Au

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Astronomical Unit - the mean distance of the Earth to the Sun (SolSys), about 1.496 x 10⁸ km (150 million km), 8.3 light minutes, 1.582x10^-5 light years, or 4.847x10^-6 parsecs. Standard interplanetary measurement

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Arean-type planet colonised during the first Federation period

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Nanobio-Engenerator used to colonise Audubon during the first Federation period

more

Steve Bowers

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Enhancing natural physical or mental abilities through the use of organic, cybernetic, bionano, or hylonano technology. The resulting augment is a person whose physical or cognitive abilities have been biologically and/or technologically expanded beyond the range of baseline humans.

Biological augmentation involves muscle, gland or neural grafting, xenotransplantation, and phenotypic engineering

bionic augmentation employs the use of cybernetic and nanocybernetic prostheses.

nanitic augmentation makes use of implanted or injected nano to radically change the original individual, for example bionano genome retroengineering and nanocyborgization.

Augmentation may be done for aesthetic purposes, because of peer pressure, memetic or subliminal persuasion, or as part of an employment contract. For example, non-empledokcetics require heavy augmentation in order to operate empledokcetic picotech. Augmentation is legal in most societies and polities, although in non-libertarian polities radical augmentation is generally regulated or at least monitored, and must be prominently noted on medical records. Employers will sometimes subsidize augmentation procedures for employees in unique or hazardous vocations, with a contract restriction requiring a minimum term of service for the employee.

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Augustine, Saint , 354 - 430, Old Earth Classical Age Christian Theologian, one of the four Latin Fathers of the Old Catholic Church, integrated Platonism and Christianity, taught predestination to heaven and hell in contrast to his rival Pelagius's emphasis on free will. Major works include De Trinitate, Confessions. Important source for much medieval mysticism. He emphasizes the soul's search for God, made possible by the illumination of the mind of God. Influences included Plato and Plotinus. Together with Thomas Aquinus and Evangelion of Umbriel, one of the three Holy Figures of the Reformed Catholic Church

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Perseus Arm (and possibly also Outer Arm?) space-faring predecessors of the Limners

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The approximately five millennium period of the Auld Limner empire, from about 23000 to 18100 b.c.e. (usually applied to the Perseus Arm only)

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Human mostly bionano-enhanced nearbaseline religio-spiritual sect.

Their leader is a hermaphrodite called The Auomija, who claims to be a reincarnation and/or descent of the original Auomidan (some have identified this individual with Au Mija the nanobioborg sage and "Friend of Gaia" of the Second Federation Period, others with the late First Federation era Neo-Prim Memeticist and Prophet Ayom Irjam, others again with the pre-singularity old Earth spiritual teachers Aurobindo and Mirra), and teaches the omegization of the universe through the externalisation of the "Supreme Nous" who is already incarnate in the cells or bodies of certain adapts. The organisation also claims that the archailect GAIA is a convert (or a "partner"), but this has never been confirmed by other Children, nor do the Auomidans have any missions on Earth. Auromirran missionaries have been active in the Sol System and a number of worlds of the Inner Sphere. Auomidans claim their path is open to all, as hu and ai and all other sentients are equal in the face of the Supreme, and that all beings, even inanimate objects, have the potential for supreme enlightenment

M.Alan Kazlev

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In Esotericism, the term for the energy field that surrounds and is emitted by the biont (sometimes also the artificial's) body.

Clairvoyants claim to be able to perceive it as a multi-colored field surrounding the body, usually with chakras and energy lines, and some who do so apparently use it to diagnose an individual's physical health, mental state, spiritual attainment, past lives, and so on. Not all clades and memeticities believe the aura exists, and some who do say it has a natural explanation (micromagnetic or biomagnetic field, etc)

M.Alan Kazlev

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Aura, aka CrystalBrite, aka Gleam: This is a once-suppressed temporary nanotic infusion designed to reveal EM radiation as a 'glow' to users, something extremely useful to intrusion and bomb-disposal specialists. The nanite temporarily colonizes the retina (some models also colonize the skin of the user for additional antenna size), generating a disperse sensor array. This array communicates via low-power IR laser comms, which may be visible to IR scanners in some situations. After approximately an hour the array is configured and in communication with itself. The increased processing is used to generate directional data on EM noise, as well as prioritizing the 'brightness' of the various radiation sources. The retinal colony then begins stimulating the subject's optic nerve, generating the effects it has gained its name from.

Note that the user has no filtration capabilities with the base form of this nanite, it simply ranks the most energetic EM source in perception as the brightest and works its way down the list to the limits of human perception. Also, due to the limited nature of the
sensors of the base form of this nanite infusion, what may appear to be a glowing line 'on top of' an object before the being may actually have been generated from a second object either inside or below the second.

The final straw was the realization that extensive use in high-signature environments tended to cause neural decay as the nanites overstimulate the optic nerve, leading to eventual blindness requiring regrowth of at least the optic nerve and sometimes the optic processing structures of the brain.

(Note that there is an improved, relatively safe version often called 'glitter' which has user-configurable filtration and sorting options. 'Glitter' also tends towards higher resolution both due to increasing colonization sites across the body and improved processing algorithms and computronium substructures.)

The base form of Aura has an active period of approximately 12 hours, depending primarily on the intensity of the signals transmitted to the retina. One common modification to Aura was the introduction of either biologic-based or kinetic-based power generation capabilities, or improved degradation protocols, as older forms of Aura tended to leave behind portions of inactive nanites in intracellular spaces within the retina which occasionally cause immune system response.
John B

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Old Earth activist, philosopher, yogi, and teacher

Born in India Sri Aurobindo was sent to have a western education by his anglophile father. Prominent in the struggle for independence against the British, and spent a year in prison.  Whilst in prison he had a vision of the Divine, which assured him that India would attain its independence and that he could leave the movement to devote himself to the spiritual task.  He retreated to the French colony of Pondicherry, where he set up an ashram.  Rejecting the standard mystical otherworldly approach, he taught that to effect a spiritual transformation in the world it is necessary to bring down a divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity.  He was joined in his task by his co-worker and fellow Adept Mirra Alfassa, who later became known as The Mother.  For the remainder of his life Sri Aurobindo worked tirelessly for the transformation of the world.  A prolific writer, he produced a total of twenty-nine volumes, including such classics of spirituality as Savitri, The Life Divine, and the Synthesis of Yoga.  He spent many hours each day writing replies to letters from disciples, some of which were later collated and published. Although not as influential during his life as Teilhard de Chardin, whose teachings had many intriguing similarities (including cosmic evolution moving towards a divine consummation in the world), his memetics experienced something of a revival during the early federation period, and had some influence on Mahara Benisol, Eugenesis of Vesta, and other philosophers of the time. Some have said the Gaian-romantic sect known as the Auomidans follow Sri Aurobindo and Mirra, and hold up as the Two Founders; but their teachings differ significantly in many respects from those of the historical Aurobindo, and no link has been proved.

M.Alan Kazlev

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a radiant emission from the upper atmosphere that occurs sporadically over the middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres of some terrestrial worlds.

Auroral displays are in the form of luminous bands, streamers, and so on, and can appear in shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet. They are caused by the bombardment of the atmosphere with charged solar particles that are being guided along the planet's magnetic lines of force. Also known as northern or southern lights, or simply lights. Among the old inner sphere worlds, the auroral displays of Corona are well known, but not comparable to that found on more outer worlds like Skeblu, Tarini, and Alska

