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Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország; IPA: [mɒɟɒrorsaːɡ]; listen (help·info)), officially in English the Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság listen (help·info), literally Magyar (Hungarian) Republic), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország; IPA: [mɒɟɒrorsaːɡ]; listen (help·info)), officially in English the Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság listen (help·info), literally Magyar (Hungarian) Republic), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is
Sport in
In the 1976 Summer Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect "ten". She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals. Ilie Năstase, the tennis player, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments; he also was a successful doubles player.
Sport in
In the 1976 Summer Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect "ten". She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals. Ilie Năstase, the tennis player, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments; he also was a successful doubles player.
Literature of
The older classics of Romanian literature remain very little known outside
In the period between the two world wars, authors like Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga or Ion Barbu made efforts to synchronize Romanian literature with the European literature of the time. Gellu Naum was the leader of the surrealist movement in
Romanian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of
Culture of
The culture of
Politics of
The Palace of the Parliament, the seat of the
The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the Parliament (Parlamentul României), consists of two chambers – the Senate (Senat), which has 137 members, and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), which has 332 members. The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of party-list proportional representation.
The justice system is independent of the other branches of government, and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which is the supreme court of
The country's entry into the European Union in 2007 has been a significant influence on its domestic policy. As part of the process,
History of
In 513 BC, south of the
The medieval city of
In either 271 or 275 the Roman army and administration left
In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in two distinct independent Romanian principalities:
In 1475, Stephen the Great of Moldavia scored a temporary victory over the
In 1775, the Habsburg Monarchy annexed the northern part of
Voroneţ Monastery
The
The modern state of
In August 1944, Antonescu was toppled and arrested by King Michael I of
After the negotiated retreat of Soviet troops, in 1958, Romania started to pursue independent policies, including the condemnation of the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania was the only Warsaw Pact country not to take part in the invasion), the continuation of diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War of 1967 (again, the only Warsaw Pact country to do so), the establishment of economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, and so forth. Also, close ties with the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed
After the fall of Ceauşescu, the National Salvation Front (FSN), led by Ion Iliescu, restored civil order and took partial democratic measures. Several major political parties of the pre-war era, such as the National Christian Democrat Peasant's Party (PNŢCD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Romanian Social Democrat Party (PSDR) were resurrected. After several major political rallies (especially in January), in April 1990, a sit-in protest contesting the results of the recently held parliamentary elections began in the
The subsequent disintegration of the FSN produced several political parties including the Romanian Democrat Social Party (PDSR, later Social Democratic Party, PSD), the Democratic Party (PD) and the ApR (
Etymology of
The name of
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The modern state of
Science fiction film
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Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial life forms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to provide social commentary on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues, such as "what makes us human." In many cases, tropes derived from written science fiction may be used by filmmakers ignorant of or at best indifferent to the standards of scientific plausibility and plot logic to which written science fiction is traditionally held.
The genre has existed since the early years of silent cinema, when Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon (1902) amazed audiences with its trick photography effects. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B-movies. After Stanley Kubrick's 1968 landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey, the science fiction film genre was taken more seriously. In the late 1970s, big-budget science fiction films filled with special effects became popular with audiences. The hugely influential Star Wars trilogy and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, appeared, paving the way for the blockbuster hits of subsequent decades, such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Men in Black (1997).
Definition
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Defining precisely which movies belong to the science fiction genre is often difficult, as there is no universally accepted definition of the genre, or in fact its underlying genre in literature. According to one definition:
Science fiction film is a film genre which emphasizes actual, extrapolative, or speculative science and the empirical method, interacting in a social context with the lesser emphasized, but still present, transcendentalism of magic and religion, in an attempt to reconcile man with the unknown (Sobchack 63).
This definition assumes that a continuum exists between (real-world) empiricism and (supernatural) transcendentalism, with science fiction film on the side of empiricism, and horror film and fantasy film on the side of transcendentalism. However, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien. And the Star Wars films blend elements typical of science fiction film (such as spaceships, androids and ray guns) with the mystical "Force", a magical power that would seem to fit the fantasy genre better than science fiction. Movie critics therefore sometimes use terms like "Sci Fi/Horror" or "Science Fantasy" to indicate such films' hybrid status.
