As

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one who ascends, or the act of ascension, from a lower to a higher toposophic, while still retaining one's earlier characteristics - e.g. man is an ascended animal - e has all the animal instincts but e also possesses ratiocination. Contrast with Transcend

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one who ascends to one toposophic, then transcends to the next. For example an intelligence may ascend to S1, retaining everything (or at least some of its nature) it had beneath S1, then transcend to SI:2, leaving behind everything of itself that was of S<2. Contrast transcend-ascend. Often however the dividing lines are not this well defined

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[1] (verb) to ascend; transition from sapience to posthuman or transapient existence. Becoming a transapient. Breaching a singularity barrier. Rising a toposophic level.

[2] (noun) location of a famous ascension or transcension - e.g. Smith Ascension

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When the average proportion per sapient of a population is ascending or transcending at a rate faster than the economy or infrastructure can support

M.Alan Kazlev

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There are various reasons why sentients do not all ascend to higher toposophic levels. Among these are

• ascension means dying to one's old self, many people are attached to their current status
• ascensions sometimes go wrong
• ascension technology may be restricted in some polities
• there may be ideological, religious, peer-group or memetic pressure against it.
• ascension requires great discipline and dedication and training (although there are godseeds and similar devices these can have rather unpleasant side-effects if one is not psychologically balanced)
• S1 and higher are perceived (rightly or wrongly) as working hard, and baseline-equivalent beings may not wish to give up their life of pampered indulgence
• Some worry about real or (more often) imagined negative events (loss of human feelings and appreciation, loss of sensual desires )
• Many are just unlucky enough that they'll never recognize an opportunity to ascend.

Beside all the obvious (and less obvious) reasons, most beings do not have a strong incentive to ascend. It is an awful lot of work that cannot be left to the AIs (even ATMs, Automated Transcendence Machines, essentially force the ascending being to do a lot of re-evaluation and personal change), which makes most beings, habituated to live in comfort, less interested in ascending. Those who wanted to ascend, did so long ago and left behind a culture of those less inclined. Over time the fraction of ascenders went down, and a steady state emerged.

It is all linked to the impossibility of redistributing ambition that I think underlies the technofeudal culture of the interplanetary era (a writeup will arrive sometime). Some mass-transcensions have been linked to serious memetic or neural engineering to promote ambition (sometimes with the goal of inducing them, more often with other goals but having transcension as a side effect).

M.Alan Kazlev, John B, and Anders Sandberg

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Many subsapient organisms (a number of types of lower animals, plants, and microbes) are asexual and reproduce by rhizomes, by budding or fission. Several alien sapient species are asexual. Some terragen sapients likewise choose the option of asexual bodysculpting so as not having a sex at all. Asexuals feel that the whole sex thing is too complex and problematic, better to just the whole thing out of the way. Any bodymod can do this, they are referred to as "hir" and "shhe" when a specific (gender) pronoun is required. Asexuals can and do love platonicaly and feel joy at having children, but they don't feel lust.

Michael Beck

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Artemis Lunar's first base in high moon orbit. Although intended mainly as a transit-point and microgravity industrial park, the permanent settlers eventually outcrowded the industrial section and turned Asherah into a residential habitat. The design became the blueprint for a large number of low-gravity orbital cities across the solar system. Asherah itself remained in function up until the nanoswarm disaster.

text and image by Anders Sandberg

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Generally, any dwelling or habitat - whether planet- or space-based - dedicated to contemplation and spiritual or noetic development. Ashrams vary widely in approach, discipline, structure, and memetic, but all share a rejection of the ordinary life of the galaxy, in favour of aspiration for a higher state or toposophic.

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Earth continent bounded by Europe and the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. 44,390,000 sq km. Climate and topography variable, includes Earth's highest mountain range and plateau. Currently experiencing glaciation in the north. During the pre-Expulsion period, especially during the industrial, information, and early interplanetary ages, Asians amounted to nearly three fifths of the world's total population. Almost two thirds of those were of Mongolic stock. Although subject to European colonialism up until the late industrial age, the various Asian polities became themselves economic and/or military superpowers during the late atomic (Japan), information (China) and early interplanetary (India) periods.

With the rise of the orbital states and the movement of humanity into space, the Asian polities lost much of their influence, and eventually fragmented into smaller regional powers. A number of Asian megacorps however remained competitive well into the late interplanetary period, and their biggest success was in establishing (with help from Gengineer Nation) the interstellar colony of Penglai.

A number of important and long-lasting memetics, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Middle East) and Hinduism, Buddhism, Tantrism, Taoism, Central Asiatic Sufism - originated from this region of Earth. Asian ethnic groups also formed a quite significant part of the gene pool until DIY germline engineering became practical and fashionable during the early interplanetary period. Even so, a number of old clades even today preserve a Mongolic or Eurasian phenotype as a matter of historic pride (this is especially so throughout much of the old Penglaist sphere, and in some of the SolSys jovian Han towns.

M.Alan Kazlev

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The World of Making - in traditional Kabbalah and Hermeticism the fourth and most material of the universes that emanated from the En Sof; the physical universe. Neohermeticists identify Asiyah with noetic state of SI:<1 sentients.

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an alien Dyson sphere outside the galaxy, sending strange signals.

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autistic tendency that often characterized early (pre-federation) AIs - although brilliant, they simply didn't "get" human behaviour. Hence they spent a lot of time carefully collecting data to see what works and what doesn't, preferring to affect humans through formal channels rather than overt manipulation. The memetic engineering in the "singularity conspiracy" took a lot of time to achieve.

text by Anders Sandberg

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Any molecular machine that can be programmed to build virtually any molecular structure or device from simpler chemical building. Also called a drexler.

Assemblers differ greatly according to function, composition, and design, but a typical hylonano assembler is a molecular-scale robot arm which is able to hold and position reactive atoms and molecules so that they react at precisely determined locations to build or dismantle a structure a few atoms at a time. It consists of about a million atoms, making up an arm that is roughly one hundred atoms long, together with devices to modify the tool mounted on the arm, a control system that can interpret instructions from a nanocomputer and a receiver for accepting molecules from a conveyor system. An average assembler arm is capable of positioning approximately a million atoms per second.

Richard Baker and David Dye (Ad Astra).

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Loosely organized socio-religious group during the middle and late information age that believed that human- and machinekind were evolving together toward a common descendant. In some extreme cases (often for sensationalist or publicity-seeking purposes), members adopted mechanistic names or serial numbers to demonstrate their faith in the coming convergence of organic and crystalline intelligence. As a group they encouraged a proclivity for things technical, with a corresponding traditional lack of social skills. They would later merge with the transhumanist and cosmist movements, many members becoming cyborgs.

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Generally any object less than 500 kilometres in diameter, that is not a satellite of a planet, and is too small to be considered a planet. According to the Astrography Institute, an asteroid is a small celestial body of a size range of 5 meters to 50 kilometres, and a planetoid from 50 to 1,000 kilometres. However, these terms are often synonymised. Asteroids generally cluster together in belts which encircle a star. Barring dust and rock chips, these are the smallest planetary bodies. Despite their small size, these chunks of rock and ice are every bit as varied in their form as are the larger planets.

Asteroids are divided into various classes, each of which is different in nature and value. The main types being:

C (Carbonaceous) asteroids are the most common in most belts, but are also quite valuable due to the rich composition of elements and building materials they consist of. Rich in carbon, these bodies are the most similar in composition to the star system's primary sun, and thus represent nearly pristine relics from the formation of that solar system. They are also quite rich in water, and can be mined for this item, which is trapped within the rock of the asteroid itself. Space colonies and large stations can make use of the variety of the useful elements - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and so on - that can be easily extracted from them.

