “tapa style” may refer to any floral print, or to any print in the Tongan or Polynesian style, on any material.
Tazzer—(n) A short-range beam weapon consisting of pulsed, coaxial streams of electrons and metal ions in a guide beam of blue or violet laser light. Tazzers are primarily used to induce temporary incapacity (pain, paralysis, unconsciousness), although lethal versions also exist.
Teleport—(v) To transfer, either instantaneously or at the speed of light, from one location to another. Teleportation can involve either the actual transfer of mass energy, as in a quantum waveform collapse or tunneling event, or alternatively, can involve only the transfer of organizing parameters, which are disrupted at the transmitting location and imposed on an equivalent mass energy at the receiver.
Teleport gun—(n) A short-range beam weapon capable of dispersing the mass in a cone-shaped target region without significant release or expenditure of energy. Teleport guns are notably unreliable, posing a significant risk to users and bystanders alike, and were banned for most uses by Queendom authorities.
Terraform—(v) To make Earthlike. In general, to match the gravity, climate, and atmosphere of a planet or planette to that of Earth, possibly including the imposition of a stable biosphere. Enclosed spaces are “climate-controlled” rather than terraformed.
Timoch—(prop n) Capital city of the Luner nation of Imbria.
Tonga—(n) Former Polynesian kingdom consisting of the Tongatapu, Ha’apai, and Vava’u archipelagoes, and scattered islands occasionally including parts of Samoa and Fiji. Tonga was the only Polynesian nation never to be conquered or colonized by a foreign power, and was the last human monarchy prior to establishment of the Queendom of Sol.
Tongatapu—(n) The largest and most populous island of Tonga; home to its traditional capital at Nuku’alofa.
Train wreck (TW)—(n) A measure of inertial (not gravitational) acceleration, equivalent to 40 gee. In practice, the term is applied only to impulsive accelerations (e.g., collisions, explosions). An unmodified, unprotected human can generally survive a 1 TW impulse lasting several seconds, while 2 TW impulses lasting longer than one second are typically fatal. Survival of millisecond impulses (e.g., vibrational) of up to 4 TW have been recorded. Impact to specific body areas produces highly nonlinear effects, and is rarely recorded or described in this fashion.
Transparent—(adj) Possessing a negligible absorption or reflection spectrum in a particular frequency range (e.g., visible light). Materials with zero absorption and zero index of refraction are referred to as “optical superconductors.” Transparency is distinct from invisibility in that a transparent object cannot be used to conceal another object, whereas an invisible one can. Universal transparency (i.e., across all wavelengths) has never been demonstrated and may be physically impossible.
Transuranic—(adj) Beyond uranium. Used to identify natural atoms or ions containing more than 92 protons, or pseudoatoms containing more than 92 electrons. Because pseudoatoms can contain up to several thousand electrons in a wide variety of symmetries, the vast majority of known pseudoatoms are transuranic.
TV—(n) Abbreviation for “television,” an archaic telecommunications term revived by the second and third generations of the Queendom of Sol. The term generally referred to any broadcast of audiovisual content, although three-dimensional imagery was still frequently referred to as “holie.”
Upsystem—(adj or adv) One of the six cardinal directions: away from the sun in any orientation.
Varna—(prop n) A 640-meter-radius planette constructed in orbit around the Squozen Moon by private investors during the latter years of the Queendom of Sol. Site of the Q1290 Treaty of Varna, granting Right of Return to Barnard refugees.
Wellstone—(n) A substance consisting of fine, semiconductive fibers studded with quantum dots, capable of emulating a broad range of natural, artificial, and hypothetical materials.
Wellwood—(n) An emulation of lignous cellulose (wood), often employed as the default state of wellstone devices.
Appendix B.
Technical notes
This book owes a great deal to the technical support and advice of Hal Clement, Geoffrey A. Landis, Johnathan Sullivan, Ken Wharton, and the Right Reverend Gary E. Snyder. The idea of diamond-encapsulated neutronium originates with Robert L. Forward, although the term “neuble” is unique to this series.
Wellstone
The wellstone of this book’s title is an actual, patent-pending invention, although one that is unlikely to be built or tested in the near future, owing mainly to the nanometer-scale manufacturing tolerances required. Also, for purposes of the story, I’ve taken a rather generous view of the material’s ultimate capabilities.
However, “programmable” substances of much lesser sophistication, but still based on the manipulation of individual electrons in quantum-dot traps, have already been demonstrated in the laboratory. The real-world implications of this are so astounding that I’ve written a nonfiction book on the subject: Hacking Matter (Basic Books, Feb. 2003). Readers interested in a quicker and less comprehensive history of the field are encouraged to check out Wired magazine’s “Ultimate Alchemy” at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.10/atoms.htm
Planettes
A spherical planette sized to hold an Earthlike atmosphere indefinitely, at room temperature, would require a surface escape velocity greater than the average (thermal) molecular velocity of the atmosphere. This requires a mass of well over 1019 kilograms (0.02% the mass of Earth’s moon), and a diameter of around 20 kilometers, for a surface gravity of 1.0 gee. Paradoxically, lower gravity requires both a larger radius and a larger mass if the high escape velocity is to be preserved.
The atmospheres of planettes like Varna and Camp Friendly are not stable over geologic time, nor even probably over thousands of years, without a replenishment mechanism or possibly a mechanism for keeping the upper atmosphere very cold. Make no mistake: these are technological artifacts, like buildings, and will not persist forever without stewardship.
Lune, the Goliath of planettes, does not have this problem, and will keep its atmosphere indefinitely. With a radius of 707 km, a surface gravity of 1.0 gee, and an unaltered mass of 7.3×1022 kg, Lune’s escape velocity is a whopping 3.72 kilometers per second (versus 11.9 km/s for Earth). The delta-velocity necessary to reach Varna— in an orbit 50,000 km high—from Lune’s surface is very close to the escape velocity: