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Im

IMC

Interstellar Mining Corporation]. Late Federation multi-solar mining conglomerate.

The IMC, which developed from humble beginnings during the early first Federation period, and employed cutting edge and innovative SCM and nano-mining techniques, was for some centuries the leader in solid, liquid, and gaseous resource extraction in outsystem worlds. At its height it controlled tremendous wealth among Federation worlds and colonies. The ruling SI:1 hyperturings however were unable to adapt to the shift of power brought about by the rise of the SI:2 and higher hyperturings during the Establishment and Empires ages, as well as change of resources from Matter management to Nano- and Pico- Energy management. The corporation was subverted and broken up during the 2500s, although a number of its superbrights, super- and hyperturings, and even nearbaselines migrated outwards to the then periphery to establish daughter corporations, fiefdoms, and hereditary houses, a few of which lasted as late as the middle Empires period.

M.Alan Kazlev

Imhotep

[1] [historical] administrator/scribe/priest/physician/architect who designed the first pyramid.

[2] [noun or adj.] Generic term for an exceptional su or suborg using augmented reality for eir research. The icon portrait shown here is one of a popular stylized series on great scientists and researchers of the Interplanetary Age, in this case a composite of several of the geneticists involved in telomere research, rejuvenation and anti-agathic hacks. In many cultures even today it is still traditional to give thanks to the Bringers of Immortality when undergoing a gene treatment.

Immanentization Crusaders

Keterist extremist group active in a number of regions throughout the outer volumes. Their stated goal is to ensure the continued growth and evolution of galactic culture towards the highest possible levels by forcing static and counter-progressive cultures to face the "creative destruction of evolution". They have not been averse to attacking any cultures, civilizations and polities which they do not consider fit

Immanent Omega

In Tiplerian Omegism, the developing Omega-being in the last moments of the Omega Point Theory, as it becomes more and more godlike but is still finite.

immortalist

A sentient who aspires to attain physical immortality through indefinite perpetuation of a biological or cyborg body and intelligence modification (life-memory archiving, etc). Most immortalists end up losing their personal identity after a few thousand years at most

immortechnics

Collectively, the technologies which are applied to attempt radical life extension, such as calorie-restricted dieting, cryonics, medical nano, uploading, etc.

Mark Plus, in Transhuman Terminology

immune designers

Protecting all civilised systems from nanoswarms, software viruses, epidemics and blights are advanced nanotechnological, software, ecological and memetic immune systems. Without them civilisation would collapse from the spontaneous emergence of replicators, not to mention deliberate (mis)use of them. Designing and maintaining the extensive immune systems is a profession that encompasses many individuals; in some regions like the Vela Immunity they are the largest work segment (17% of all employed entities, according to 10,000 Vela statistics).

Immune design is a broad field with thousands of specialities. At the core the problem is the same: identifying and neutralising unwanted replicators. The general methods of applied immunology is then specialised for different applications such as nanoimmune and software systems. Since the number of components of advanced immune systems is vast, there are entire disciplines devoted to just microscopic parts like nanograppler design, software seismology and memetic weak eigenspace prediction.

Although planetary immune systems and most software protections have to be designed by super-intelligent entities, there is plenty of work among the baselines as immune designers too. The reason is that all advanced immune systems are complex adaptive systems, and quite often misbehave in unexpected or irritating ways. Fixing all these quirks - without compromising security - is part of the immune designer job. There are also many low-level immune systems that deal not with the serious threats but simply maintaining a comfortable environment by limiting the spread of pests - be they madverts, memeoids or spy nanoware.

The perhaps most famous nanoimmune designer of all time was Hermann Laustrom-Xiang (2421-2510), who designed many of the protocols that were eventually included in GAIA. Although his name was for a long period after the Great Expulsion reviled, today he is viewed as one of the great geniuses of terragenkind. The fact that he was "merely" a cyborged superior and not an AI adds to his mystique.

Anders Sandberg

immunemetic

neural nano-device that provides a CNS filter to screen out subversive memetics. Does not work against high toposophic subversion

M.Alan Kazlev

immuno-depressant

Anything that tends to reduce a person's memetic immunity.

Common immuno-depressants are: travel, disorientation, physical and emotional exhaustion, insecurity, emotional shock, loss of home or loved ones, future shock, culture shock, isolation stress, unfamiliar social situations, certain drugs, loneliness, alienation, paranoia, repeated exposure, respect for Authority, escapism, and hypnosis (suspension of critical judgement). Recruiters for cults often target spaceports and shuttle terminals because travellers are likely to be subject to a number of these immuno-depressants. (see cult.)

Glenn Grant

Immunology

The study of the biont immune system, which defends the organism against the invasion of foreign substances, tissues, and organisms.

Includes understanding the way the immune system works, natural and bionano geneered immune system cells and the production of antibodies; augmenting the immune system; temporarily suppressing the immune system to allow transplanted bionics, augments, or new nano to take; and the development of immunization against natural and artificial diseases, foreign nanite infection, and so on.

immortality

While literal physical immortality remains a contentious point in a universe that, although vast, is still finite, the wonders of modern medical nano mean that all citizens of the Civilized Galaxy, to say nothing of the higher toposophic ai, are potentially immortal; at least on angelnetted worlds. See also life-extension, afterlife

impact basin

Generally, an impact crater that has a rim diameter greater than 300 km. Sych large catastrophic impacts produce faulting and other crust deformations. Material ejected from impact basins is distributed over wide areas.

impact crater

result of a bolide impact upon a Terrestrial Class planet or moon; as distinct from a volcanic crater

impact melt

When an object like an asteroid, comet, or meteorite strikes a Terrestrial Class planet or moon, forming a crater, the energy released at impact causes extremely high temperatures which can melt some surrounding rock, forming pools or sheets of lava at the bottom of the crater. Such impact melt varies greatly in texture, but is uniform in its composition, made mostly of the planet's or moon's rocks, but also containing a bit of the impactor material.

Implosion Weapons

Highly destructive devices employing picotechnology to weaken or manipulate the interatomic forces preventing matter from collapsing under its own mass.

Implosion weapons operate by first infecting the target matter with specially designed picobots which then replicate throughout the mass of the target. When a critical infection level has been reached the picobots all simultaneously act to interfere with the nuclear forces holding the atoms of the mass apart. The target mass immediately implodes under its own gravity down to neutron star densities. At this point the picobots deactivate and the target mass experiences a rapid re-expansion back to its original density and beyond, usually in the form of a tremendous explosion.

Todd Drashner

import controls

Government imposed limits on the entry of goods into a polity

import penetration

The proportion of domestic consumption accounted for by imports.

import restrictions

Limitations placed on the purchase of imports by quotas, tariffs, etc.

Favoured by some centralised and isolationist polities. Megacorps often use aggressive memetic engineering to ensure maximum import penetration and minimum import restrictions. Megacorps also often work in favor of import restrictions in order to keep their competitors out of the market.

imports

Goods, services and capital assets purchased from other polities.

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