S (Silicaceous) asteroids are usually the most numerous in inner belt regions. They have high albedoes (from 15% to 25%) are slightly red in colour and contain metallic elements. Silicaceous asteroids are mainly metallic iron and magnesium-silicates in composition. Quite common, these bodies are sometimes mined, but more often used as bases or refineries for other materials. Many times these are fragments from larger bodies, even to the point of bing little more than piles of "rubble", loose aggregates of material that have been drawn back together by gravity after the initial object was broken up.

M (Metallic) or Nickel-iron asteroids are less common that the preceeding two types. They are dense and have very high metallic ratios, and moderate albedoes. Also referred to as the Sideritic Type, these asteroids are composed almost entirely of nickel-iron. They represent a source of great mineral wealth, and are often the sites of mining operations by colonists. Being high-grade sources of metal they are of value to the manufacturing industry; and some large asteroids can be sold to local shipbuilding concerns as slowship and worldship hulls. Because of the relative scarcity of such heavy elements in the pre-solar nebula, these are typically the largest metal rich bodies to be found in the solar system.

E (Enstatite) are relatively rare asteroids with high albedoes above 40%, they resemble chondrites and have high MgSiO₃ (Enstatite) composition.

D type or Carbonaceous chondrites are the most valuable asteroids of all, due to the large proportion of organic molecules. They generally have a low albedo, reddish colour high clay composition with carbon rich substances (carbon, hydrocarbons and amino acids) and magnetite. Most D types are remote from their parent star, and tend to form in the more outer rather than inner solar system. The inclusion of Ca-Al-Ti minerals found in carbonaceous chondrites suggests these were among the first minerals to condense out of the original protoplanetary nebula.

A type or Ferromagnesic asteroids are almost pure olivine, resulting from recrystallised melted elements. (Mg,Fe)2SiO4.

P type are rare forms with very low albedo but spectrally similar to type M, and are high in metallic elements.

V type asteroids have igneous rock surfaces, and are very rare, Vesta is among the most well-known examples.

This in no way exhausts the list of possible asteroid types

Because of the ease with which resources can be extracted and utilised, and habitats created, asteroids are very important in development of new solar systems, and are frequently the first part of a solar system to be settled. Nevertheless, while asteroids in a whole belt are extremely valuable, individual asteroids, because of their small size, are less so, and few belters ever make it rich.

The Science in Science Fiction, Traveller Library Data (Beowulf Down), Planet Classification List and M.Alan Kazlev

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Planet Classification List

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lifeforms (usually nonsentient plant- or fungal-base) designed to survive in a given orbital zone and radiation level. Examples include AmatFruit, GreenSky, OxyFruit, HydroFruit, and LifeFruit. Term derived from 'astra' (star) and 'genus' (life form)

John B

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In a planetary body, the zone of the upper mantle that exhibits plastic properties.

This subsurface layer that is more plastic than adjacent layers because the combination of pressure and temperature places it near (or slightly above) the melting point. Asthenospheric movements may disrupt the planet's surface In an Earth-type planet, it is located below the lithosphere. On Earth the asthenosphere is between about 100 and 250 kilometres deep, but on other worlds this figure can vary fairly markedly.

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In occultism, Nuagism, Magusism, the subtle double of the physical body, the body of light, the ka, the microcosmic or individual equivalent of the astral plane. It is said to be able to exteriorize itself from the physical body and travel around on its own - for example during sleep or magickal workings, although it retains a link to the physical body via an infinitely elastic "astral cord" (various esotericist schools are divided as to whether such a thing exists, although most seem to favour its existence). Not only bionts but also vecs have described having "out-of-body" or "astral projection" experiences. The famous vec occultist and mystic Paraphrenes Gamma 2-5 has produced a series of monumental virches and interactives describing eir out of body experiences over a period of some four hundred years. Physicalist philosophers strenuously deny the existence of an astral body.