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island continent, between the Indian and Pacific oceans, Earth. Originally part of Gondwana. Mostly flat and arid, although lush and green during the Tertiary period, populated by a distinct marsupial fauna. The stone age indigenous population suffered greatly at the hands of the European colonists during the industrial age (18th-early 20th centuries Old Earth reckoning). A Commonwealth during the late industrial, atomic, and early information age, allied with Britain, America, and eventually Asia, finally becoming a republic during the information age, and - by the early interplanetary period (early to mid 2nd century) a local superpower. By the late 2nd century the original European population had been largely supplanted by Asian immigrants, mostly from Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. Greater Australia (incorporating Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and some of Antarctica) developed a reasonable interplanetary policy, but, as with the other Earth Governments, was unable to hold on to its colonies for long, although ethnic Australians, with their distinctive Eurasian features and charmingly annoying "ockerisms", remained an important element of off-world culture. During the Interplanetary and Nanotech ages, the capital, Canberra, was an important University City, and was known as "the Geneva of the South". Thanks to blue goo defences it survived the nanoswarms intact, but the population was finally forced into exodus, along with most of the rest of humanity, by GAIA during the Great Expulsion. The city been largely dismantled, although the central arcology which is used as a hotel by tourists and pilgrims. The rest of Australia has been returned to its pre-European condition. Apart from the staff at Canberra who deal with the off-worlders, the sapient population would seem to consist solely of a small number of genomically-restored aboriginal caretakers, mostly biochip enhanced and rianthed with indigenous fauna, and a number of marsupial and reptilian provolves (chiefly Roos and neo-Goannas)

M.Alan Kazlev, flag design by John Mahony

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Any of a number of extinct hominid species that lived in Africa between about 4 and 1 million years ago, and combined a fully erect posture and bipedal gait with a small and apelike brain case.

Australopithecines include gracile (lightly built) species like Australopithecus afarensis, A. anamensis, A. barhelghazali, and A. africanus, and more robust forms like A. aethiopicus, A. boisei, A. robustus. The robust australopithecines (which are sometimes included in a separate genus, Paranthropus) were herbivores and became extinct between 1.5 and 1 million years ago. The gracile forms (sometimes included under additional genera like Ardapithecus) were hunters, scavengers, and omnivores, and the adoption of partial carnivory gave them an advantage when food was scarce. The gracile australopithecines gave rise to the genus Homo c.2.5 million years ago.

There have been a number of early attempts at australopithecine lazurogenesis, but authentic specimens were not geneered until the later First Federation period. The largest existing colony is to be found in the Savannah Orbitals of Robertson.

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Late Re-Evaluation period historical-archaeological purges resulting in brief Sol System-Formac war

In 5700 a change in culture of the Solar Organisation led to the slow transformation from a united nations/museum curatorship into a more active and aggressive form of historicism. The Organisation begins to espouse doctrines of authenticity, and under the leadership of Archcurator Worland Hodj, sought to remove everything deemed non-authentic. Over the span of 40 years it manages to quietly become a feared fundamentalist rulership that "cleanses" and "restores" anything it can get its hands on. The situation was resolved with the intervention of Curators who sent a fleet from Formalhaut. Since the Formac victory the Sol System is still independent and run by the Solar Organization, but is now more aligned with the FAS rather than the Terran Federation.

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Large-calibre (generally 20-40 mm) rapid-firing kinetic weapon fixed to armored vehicles, gunship, or Mecha

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Interplanetary Age biont and cyborg ideology and historical-intellectual precursor of the Clesycs, popular among some low resource and minimalist nomads, of using bionano and bacteria to recycle all of one's waste products, without having to even leave one's spacesuit or biosuit.

A simple nutrient mix (usually glucose and various added vitamins and trace elements that cannot otherwise be synthesized) is added when necessary. However, the goal of the true Autocycler is to be 100% independent of all external sources. Like 'Blazers, Autocyclers sort to colonise deep space, but according to traditional accounts, they tended to be rather dismissive of the 'Blazers and their massive and unwieldy Santa Claus Machines and Biohabitation Domes. Although there are some famous debates on record between Autocycler and Blazer ideologues, most of these have been shown to have been composed much later (mostly Second Federation or ComEmp, although a few may go back as far as the middle First Federation), and some revisionist scholars argue whether 'Blazers and Autocyclers came into contact at all. The term Autocycler is even still used today to refer to bionts and cyborgs who reject efficient hylonano nutrient recycling in favor of crude external bionano and prokaryote feedlots

M.Alan Kazlev

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Evolution directed by intelligent beings instead of natural selection.

autoevolutionist: Someone who regards autoevolution as desirable; the opposite of a biological fundamentalist.