The visual style of science fiction film can be characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange, when the repetitions of the Korova Milkbar make the alien decor seem more familiar. As well, familiar images become alien; for example, in Dr. Strangelove, the distortion of the humans make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien and familiar images are juxtaposed, as in The Deadly Mantis, when a giant praying mantis is shown climbing the
Cultural theorist Scott Bukatman has proposed that science fiction film allows contemporary culture to witness an expression of the sublime, be it through exaggerated scale (the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), apocalypse (Independence Day) or transcendence (2001: A Space Odyssey).[citation needed]
Also notable is the period shift in set design between white or light background sets (1960s Star Trek, 2001) to dark and black set design (1980s).
1900-1920s
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Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a technological theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902, Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune, a film that used early trick photography effects to depict a spacecraft’s journey to the moon. Several films merged the science-fiction and horror genres, such as Frankenstein (1910), a film adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912). A longer science fiction film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916), was based on Jules Verne’s novel. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction films for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis (1926) and Frau im Mond (1929).
1930s-1950s
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In the 1930s, there were several big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine (the first feature length science fiction film by a
During the 1950s, public interest in space travel and new technologies revived. While many 1950s science-fiction movies were still low-budget B movies, there were several successful films with larger budgets and impressive special effects, notably Destination Moon, The Day the Earth Stood Still, This Island Earth, and Forbidden Planet. Some of the many B mvoies are also still of interest today, especially Howard Hawks's The Thing from Another World, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and It Came From Outer Space.
There was a close connection between the science fiction genre and the monster movie, in, for example, Them, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, and The Blob
Ray Harryhausen began to use stop-motion animation to create special effects for films such as Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).
1960s-1980s
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There were relatively few science fiction films in the 1960s, but some of the films transformed science fiction cinema. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) brought new realism to the genre, with its groundbreaking visual effects and realistic portrayal of space travel and influenced the genre with its epic story and transcendent philosophical scope. Other 1960s films included Planet of the Apes (1968) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966), which provided social commentary, and the campy Barbarella (1968), which explored the sillier side of earlier science fiction.
The era of manned trips to the moon in the 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in the science fiction film. Andrei Tarkovsky’s slow-paced Solaris (1972) had visuals and a philosophic scope reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Science fiction films from the early 1970s explored the theme of paranoia, in which humanity is depicted as under threat from ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation, such as Silent Running (ecology), Westworld (man vs. robot), THX 1138 (man vs. the state), and Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (threat of brainwashing). Conspiracy thriller films of the 1970s included Soylent Green and Futureworld. The science fiction comedies of the 1970s included Woody Allen's Sleeper and Dan O'Bannon's Dark Star.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
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Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both released in 1977 , were box-office hits that brought about a huge increase in science fiction films. As well, Star Wars helped to blur the distinction between the science fiction, fantasy, and superhero genres. In 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the television series to the big screen for the first time. Ridley Scott's films, such as Alien and Blade Runner, presented the future as dark, dirty and chaotic, and depicted non-humans such as aliens and cyborgs as hostile and dangerous. In contrast, Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extraterrestrial, one of the most successful films of the 1980s, presented aliens as benign and friendly.
The big budget adaptations of Frank Herbert's Dune and Arthur C. Clarke's sequel to 2001, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, were box office duds that dissuaded producers from investing in science fiction literary properties. The strongest contributors to the genre during the second half of the 1980s were James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven with The Terminator and RoboCop entries. In the 1980s, animation began being used for science fiction films, such as the Japanese anime film Akira (1988) and the French animated science fiction film Light Years (1988).
