I twice viewed No Country for Old Men in the theater, and on both occasions after the final image of Tommy Lee Jones had cut to black, there were audible exclamations from the patrons around me: “That’s it?” “What happened?” This twelfth film by Joel and Ethan Coen evoked the same response that the...

Science fiction is a literary genre based on scientific speculation. Works of science fiction use the ideas and the vocabulary of all sciences to create valid narratives that explore the future effects of science on events and human beings. Science Fact and Science Fiction examines in one volume how science has propelled...

On any given day there are more than 7 million items listed for auction at ebay (ebay), the world's largest online trading community. At the end of its last fiscal quarter, ebay had 49.7 million registered users, more than double the number of users just two years previous. It is estimated that $9.3 billion worth of merchandise, in more than 423...

As a futurist, you can be fascinating at a cocktail party. Instead of dropping names, you drop facts and figures: We are expected to live well intoour 100s; the average age for young adults to marry in America is 30; the single male head of household is the fastest growing demographic group; and the...

Biometric recognition--the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristic--is promoted as a way to help identify terrorists, provide better control of access to physical facilities and financial accounts, and increase the efficiency of access to services and their utilization. Biometric...

Podcasting really is twenty-first century communication, and you can be a part of it! This book gives you the scoop on listening to, producing, and distributing podcasts, points you toward the best...

This work celebrates the investigative power of phenomenology to explore the phenomenological sense of space and time in conjunction with the phenomenology of intentionality, the invisible, the sacred, and the mystical. It examines the course of life through its ontopoietic genesis, opening the cosmic sphere to logos. The work also explores,...

Space is a central topic in cultural and narrative theory today, although in most cases theory assumes Newtonian absolute space. However, the idea of a universal homogeneous space is now obsolete. Black holes, multiple dimensions, quantum entanglement, and spatio-temporal distortions of relativity have passed into culture at large. This book...

From Spider-Man’s bionic archenemy, Dr. Octopus, to Superman’s nemesis, Lex Luthor, to the X-Men’s eternal rival, Magneto, comic book villains have kept us captivated for years---- not just by their diabolical talent for confounding our heroes, but also by their unrivaled...

This invaluable book provides an introduction to space science. It brings together the various space science disciplines in one volume, and will benefit a wide audience, particularly students starting their graduate studies. The text presents a unique outlook, which will encourage students to think in broad terms across the whole range of...

Making a robot that looks and behaves like a human being has been the subject of many popular science fiction movies and books. Although the development of such a robot faces many challenges, the making of a virtual human has long been potentially possible. With recent advances in various key technologies related to hardware and...