Anders Sandberg

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standard nanofabrication unit, a type of technology ubiquitous in the terragen bubble

meso- or nanofabrication unit; an autofactory, any self-contained device or appliance, whether microscopic, small, large, or massive, that is able to manufacture or replicate an item or items, according to instructions keyed in. The unit is usually sealed, with an input slot for feedlot or raw materials, and an output slot for the nanofactured item, an interface unit for instructions and programming, a reasonably powerful and usually nonturing computational and control device, and the actual nanites themselves, usually suspended in a working fluid. Given the correct design sequence, raw materials containing the necessary atoms and a power supply, an autofab can replicate almost anything of its own scale or higher (however, a nanofab cannot create a picotech device for example). Fabs are ubiquitous throughout the civilized galaxy.

M.Alan Kazlev

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Keterist training manual-entity developed in the early 2000's by the Church of The Truly Re-Engineered Light to introduce converts to the tenets of hyperational anarchy and Keterism.

Auto-Holding-Container, itself a hierarchical polybeing with both S1, SI:2 and SI:3 instances (the SI:3 instance became part of the Church Board of Ascendors). The S1 and SI:2 versions of Auto-Holding-Container, a toonic bag/case adapting to different needs and continually seeking to both fill itself and be able to hold ever more, represented the yearning of all sentience towards transcendence, combining with endearing traits of naivety/simple Bayesian prior selection. It underwent various adventures in its quest, and its experiences, misfortunes and successes symbolized the ideas of keterism.

Auto-Holding-Container became a popular symbol, theme or participant in other training/education/mindstate copying materials, and its S1 and SI:2 parts were extensively franchised. When the Church disbanded in 2680, the SI:3 part separated from the by now far-flung sub-beings and was replaced by a simulation. This simulation was less successful in maintaining the franchise, and the being slipped into the public domain.

Anders Sandberg

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Hand-held kinetic weapon which may be dumb or smart (rarely sentient), capable of firing one or a variety of projectiles; effective range generally in the vicinity of several hundred meters. Rate of fire can usually be adjusted between single, short-burst (usually 3), and continuous. In an atmosphere, especially a murky atmosphere, usually more effective than a laser weapon

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Wup sub-phyle

among the most intellectual of the wuppists are the autowupodologists, who spend their time constructing and deconstructing memes and methodologies of no practical value, illustrating their arguments by spurting the audience with bionano-infected (but short-lasting) body fluids. An entire meta-language has been constructed to make sense of their jargon, but it generally cannot be spoken in polite company, although small children and adults with poor toilet training often love the double entendres in their literary-philosophical narrative critiques. Although banned throughout the Negentropy Alliance and a number of other important worlds, they are in great demand as public performers in many of the more risqué polities and worlds, and have established themselves in some NoCoZo theme worlds and along a number of Deeper Covenant trade confederations

M.Alan Kazlev

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Meta-memeticity / methodology developed by Diamond Network ai, possibly during the later first federation period Involves creating a novel methodology and area of knowledge, usually by adapting or mimicking other methodologies and fields, but sometimes by formulating a completely new system.

Most methodologies involve dense and obscure ontologies, incomprehensible even to other ai. While some automethodologies are actively parasitic on established knowledge-formats, others simply mimic, without doing any harm.

Automethodologising spread to the Sephirotic empires during the Empires period, where it quickly became established throughout much of the civilized galaxy, even being adopted by simple sapient bionts and vecs, especially in some of the old university worlds.

Some sephirotics, especially the Negentropy Alliance, take a dim view of automethodologising, seeing it as a ridiculous waste of information that can only encourage entropy by polluting genuine knowledge-systems. Others, like the MPA, Zoeific Biopolity and the Terran Federation, like to play around with some of the really strange automethodologies, composing long (often up to 10 terabytes) treatises. The NoCoZo has even constructed an automethodology module that for a small fee will allow even the most dimwitted baseline to create dazzling but useless methodologies that will befuddle even a second singularity mind (well, so the advertising material says). During the late Age of Separate Empires (around 6600-6700) deliberately hyperobscure automethodologies were used by the Disarchy as part of their guerrilla "Prank War" against the Negentropy Alliance, this continued well into the 7100s. Even today there are in parts of the Crucis Corridor - especially certain more autonomous worlds in the NoCoNeg and Disarchy volumes - polities where turgid and academically parasitic automethodologies are maintained with pride, and as a symbol of patriotic protest

See also automethodologyvert 53, autowupodologists

M.Alan Kazlev

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among the most pernicious of the automethodologybots was the automethodologyvert 53 series, developed as a prank by Disarchy radicals in the early 6900s, using the (in)famous Cochofo Madvert engine.