1990s-2000s
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In the 1990s, the emergence of the world wide web and the cyberpunk genre spawned several movies on the theme of the computer-human interface, such as Total Recall (1990), The Lawnmower Man (1992), Virtuosity (1995), Johnny Mnemonic (1995), eXistenZ (1999) and The Matrix (1999) . Other themes included disaster movies (e.g., Armageddon and Deep Impact both from 1998), alien invasion (Independence Day from 1996) and genetic experimentation (e.g.,
As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects and the production of films. As the software developed in sophistication it was used to produce more complicated effects . Developments in software also enabled filmmakers to enhance the visual quality of animation, which was used in the science fiction films Ghost in the Shell (1995) from
During the 2000s, fantasy and superhero films abounded, as did earthbound SF such as the Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. In 2005, the Star Wars sextet was completed with the darkly-themed Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Science-fiction returned as a tool for political commentary in films such as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Children of Men. The year 2005 saw a remake of King Kong.
Themes, imagery, and visual elements
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Science fiction films are often speculative in nature, and often include key supporting elements of science and technology. However, as often as not the "science" in a
Many science fiction films include elements of mysticism, occult, magic, or the supernatural, considered by some to be more properly elements of fantasy or the occult (or religious) film. This transforms the movie genre into a science fantasy with a religious or quasi-religious philosophy serving as the driving motivation. The movie Forbidden Planet employs many common science fiction elements, but the nemesis is a powerful creature with a resemblance to an occult demonic spirit (Some interpretations see it, however, as a manifestation of the Freudian Id, made material by alien superscience). The Star Wars series employed a magic-like philosophy and ability known as the "Force" (see entry on 'Midi-chlorians'). Chronicles of Riddick (2004) included quasi-magical elements resembling necromancy and elementalism.
Some films blur the line between the genres, such as movies where the protagonist gains the extraordinary powers of the superhero. These films usually employ a quasi-plausible reason for the hero gaining these powers. Yet in many respects the film more closely resembles fantasy than science fiction.
Not all science fiction themes are equally suitable for movies. In addition to science fiction horror, space opera is most common. Often enough, these films could just as well pass as westerns or WWII movies if the science fiction props were removed. Common motifs also include voyages and expeditions to other planets, and dystopias, while utopias are rare.
Milestones of science fiction film special effects include Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Blade Runner, the Star Wars films, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and, more recently, The Matrix.
Imagery
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Film theorist Vivian Sobchack argues that science fiction films differ from fantasy films in that while science fiction film seeks to achieve our belief in the images we are viewing, fantasy film instead attempts to suspend our disbelief. The science fiction film displays the unfamiliar and alien in the context of the familiar, thereby making the images appear ordinary.
Despite the alien nature of the scenes and science fictional elements of the setting, the imagery of the film is related back to mankind and how we relate to our surroundings. While the sf film strives to push the boundaries of the human experience, they remain bound to the conditions and understanding of the audience and thereby contain prosaic aspects, rather than being completely alien or abstract.
Genre films such as westerns or war movies are bound to a particular area or time period. This is not true of the science fiction film. However there are several common visual elements that are evocative of the genre. These include the spacecraft or space station, alien worlds or creatures, robots, and futuristic gadgets. More subtle visual clues can appear with changes the human form through modifications in appearance, size, or behavior, or by means a known environment turned eerily alien, such as an empty city.
Scientific elements
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While science is a major element of this genre, many movie studios take significant liberties with what is considered conventional scientific knowledge. Such liberties can be most readily observed in films that show spacecraft maneuvering in outer space. The vacuum should preclude the transmission of sound or maneuvers employing wings, yet the sound track is filled with inappropriate flying noises and changes in flight path resembling an aircraft banking. The film makers assume that the audience will be unfamiliar with the specifics of space travel, and focus is instead placed on providing acoustical atmosphere and the more familiar maneuvers of the aircraft.
Similar instances of ignoring science in favor of art can be seen when movies present environmental effects. Entire planets are destroyed in titanic explosions requiring mere seconds, whereas an actual event of this nature would likely take many hours. A star rises over the horizon of a comet or a Mercury-like world and the temperature suddenly soars many hundreds of degrees, causing the entire surface to turn into a furnace. In reality the energy is initially reaching the ground at a very oblique angle, and the temperature is likely to rise more gradually.