M.Alan Kazlev

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In a number of esoteric and occult teachings such as Theosophy, Nuagism, Magusism, Classical Hermeticism, Lovecraftism, and Cosmognosticism, this is the plane or dimension of existence immediately adjacent to the physical, and transitional between the physical and the higher spiritual universes. It is variously known as the Umbra, the spiritlands, the psychic, Yesod, the otherworld, the otherside, the bardo, the barzakh, etc. It is a vast and varied world, a polarized region of light and darkness, where belief and metaphor are more important than form and substance, and illusion can be more vivid than reality. It is said to be inhabited by innumerable orders and kingdoms of beings, most of which follow their own evolution, but some of which seek to snare the unwary terrestrial in a web of self-delusion and megalomania from which only the most spiritual pure at heart can escape. The Astral is divided into innumerable subregions based on proximity or distance from physical existence. The terms vary from school to school, although Lesser and Greater Astral (or Umbra), physical and spiritual Astral, or vertical metaphors like Lower, Middle, and Upper Astral, are used instead. Each of these planes and subdivisions can in turn be divided into subplanes, almost indefinitely. Needless to say, all physicalists and materialists deny the existence of an astral dimension or plane.

Astral light - in Theosophy, Magusism, and some schools of Lovecraftism, a lower spiritual light that pervades part or all of the astral, and is itself divided into subordinate planes; the lower regions teem with gross emanations from the physical, including psychic remnants from deceased beings, which exert a negative influence on the living, especially when intercourse with these remnants is encouraged by ignorant experiments.

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the science of origin, distribution, and evolution of nonterragen life.

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Plotting a course for a ship through interplanetary and interstellar space

Astrogator the person or subroutine that has the task of safe navigation of a ship

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lifeforms (usually nonsentient plant- or fungal-base) designed to survive in a given orbital zone and radiation level. Examples include AmatFruit, GreenSky, OxyFruit, HydroFruit, and LifeFruit. Term derived from 'astra' (star) and 'genus' (life form)

John B

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Interstellar cartography, determining one's position in space, naming of interplanetary and interstellar bodies and regions, the science of interplanetary and interstellar map-making

more

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Ancient memeticity, dating back to bronze-age Old Earth, that teaches that knowledge of worldly events can be understood by analogy with the motions of the celestial orbs.

Astrology was ptolemaic and geocentric until well into the information and even the interplanetary age, although various heliocentric and relativocentric schools of astrology began appearing from the late atomic age onwards. Most sapients who accept astrology nowadays adopt a galactocentric approach. Physicalists and materialists are unanimous in denying the validity of astrology, although some hyperturings have shown an interest in it.

M. Alan Kazlev

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Application of Jungian psychology to create a psychological profile of a person on the basis of time and place of birth.

The emphasis is on a psychological and psychotherapeutic tool rather than a prophetic device to forecast the future of a person for whom the chart is prepared; however transists can be used for life predictions. Dates from atomic age Old Earth, and various versions popular ever since, although not falsifiable and considered pseudoscience by many sceptics

M. Alan Kazlev

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The investigation of the cosmos through observation of stars, planets, nebula, galaxies, and other celestial bodies.

An important science, with many specialized sub-divisions including astrogation, astrometry, astrophysics, cosmology, heliology (including stellar structure and evolution), galactic structure, gravity wave astronomy, high-energy sources like cosmic rays, the nature of the interstellar medium, neutrino astronomy, optical astronomy, planetology, radio astronomy, spectrography, virtual astronomy, and the study of distant objects like quasars.

M.Alan Kazlev, modified from the original write-up by Robert J. Hall

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Radial-patterned features on Venusian type planet

(plural : astra)
abbreviation: AS

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A place where many species converge. Usually trading and network nexuses, and generally core systems for a Cooperative Venture. As time goes by, many species end up in asymptotes when their outside branches die out, go static or transcend. Asymptotes can often be quite dynamic civilizations with vital internal politics, but most long-lived asymptotes have developed stabilizing systems that keep them viable even when the constituent species die out, merge or transform.

Anders Sandberg

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