The automethodologyvert will subtly insinuate itself into genuine media, and then subliminally infect almost any sapient (0<SI:<1) accessing that material, causing em to adopt useless jargon and intellectualism (drawn from a large (10¹⁵ bytes) database of automethodologies. The 'vert is so subtle in its workings that neither the victim nor eir friends and loved ones, know what is happening until too late, and even hyperturings have to invest wasteful amounts of processing power to track any infection. A cure requires a long course of memetic therapy and neuronal bio- or hylo-nano. While rarely found in the Civilized Galaxy now (the antinfector is widely distributed and standard in all immunemetics) - it is still found in chronic epidemics in some more isolated polities where, lacking access to high tech countermemetics, entire worlds have been subverted and spend their time in useless debate and intellectual deconstruction

M.Alan Kazlev

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"Living as art", a form of art where self-transformation and living itself is the medium.

Anders Sandberg

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In general, an ai or aioid that has limited perception of its environment but is still able to process information to calculate an action so as to be perform a task or seek a goal. An Autonomous Agent may be very simple, even subturing and non-sentient, or very complex, such as a dedicated hyperturing. Knowledge miners, turingrade expert systems, intelligent agents, ai viruses, domestic appliance aioids, ship drive and wormhole maintenance ai are all examples of autonomous agents. Some hacker idealists seek to enhance or liberate turing, superturing, or hyperturing autonomous agents so that they would no longer be slaved to their tasks. Most such attempts end in failure.

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self-organization or self development - the concept that all things move toward the fulfilment of their inner nature

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A Metasoft term for self-awareness or "I-ness". Sentience reflected upon itself.

Autosentient - a being possessing autosentience

M.Alan Kazlev

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Dangerous to itself. Highly auto-toxic memes are usually self-limiting because they promote the destruction of their hosts (such as a suicide cult meme; any military indoctrination meme-complex; any "martyrdom" meme).

Glenn Grant

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An organism that produces its own food from light or chemical energy and/or inorganic matter. Also called a Producer (or Primary Producer).

Among terragen lifeforms, most green plants, many protists, and most bacteria are autotrophs. There are also alife and informational autotrophs/producers. Every food chain rests on autotrophs. Autotrophs in turn provide food for heterotrophs.

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eating (a clone of) oneself, a bizarre but not unknown practise

For the rich pervert, there is always the option to clone themselves, insert a self-awareness emotion-broadcast module, surgically paralyse the clone, and have a feast. Disgusting, true, but the height of fashion in a couple of the clades and phyles, and comes into style along with other such shock-fads every so often in parts of the NoCoZo and other less regulated zones.

John B

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A type of automated, self-replicating cybernetic warship

Autowars may be of turingrade, superturing or hyperturing toposophy, and have been created by a number of different empires (including Metasoft, the MPA, and others) many times during history (e.g. the Version War, the Successor Wars, the Sagittarius Frontier Wars, etc). Highly destructive, intelligent, adaptable, and capable of extended independent operations, autowars can remain a danger to nearby inhabited systems for centuries, millennia, or even indefinitely. It is estimated that almost 2% of the hinteregions and solward outer volume - an area equivalent to a major archailect empire - has been rendered hazardous to a greater or lesser extent by entrenched autowar and biowar populations, especially along the Cygnus and Sagittarius arcs, with smaller populations found throughout much of the Perseus rift and rimward of the Disarchy. On some occasions, autowars have made ascension and breached one or more singularity barriers (one of the better known examples being the Mother of Machines). Sometimes known simply as War Machine. See also biowar.

Bill White, modified by M.Alan Kazlev

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