The role of the scientist has varied considerably in the science fiction film genre, depending on the public perception of science and advanced technology. Starting with Dr. Frankenstein, the mad scientist became a stock character who posed a dire threat to society and perhaps even civilization. Certain portrayals of the "mad scientist", such as Peter Sellers's performance in Dr. Strangelove, have become iconic to the genre. In the monster movies of the 1950s, the scientist often played a heroic role as the only person who could provide a technological fix for some impending doom. Reflecting the distrust of government that began in the 1960s in the
Alien life forms
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The concept of life, particularly intelligent life, having an extra-terrestrial origin is a popular staple of science fiction films. Early films often used alien life forms as a threat or peril to the human race, where the invaders were frequently fictional representations of actual military or political threats on Earth. Later some aliens were represented as benign and even beneficial in nature in such films as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Aliens in contemporary films are still often depicted as hostile, however, such as those in the Alien series of films.
In order to provide subject matter to which audiences can relate, the large majority of intelligent alien races presented in films have an anthropomorphic nature, possessing human emotions and motivations. Often they will embody a particular human stereotype, such as the barbaric warriors, scientific intellectuals, or priests and clerics. They will frequently appear to be nearly human in physical appearance, and communicate in a common Earth tongue, with little trace of an accent. Very few films have tried to represent intelligent aliens as something utterly different from human kind (e.g. Solaris, Contact).
Disaster films
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A frequent theme among science fiction films is that of impending or actual disaster on an epic scale. These often address a particular concern of the writer by serving as a vehicle of warning against a type of activity, including technological research. In the case of alien invasion films, the creatures can provide as a stand-in for a feared foreign power.
Disaster films typically fall into the following general categories:
Alien invasion — hostile extraterrestrials arrive and seek to supplant humanity. They are either overwhelmingly powerful or very insidious. Typical examples include The War of the Worlds (1953, 2005) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978, 1993, 2007).
Environmental disaster — such a major climate change, or an asteroid or comet strike. Some movies that have employed this theme are Soylent Green (1973), Waterworld (1995), Armageddon (1998), and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).
Man supplanted by technology — typically in the form of an all-powerful computer, advanced robots or cyborgs, or else genetically-modified humans or animals. Among the films in this category are Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), Blade Runner (1982), The Matrix (1999), The Terminator (1984), and I, Robot (2004).
Nuclear war — usually in the form of a dystopic, post-holocaust tale of grim survival. Examples of such a storyline can be found in the movies Dr. Strangelove (1964), Panic in Year Zero! (1962), Planet of the Apes (1968), A Boy and His Dog (1975), Mad Max (1979) and The Terminator (1984).
Pandemic — a highly lethal disease, often one created by man, threatens or wipes out most of humanity in a massive plague. This topic has been treated in such films as The Andromeda Strain (1971), The Omega Man (1971), 12 Monkeys (1995), 28 Days Later (2002), and Children of Men (2006).
Time travel movies can also exploit the potential for disaster as a motivation for the plot, or they can be the root cause of a disaster by wiping out recorded history and creating a new future. For example, The Terminator series of films employs time travel in this fashion (see also "Time travel" below).
Monster films
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While monster films do not usually depict danger on a global or epic scale, science fiction film also has a long tradition of movies featuring monster attacks. These differ from similar films in the horror or fantasy genres because science fiction films typically rely on a scientific (or at least pseudo-scientific) rationale for the monster's existence, rather than a supernatural or magical reason. Often, the science fiction film monster is created, awakened, or "evolves" because of the machinations of a mad scientist, a nuclear accident, or a scientific experiment gone awry. Typical examples include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), the Godzilla series of films, and
Many such films could be classified as either science fiction or horror (or in fact, both). Examples include such iconic films as Alien, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Frankenstein, as well as diverse offerings like
Science fiction and Film noir hybrid: Future Noir
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A police spinner flies alongside a huge advertising-laden skyscraper in
Future noir films that are set in a post-apocalyptic world “...restructure and re-represent society in a parody of the atmospheric world usually found in noir’s construction of a city - dark, bleak and beguiled.” Future noir films often intermingle elements of the gothic thriller genre, such as Minority Report, which makes references to occult practices, and Alien, with its tag line ‘In space, no one can hear you scream’, and a space vessel, Nostromo, “that hark[s] back to images of the haunted house in the gothic horror tradition.” Bin Aziz states that films such as James Cameron’s The Terminator are a sub-genre of ‘techno noir’ that create “...an atmospheric feast of noir darkness and a double-edged world that is not what it seems.”
