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Lm to Lt

Local Arm

the arm of the Milky Way Galaxy where most of terragen civilization is still located, and which includes the Sol System It is also called the Orion Arm.

Local Group

The cluster of galaxies to which the Milky Way and a number of nearby galaxies belong.

The Local Group includes as well as the Milky Way the larger Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and more than two dozen smaller galaxies. Most of these are dwarf ellipticals, and the Local Group is considered to be a poor cluster.

some galaxies in the local group	diameter light-years	distance light-years
large magellanic cloud (lmc)	30,000	163,000
small magellanic cloud (smc)	20,000	190,000
ngc 6822	15,000	1,800,000
ngc 205	11,000	2,200,000
andromeda (m31)	150,000	2,200,000
triangulum (m33)	40,000	2,400,000

Local Minimum / Local Maximum

In mathematical modelling, the bottom of a valley or the top of a peak; such that all nearby points are either higher (for a minimum) or lower (for a maximum). The particular valley or peak may not necessarily be the lowest or highest location in the space, see global minimum / maximum.

LocalNet

Local subnet of the Known Net. May range from a single habitat intranet to a polity, planetary or interplanetary net

Local Omega Point

In Classical Tiplerism, an Omega Point on the future c-boundary of a part of the universe (such as an Omegon civilization).

lofstrom loop

beanstalk-like megaconstruction based on a stream of magnetically accelerated bars linked together.

The stream is sent into space, where a station rides it using magnetic hooks, redirects it horizontally to another station, which sends it downwards to a receiving station on the ground. From this station the stream is then sent back to the launch station (the purely vertical version is called a space fountain). This structure contains a large amount of kinetic energy but, because it is only built gradually, only requires enough energy to compensate for losses when finished. Elevators are run along the streams, and geostationary installations could be placed along the horizontal top.
[after Keith Lofstrom, who set forth the first detailed calculations on it, late atomic/early information period].

from Transhuman Terminology

logic gate

device that can perform a logical operation. May be silicon, biological, nanite, picite, femtite, or of any other scale or composition

Lombardo

inner sphere NoCoZo system, was first established as a Free Zone during the middle Federation period. The system is inhabited by corporate hyperturings, droids, and near-baseline organics and cyborgs

long-period comet

A comet moving on a nearly parabolic orbit and thus having an orbital period of hundreds of thousands of years. Some haloist and spacer clades build their habitats on such comets

Long Span Rock

Resource-poor system in Utopia Sphere space, used as a mining outpost by the Paradigm during the 7400s and early 7500s. The occupying Paradigm force was totally destroyed during the PCO advance. The system is currently occupied by a few droids and prospectors who make a living scavenging for what little war-wreckage (mainly nonfunctional khaki goo and paradigm fractal fragments) remains.

M. Alan Kazlev

longevist

A sophont who seeks to extend their life beyond current norms (but who may not wish to live forever)

Max More, in Transhuman Terminology

Lord of Rays

The Lord of Rays, also known by various names from old and new mythology such as Atum-Rah, Aton, the Golden Disc, the Cosmic Anahata, the Great Wheel, and the Tipheret, is the AI God of interconnection and leadership. E has systematically promoted contact with various empires, their worlds, the houses and independent groups. More than any other astrographic zone, Eir empire, has tended towards centralism and a single noetic and religious ideology, variously known (in some of its more predominant variants) as Atonism, Solarism, Lumignosis, and Autogenism.

Currently there are no less than 645 major empires and polities which directly serve the Lord of Rays. The largest and most important of these is the Dominion of the Divine Sun, which has its center at Fons Luminis (Hespera / Xi Majoris), a system that contains much of the central processing nodes of the mainbrain. It is said that to live in the Hespera system is to live in the Transcend Itself. The Capital is ruled by the Lord's servant, the immortal cyborg God-Emperor the Ascended Daniel Borde. It is said to be like the Hub of a Great Wheel, in that the interconnections point inwards and outwards rather than networking as in the case of many other sephirotics. Hence the name Great Cakra, (the Great Wheel) applied both to Xi Majoris and to the Lord of Rays Emself. The empires of The Lord of Rays have always been expansive, but seek to expand by politics rather than military, economic or technological strength.

Anders Sandberg and M. Alan Kazlev