External links
- The Infinites title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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"The Infinites" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953 in the May issue of Planet Stories . It has since been republished several times, including in Beyond Lies the Wub in 1988 and in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick .
The plot centers around a crew of three on board a spaceship which scouts asteroid fields for new materials which can be mined. Led by Crispin Eller, the crew (which consists of second in command Blake and Silvia) land on an asteroid and send a pack of hamsters in order to check the radiation levels. Upon retrieving the hamsters, they discover that they've received a large doses of radiation and are lifeless.
Later, the crew themselves pass out of radiation and wake up several days later. Their hair falls out, their nails as well, and their heads swell to a larger size. Pondering over the changes, the crew realizes that the radiation has vastly increased their evolution, and that they've evolved millions of years in a matter of days. Blake insists on going back to Earth so they can assume control with their powerful minds, while Eller is more cautious. A fight breaks out, and Blake kills Silvia with energy he creates himself. As Blake is about to kill Eller, several large orbs of energy appear and destroy Blake. It is revealed that the orbs of energy are actually the hamsters which have received the radiation first, and have evolved millions of years and are now nothing but pure energy.The beings then revive Silvia and undo their evolution before leaving.
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Interplanetary spaceflight or interplanetary travel is the crewed or uncrewed travel between stars and planets, usually within a single planetary system. In practice, spaceflights of this type are confined to travel between the planets of the Solar System. Uncrewed space probes have flown to all the observed planets in the Solar System as well as to dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres, and several asteroids. Orbiters and landers return more information than fly-by missions. Crewed flights have landed on the Moon and have been planned, from time to time, for Mars, Venus and Mercury. While many scientists appreciate the knowledge value that uncrewed flights provide, the value of crewed missions is more controversial. Science fiction writers propose a number of benefits, including the mining of asteroids, access to solar power, and room for colonization in the event of an Earth catastrophe.
Olbers's paradox, also known as the dark night paradox, is an argument in astrophysics and physical cosmology that says that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe. In the hypothetical case that the universe is static, homogeneous at a large scale, and populated by an infinite number of stars, any line of sight from Earth must end at the surface of a star and hence the night sky should be completely illuminated and very bright. This contradicts the observed darkness and non-uniformity of the night sky.
Philip Kindred Dick, often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. His fiction explored varied philosophical and social questions such as the nature of reality, perception, human nature, and identity, and commonly featured characters struggling against elements such as alternate realities, illusory environments, monopolistic corporations, drug abuse, authoritarian governments, and altered states of consciousness. He is considered one of the most important figures in 20th century science fiction.
"Second Variety" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in Space Science Fiction magazine, in May 1953. Set in a world where war between the Soviet Union and United Nations has reduced most of the world to a barren wasteland, the story concerns the discovery, by the few remaining soldiers left, that self-replicating robots originally built to assassinate Soviet agents have gained sentience and are now plotting against both sides. It is one of many stories by Dick examining the implications of nuclear war, particularly after it has destroyed much or all of the planet.
A generation ship, or generation starship, is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels at sub-light speed. Since such a ship might require hundreds to thousands of years to reach nearby stars, the original occupants of a generation ship would grow old and die, leaving their descendants to continue traveling.
A stasis or stasis field, in science fiction, is a confined area of space in which time has been stopped or the contents have been rendered motionless.
Colonization or settlement of Mars is the theoretical human migration to and establishment of long-term human presence on Mars. The prospect has garnered interest from public space agencies and private corporations and has been extensively explored in science fiction writing, film, and art. Organizations have proposed plans for a human mission to Mars, the first step towards any colonization effort, but thus far no person has set foot on the planet, and there have been no return missions. However, landers and rovers have successfully explored the planetary surface and delivered information about conditions on the ground.
"The Last of the Masters" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick. The original manuscript of the story was received by the Scott Meredith Literary Agency on July 15, 1953, and the story was published by the Hanro Corporation in the final issue of Orbit Science Fiction in 1954. It has since been reprinted in several Philip K. Dick story collections, beginning with The Golden Man in 1980.
"Strange Eden" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published in Imagination magazine during 1954, found under Second Variety and Other Classic Stories by Philip K. Dick in pp. 111–121.
Bloom, written in 1998, is the fifth science fiction novel written by Wil McCarthy. It was first released as a hardcover in September 1998. Almost a year later, in August 1999, its first mass market edition was published. An ebook reprint was published in 2011.
The Green Slime is a 1968 tokusatsu science fiction film directed by Kinji Fukasaku and produced by Walter Manley and Ivan Reiner. It was written by William Finger, Tom Rowe and Charles Sinclair from a story by Reiner. The film was shot in Japan with a Japanese director and film crew, but with the non-Japanese starring cast of Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel and Luciana Paluzzi.
Deus Irae is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel started by American author Philip K. Dick and finished with the help of American author Roger Zelazny. It was published in 1976. Deus irae, meaning God of Wrath in Latin, is a play on Dies Irae, meaning Day of Wrath or Judgment Day. This novel was based on Dick's short stories "The Great C" and "Planet for Transients".
"Planet for Transients" is a 1953 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. The story was originally published in the October–November 1953 issue of Fantastic Universe. The story also appears in We Can Remember It for You Wholesale . The author's original title for the story was "The Itinerants".
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a collection of 118 science fiction stories by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Underwood-Miller in 1987 as a five volume set. See Philip K. Dick bibliography for information about the mass market reprints.
The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Citadel Twilight in 1990 and reprints Volume I of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. Many of the stories had originally appeared in the magazines Fantasy and Science Fiction, Planet Stories, If, Galaxy Science Fiction, Imagination, Space Science Fiction, Fantastic Story Magazine, Amazing Stories, Future, Cosmos, Fantasy Fiction, Beyond Fantasy Fiction, Thrilling Wonder Stories and Startling Stories. The collection was reprinted by Citadel Press in 2003 under the title Paycheck and Other Classic Stories.
"The Skull" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1952 in If, and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. It has since been republished several times, including in Beyond Lies the Wub in 1988.
"Piper in the Woods" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953 in Imagination, and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. It has since been republished several times, including in Beyond Lies the Wub in 1988.
"The Indefatigable Frog" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in the July 1953 edition of Fantastic Story Magazine, and later in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. It has since been republished several times, including in Beyond Lies the Wub in 1988.
A self-replicating machine is a type of autonomous robot that is capable of reproducing itself autonomously using raw materials found in the environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. Such machines are often featured in works of science fiction.
"The Hanging Stranger" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, originally published in December 1953 in the magazine Science Fiction Adventures. It has been reprinted in several anthologies, and published in French, Italian and German. It was adapted by Dee Rees into the episode "Kill All Others" or "K.A.O." for the 2017 television series Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. A book was also released to republish "The Hanging Stranger" along with the nine other stories on which the Electric Dreams episodes were based.