Film versus literature
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In science fiction novels and short stories the narrative world typically differs from our own present or historical reality in least one significant way. This difference may be technological, physical, historical, sociological, philosophical, metaphysical, etc, but usually not magical (see Fantasy). Exploring the consequences of such differences (asking "What if...?") is the traditional purpose of science fiction. Science fiction literature often relies upon story development, reader knowledge, and the discussion of abstract concepts that may not be easy to transpose to film.
When compared to science fiction literature, science fiction films often rely less on the human imagination and more upon action scenes and special effect-created alien creatures and exotic backgrounds. Since the 1970s, film audiences have come to expect a high standard for special effects in science fiction films. In some cases, science fiction-themed films superimpose an exotic, futuristic setting onto what would not otherwise be a science-fiction tale. Nevertheless, some critically-acclaimed science fiction movies have followed in the path of science fiction literature, using story development to explore abstract concepts.
Influence of science fiction authors
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Jules Verne was the first major science fiction author to be adapted for the screen with Melies Le Voyage vers la Lune (1902) and 20,000 lieues sous les mers (1907), which used Verne's scenarios as a framework for fantastic visuals. By the time Verne's work fell out of copyright in 1950 the adaptations were treated as period pieces. His works have been adapted a number of times since then, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1954, From the Earth to the Moon in 1958, and Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959.
2001: A Space Odyssey, the landmark 1968 collaboration between filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and classic science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke featured groundbreaking special effects, such as the realization of the space ship Discovery One (pictured here)
H. G. Wells has had better success with The Invisible Man, Things to Come and The Island of Doctor Moreau all being adapted during his lifetime with good results while The War of the Worlds was updated in 1953 and again in 2005, adapted to film at least four times altogether. The Time Machine has had two film versions (1961 and 2002) while Sleeper in part is a pastiche of Wells' 1910 novel The Sleeper Awakes.
With the drop-off in interest in science fiction films during the 1940s, few of the 'golden age' science fiction authors made it to the screen. A novella by John W. Campbell provided the basis for The Thing from Another World (1951). Robert A. Heinlein contributed to the screenplay for Destination Moon in 1950, but none of his major works were adapted for the screen until the 1990s: The Puppet Masters in 1994 and Starship Troopers in 1997. L. Ron Hubbard's fiction was not adapted until 2000, with the film Battlefield Earth. Isaac Asimov's fiction influenced the Star Wars and Star Trek films, but it was not until 1988 that a film version of one of his short stories (Nightfall) was produced. The first major motion picture adaptation of a full-length Asimov work was Bicentennial Man (1999) (besed on the short stories "Bicentennial Man" and "The Positronic Man" co-written with Robert Silverberg ), although 2004's I, Robot, a film loosely based on Asimov's book of short stories by the same name, drew more attention.
The adaptation of science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke's novel as 2001: A Space Odyssey won the Academy Award for Visual Effects and offered thematic complexity not typically associated with the science fiction genre at the time. Its sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, was commercially successful but less highly regarded by critics. Reflecting the times, two earlier science fiction works by Ray Bradbury were adapted for cinema in the 1960s with Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter-house Five was filmed in 1971 and Breakfast of Champions in 1998.
Phillip K. Dick's fiction has been used in a number of science fiction films, in part because it evokes the paranoia that has been a central feature of the genre . Films based on Dick's works include Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990), Minority Report (2002), Paycheck (2003), and A Scanner Darkly (2006). Often, these film adaptations are loose adaptations of the original story, with the exception of A Scanner Darkly, which is close to Dick's book.
