What is the "university of the sun?"
It's an element in THE DESTRUCTIVES by De Abaitu:
The world economy is disrupted by artificial intelligences,
or emergences as they call themselves. After a few years of
turmoil, the emergences decamp to a superstructure around
the sun. [1]
Ancillary note:
Twenty years after the appearance of the first artificial
intelligence, and humanity is stuck. The AIs or, as they
preferred to be called, emergences have left Earth and
reside beyond the orbit of Mercury in a Stapledon Sphere
known as the university of the sun. [2]
Short story:
A CHIME in his office informed him that the third and final
candidate had arrived for the test. He kept a physical
office in the University of the Sun with a view of the
curve of Istor College, and – as the university drifted
between the sun and the perihelion of Mercury – a veined
sunsky of roiling violet. [3]
What is "three-body?"
the three-body problem is to take the initial positions
and velocities (or momenta) of three point masses orbiting
each other in space and then calculate their subsequent
trajectories using Newton's laws of motion and Newton's
law of universal gravitation. [4]
Does China's computer constellation create a cornerstone for the
university of the sun? If so, will Mandarin Chinese be the university's
mother tongue?
Three-Body Computer Constellation - China is building the
world's first orbital supercomputer network
On May 14, China launched into orbit the first batch of
satellites for its space computing constellation aboard a
Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.
Unlike traditional sensing or communication satellites, those
12 satellites are essentially super computers designed for
space-based data processing and AI applications. They form
part of the Three-Body Computing Constellation that will
compose of 2,800 such satellites/supercomputers upon its
completion by 2028. [5]
Note.
[1]
<
https://www.sffworld.com/2016/04/matthew-de-abaitua-interview-2/>
[2]
<
https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/2016/03/book-launch-the-destructives-by-matthew-de-abaitua/>
[3]
<
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23231041-800-short-story-the-university-of-the-sun/>
[4]
<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem>
[5]
<
https://huabinoliver.substack.com/p/three-body-computer-constellation>
# # #
Original followup:
SFFWorld's interview with De Abaitu on his AI novel _The Descructives_
is excerpted below. Along the way De Abaitu articulates why PKD's one of
my favorites, to wit PKD's "fiction predicts the psychopathy of the
future."
Thanks for giving us your time, Matthew. Your latest novel,
The Destructives, is fresh out from Angry Robot - please,
set the scene for us.
The world economy is disrupted by artificial intelligences,
or emergences as they call themselves. After a few years of
turmoil, the emergences decamp to a superstructure around
the sun. One remains on Earth to study a single human life
from beginning to end, the life of our protagonist Theodore
Drown. Theodore is damaged from his addiction to a drug
called Weirdcore and recovering as a lecturer on the
University of the Moon. He is asked to investigate an
archive of data from before the emergence and within that
archive he uncovers a secret that will take him on an
adventure through the asylum malls of Earth and to a
remote off-world colony - there he will be faced with a
choice that could create a new future for mankind, or
destroy it.
I like the evocative labels you've created for what feel like
semi-familiar social concepts, be they places (like asylum
malls and corporate bloodrooms) or people - the idea of a
"freelance executive" struck me first as ridiculous, but
then after I thought about it as something that, damningly,
already exists. Are these things what they sound like?
Extrapolating new cultures is key to my science fiction,
particularly in The Destructives. I rub our existing
culture against modish concepts from technology,
neuroscience and theories of consciousness to map out
how the self might change. Philip K Dick and JG Ballard
remain relevant because their fiction predicts the
psychopathy of the future; not the toys - the flying
cars or jetpacks - but the states of mind induced by 21st
century life.
https://www.sffworld.com/2016/04/matthew-de-abaitua-interview-2/An excerpt from De Abaitua's _The Destructives_ synopsis:
Theodore Drown is a destructive. A recovering addict to
weirdcore, he's keeping his head down lecturing at the
university of the Moon. Twenty years after the appearance
of the first artificial intelligence, and humanity is
stuck. The AIs or, as they preferred to be called,
emergences have left Earth and reside beyond the orbit
of Mercury in a Stapledon Sphere known as the university
of the sun. The emergences were our future but they
chose exile. All except one. Dr Easy remains,
researching a single human life from beginning to end.
Theodore's life.
One day, Theodore is approached by freelance executive
Patricia to investigate an archive of data retrieved
from just before the appearance of the first emergence.
The secret living in that archive will take him on an
adventure through a stunted future of asylum malls,
corporate bloodrooms and a secret off-world colony
where Theodore must choose between creating a new
future for humanity or staying true to his nature,
and destroying it.
https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/2016/03/book-launch-the-destructives-by-matthew-de-abaitua/Danke,
-- Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.phptelltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. veritas liberabit vostells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.
Does China's computer constellation create a cornerstone for the university of the sun?