LEADER 04663nam 22007695 450 001 9910300373803321 005 20251204105420.0 010 $a3-319-02060-9 024 7 $a10.1007/978-3-319-02060-0 035 $a(CKB)3710000000025249 035 $a(EBL)1466489 035 $a(OCoLC)861559067 035 $a(SSID)ssj0001010791 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11618993 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0001010791 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)11000773 035 $a(PQKB)10844861 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC1466489 035 $a(DE-He213)978-3-319-02060-0 035 $a(PPN)172424550 035 $a(EXLCZ)993710000000025249 100 $a20130927d2014 u| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe Hunter $eA Scientific Novel /$fby Giancarlo Genta 205 $a1st ed. 2014. 210 1$aCham :$cSpringer International Publishing :$cImprint: Springer,$d2014. 215 $a1 online resource (vii, 130 pages) $cillustrations 225 1 $aScience and Fiction,$x2197-1196 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 300 $aA novel. 311 08$a3-319-02059-5 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references. 327 $aPreface -- Contents -- Part I -- The Novel -- The Hunter -- Chapters 1-26 -- Part II -- The Science Behind the Fiction -- Humankind on the Verge of Becoming a Spacefaring Civilization -- Introduction -- Space Travel -- Astrobiology -- Robotics -- Robots and artificial intelligence. -- Humanoid Robots -- Von Neuman Machines -- Glossary and Achronyms -- References. 330 $aThe 24th century: humankind has become a spacefaring civilization, colonizing the solar system and beyond. While no alien forms of life have yet been encountered in this expansion into space, colonists suddenly encounter machines of alien origin - huge robots able to reproduce themselves.  Called replicators by the colonists, they seem to have but a single goal: to destroy all organic life they come in contact with. Since the colonial governments have no means to fight this menace directly, they instead promise huge rewards to whoever destroys a replicator. As a result, the frontier attracts a new kind of adventurers, the Hunters, who work to find and destroy the replicators. Mike Edwards, a skilled young maintenance technician and robotics expert at a faraway outpost, will not only become one of them - but be the very first one to unlock the secret behind the replicators? origin and mission.   The scientific and technical aspects underlying the plot - in particular space travel, robotics and self-replicating spacecraft - are introduced and discussed by the author in an extensive non-technical appendix. An expert in space flight technology, with a special interest in space robotics and advanced space propulsion,  Giancarlo Genta is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the Politecnico di Torino, in Turin, Italy. He is also director of the Italian SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) study center and is a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has written more than 300 scientific papers and 11 scientific books.  Among his popular science books are Space: The Final Frontier?, published by Cambridge University Press in 2002, and Lonely Minds in the Universe - The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, published by Springer-Copernicus in June 2007. The Hunter, already published in Italian and Ukrainian, is his first novel. 410 0$aScience and Fiction,$x2197-1196 606 $aSolar system 606 $aAstronomy 606 $aAerospace engineering 606 $aAstronautics 606 $aAstrobiology 606 $aArtificial intelligence 606 $aSpace Physics 606 $aAstronomy, Cosmology and Space Sciences 606 $aAerospace Technology and Astronautics 606 $aAstrobiology 606 $aArtificial Intelligence 615 0$aSolar system. 615 0$aAstronomy. 615 0$aAerospace engineering. 615 0$aAstronautics. 615 0$aAstrobiology. 615 0$aArtificial intelligence. 615 14$aSpace Physics. 615 24$aAstronomy, Cosmology and Space Sciences. 615 24$aAerospace Technology and Astronautics. 615 24$aAstrobiology. 615 24$aArtificial Intelligence. 676 $a853.91 700 $aGenta$b G$g(Giancarlo),$4aut$4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut$07967 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910300373803321 996 $aThe Hunter$92494794 997 $aUNINA