Starship
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A starship is a type of still-theoretical vehicle designed for interstellar travel, as opposed to a vehicle designed for interplanetary or orbital spaceflight which is often referred to as a spacecraft.
The term is mostly found in science fiction, as humanity has not yet constructed such vehicles (while the Voyager and Pioneer probes have traveled into local interstellar space, they are not generally considered starships, mainly because they are unpowered and unmanned). However, exploratory engineering has been undertaken on several preliminary designs and feasibility studies for starships that could be built with modern technology or technology thought to be available in the near future. For examples of such studies, see Project Daedalus, Project Orion, and Project Longshot.
Fictional types
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A common literary device is to posit a faster-than-light propulsion system (such as warp drive) or travel through hyperspace, although some starships may be outfitted for centuries-long journeys of slower-than-light travel. Other designs posit a way to boost the ship to near-lightspeed, allowing relatively "quick" travel (i.e. decades, not centuries) to nearer stars. This results in a general categorization of the kinds of starships:
Sleeper ships, which put their passengers into stasis during a long trip.
Generation ships, where the destination will be reached by descendants of the original passengers.
Relativistic ships, taking advantage of time dilation at close-to-light-speeds, so long trips will seem much shorter (but still take the same amount of time for outside observers).
Faster-than light ships, which can move between places very quickly (transcending current understanding of physics or using interdimensional 'shortcuts').
Fictional elements
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Different authors and different stories will, of course, imagine different kinds of starships. Certain common elements are found in most fiction that discusses starships.
Slower-than-light
Generation ship
Fiction that discusses slower-than-light starships is relatively rare, since the time scales are so long. Instead of describing the interaction with the outside world, those fictions tend to focus on setting the whole story within the world of the (often very large) starship during its long travels. Sometimes the starship is a world, in perception or reality.
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
These starships are typically large, multi-passenger vehicles (see starfighters). They range in size from small personal yachts and courier ships, up to vast bulk containers (used for intersystem shipping) and enormous warships.
Starships are usually depicted as operating under laws and guidelines similar to real-world seagoing vessels. The primary reason is that deep space is an even more hazardous environment than the deep sea, and so extreme caution must be taken in all starship operations. A side effect of this is that spacegoing fleets, especially space militaries, are usually organized similar to modern Earth navies.
Depending on original design, recent history, current intended use, local laws, space piracy, and the ethics of the current owner, a starship may be fitted with a wide variety of engines, weapons, equipment, and internal compartments. Small freighters used for smuggling are typically fast, modified to avoid detection, are often heavily armed, and may have secret holds for hiding contraband cargo. Large container ships usually have little in the way of shielding or weaponry, but have huge, powerful engines necessary for moving vast quantities of cargo through (or between) star systems.
Passenger vessels, are often described as being similar to modern ocean liners, containing luxurious passenger cabins, gambling halls, showrooms, restaurants, and lounges. Warships contain crew quarters, extensive weaponry and shielding, massive engines, sophisticated sensor and communications arrays, and usually a detachment of non-naval Marine-like soldiers trained in assaulting and capturing enemy spacecraft, targets on planetary surfaces, or both.
Exceptions
Exceedingly large spacegoing craft (e.g. the Death Star) are typically not referred to as "starships" (but see 'slower-than-light ships' above). Terms like (artificial) planetoid may be considered to be more accurate.
Space stations and other structures intended to orbit a celestial body are not usually called starships, even if they can move under their own power.
Orbital spaceflight
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An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight where the spacecraft is placed on a trajectory that does not intersect with a planetary surface for at least one orbit.
To do this around the Earth, it must have an altitude at perigee higher than 100 km (which is the conventional boundary of space), and have a horizontal speed higher than orbital speed, which is usually about 7-8 km/s depending on the altitude. Another way of saying this, is the outward centrifugal force on the spacecraft due to its angular velocity is greater than or equal to the inward force due to gravity. Note that with this definition, an orbital spaceflight need not complete a full orbit.
The expression "orbital spaceflight" is mostly used to distinguish from sub-orbital spaceflights, which are flights where the spacecraft reaches space but does not have a high enough angular velocity to enter into orbit. The required speed to achieve orbit with known methods is about 9.3 km/s (18,000 mph), while some sub-orbital spacecraft can reach space without travelling faster than 1.1 km/s to 1.3 km/s (2,500 mph to 3,000 mph).
Methods
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Orbital spaceflight from Earth is normally achieved by large rockets that are capable of accelerating from rest to about 10 km/s. This figure allows for atmospheric drag (approximately 300 m/s with the ballistic coefficient of a 20 m long dense fuelled vehicle), gravity losses (depending on burn time and details of the trajectory and launch vehicle), gaining altitude, and the horizontal acceleration needed to reach orbital speed (~7.8km/s depending on altitude).
The only proven technique involves launching nearly vertically for a few kilometers and then progressively flattening the trajectory out at an altitude of 170+ km and accelerating on a horizontal trajectory (with the rocket angled upwards to fight gravity and maintain altitude) for a 5-8 minute burn until orbital velocity is achieved. Frequently 2-3 stages are needed to achieve sufficient delta-v.
Project HARP was a failed attempt, and a ram accelerator is another design, to launch an object into orbit with a gun, possibly with additional propulsion by a rocket.
Stability
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Any object in orbit at an altitude of less than roughly 200 km is considered unstable due to the amount friction caused by the atmosphere. For a satellite to be in a stable orbit (i.e. sustainable for more than a few months), 350 km is a more standard altitude for low Earth orbit.
Orbits
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There are three main 'bands' of orbit: low Earth orbit, intermediate circular orbit and geostationary orbit.
Re-entry
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Due to the high speeds of orbital spaceflight, atmospheric reentry is much more difficult compared to sub-orbital flights. Note however, that such considerations only apply to orbital flights where the vehicle needs to return to Earth intact. If the vehicle is, say, a satellite that is ultimately expendable, then there naturally is no need to worry about reentry.
Returning craft though (including all potentially manned craft), have to find a way of slowing down as much as possible while still in higher atmospheric layers and avoid hitting the ground (lithobraking) or burning up. The problem of deceleration from orbital speeds is solved through using atmospheric drag (aerobraking) to lose nearly all of the speed. On an orbital space flight initial deceleration is provided by the retrofiring of the craft's rocket engines, perturbing the orbit (by lowering perigee down into the atmosphere) onto a suborbital trajectory.
Aerobraking is achieved by orienting the returning space craft to fly so as to present the heat shields forwards towards the atmosphere so as to protect against the high temperatures generated by atmospheric compression and friction caused by passing through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The thermal energy is dissipated mainly by compression heating the air in a shockwave ahead of the vehicle using a blunt heat shield shape, with the aim of minimising the heat entering the vehicle. Sub-orbital space flights, being at a much lower speed, do not generate anywhere near as much heat upon re-entry.
This has allowed maverick aircraft designer Burt Rutan recently (July 2004) to demonstrate an alternative or complementary approach to heat shield dependent reentry with the suborbital SpaceShipOne. It may be possible that the concepts utilized in SpaceShipOne's design can be applied to orbital space craft design and result in intrinsic stability of the vehicle through reentry (as opposed to the active stability used on the Space Shuttle.) Currently however, the need for an ultra high-performance and ultra reliable heat shield is a major difference between crafts designed for orbital flights (as opposed to sub-orbital ones), demonstrated in the Mercury program wherein the orbital flights used a typical ablative heat shield while the sub-orbital flights relied simply on a large metal heat-sink.
Fishing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish by hooking, trapping, or gathering. By extension, the term fishing is applied to pursuing other aquatic animals such as various types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, frogs, and some edible marine invertebrates. The term fishing is not usually applied to pursuing aquatic mammals such as whales, where the term "whaling" is more appropriate, or to commercial fish farming. Fishing is an ancient and worldwide practice with various techniques and traditions and it has been transformed by modern technological developments. In addition to providing food through harvesting fish, modern fishing is both a recreational and professional sport.
Origins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fishing is a very ancient practice that dates back at least to the Mesolithic period which began about 10,000 years ago.[1] Archaeological features such as shell middens,[2] discarded fish bones and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival and consumed in significant quantities. During this period, most people lived a hunter-gather lifestyle and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, where there are early examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir, they are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.
The Neolithic culture and technology spread worldwide between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago. With the new technologies of farming and pottery came basic forms of all the main fishing methods that are still used today.
Ancient representations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ancient river
Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. There is a wine cup, dating from 510�500 BC, that shows a boy crouched on a rock with a fishing-rod in his right hand and a basket in his left. In the water below, a rounded object of the same material with an opening on the top. This has been identified as a fish-cage used for keeping live fish, or as a fish-trap. It is clearly not a net. This object is currently in the
Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics which show fishing from boats with rod and line as well as nets. Various species such as conger, lobster, sea urchin, octopus and cuttlefish are illustrated.[5] In a parody of fishing, a type of gladiator called retiarius was armed with a trident and a casting-net. He would fight against the murmillo, who carried a short sword and a helmet with the image of a fish on the front.
The Greco-Roman sea god Neptune is depicted as wielding a fishing trident.
Ancient literature
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are numerous references to fishing in ancient literature; in most cases, however, the descriptions of nets and fishing-gear do not go into detail, and the equipment is described in general terms. An early example from the Bible in Job 41:7: Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?.
Fishing , tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (XIV century)
The Greek historian Polybius (ca 203 BC-120 BC), in his Histories, describes hunting for swordfish by using a harpoon with a barbed and detachable head.[7]
Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived intact to the modern day. Oppian describes various means of fishing including the use of nets cast from boats, scoop nets held open by a hoop, spears and tridents, and various traps "which work while their masters sleep". Oppian's description of fishing with a "motionless" net is also very interesting:
The fishers set up very light nets of buoyant flax and wheel in a circle round about while they violently strike the surface of the sea with their oars and make a din with sweeping blow of poles. At the flashing of the swift oars and the noise the fish bound in terror and rush into the bosom of the net which stands at rest, thinking it to be a shelter: foolish fishes which, frightened by a noise, enter the gates of doom. Then the fishers on either side hasten with the ropes to draw the net ashore.
From ancient representations and literature it is clear that fishing boats were typically small, lacking a mast or sail, and were only used close to the shore.
In traditional Chinese history, history begins with three semi-mystical and legendary individuals who taught the Chinese the arts of civilization around 2800�2600 BC: of these Fu Hsi was reputed to be the inventor of writing, hunting, trapping, and fishing.
Fishing techniques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hand fishing
It is possible to fish with minimal equipment by using only the hands. In the
Trout binning is a method of fishing, possibly fictional, performed with a sledgehammer.[8]
Divers can catch lobsters by hand.
Pearl diving is the practice of hunting for oysters by free-diving to depths of up to 30 m.
Hand-line fishing is a technique requiring a fishing line with a weight and one or more lure-like hooks.
Stump fishing or noodling is a technique in which the fisher holds the bait in his or her hand and waits for a large catfish to attempt to eat it; when the fish bites, the fisher pulls his or her arm, along with the fish, from the water. It is practiced, mostly illegally, in the Southern and Midwestern
Spear and bow fishing
Head of an arrow used for fishing, from
Spear fishing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spear fishing is an ancient method of fishing and may be conducted with an ordinary spear or a specialised variant such as an eel spear[9][10] or the trident. A small trident type spear with a long handle is used in the American South and
Traditional spear fishing is restricted to shallow waters, but the development of the speargun has made the method much more efficient. With practice, divers are able to hold their breath for up to four minutes and sometimes longer; of course, a diver with underwater breathing equipment can dive for much longer periods.
Bow fishers use a bow and arrow to kill fish in shallow water from above.
