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This article lists elements of technology in the fictional Revelation Space universe created by Alastair Reynolds. == Abstraction and entoptics == ''Abstraction'' is the process by which humans with neural implants gain access to wireless data networks, the data rate of which is far beyond anything current technology can offer. The most essential feature of abstraction was political participation in the Demarchy's absolute democracy through near-constant polling. Regardless of a given habitat or citizen's views on implants or abstraction, participation in the polling process was nearly universal. The term "abstraction" itself refers interchangeably to both the ubiquitous wireless computing networks embedded in and controlling most advanced technology, as well as to the human participation in these networks. In ''The Prefect'', for example, automated robots are remote-governed via abstraction, while citizens also use abstraction to engage in esoteric virtual realities and participate democratically. ''Entoptics'' are another feature of abstraction technology and consist of various visual layers interpolated into human sight at some point between the viewer's cornea and visual cortex. These effects can either be created by a single person (e.g., the projection of the appearance of clothing, glowing tattoos, etc.) or an authority (e.g., public visual displays "projected" into mid-air without the use of any actual display devices). While some forms of abstraction, especially those in use during the ''Belle Epoque'', were profoundly immersive and based on wireless networking between sophisticated brain implants and local computer architecture, entoptics by themselves could be technologically quite simple, with convincing visual phantoms being produced solely within ordinary ocular implants, or artificial eyes. The Conjoiners developed the first Entoptics early in their history, used in "Great Wall of Mars". By the time of ''The Prefect'', much of humanity was engaged in abstraction in some form. Most of the characters in Reynolds' novels participate in abstraction through the use of neural implants, though after the advent of the Melding Plague, when complex cybernetics became liable to dangerous infections, many characters choose simply to use entoptics without engaging in the more intimate forms abstraction could take. Others, such as the Prefects of Panoply, a police force charged with defending the universal enfranchisement championed by Demarchists, are explicitly denied access to abstraction implants as part of their job, in order to foreclose potential avenues for the manipulation or obstruction of justice. Instead, Prefects carry with them simple pairs of goggles which simulate entoptics for use in situations where they need to be privy to activity within local abstraction, without having it broadcast immediately into their nervous systems. == Cache Weapons == The Cache Weapons, also known as "Hell Class" weapons, first appeared in ''Revelation Space'' but were built by the Conjoiners some time before the events when that novel begins. The weapons were built based on information believed to have been received from the future via the project Exordium. Concerns about the source of information and the power of the weapons lead the Conjoiners to destroy the knowledge necessary to build additional weapons shortly after construction was completed, and though carefully hidden, they were eventually recovered by a crew of Ultras some years before the events in ''Revelation Space''. Only forty cache weapons were created, and though Clavain and Remontoire speculated on creating more by reverse-engineering the technology, this never occurs in the novels. The weapons are possessed of intelligence at least the level of a gamma level simulation. Sizes vary, but all are approximately sixty to seventy meters long and bronze/green in appearance. The weapons are self-contained (save for targeting data) and self-propelled, with at least an interplanetary range. After being deployed outside the hull of their carrier vessel, their own engines move them to a safe distance while acquiring a target. In the novels it is not entirely clear the degree of independent thought that each weapon is capable of, nor is the degree of security in remote control entirely known. They seem, however, to be fundamentally able to make their own choices about whether or not to fire and whom to target, being able to override the pacification codes the Conjoiners programmed into them (Cache Weapon Seventeen, given its Gamma-level personality, was only ever convinced to fire, no other cache weapon was listed) The power and nature of the weapons varies, and is not fully understood in all cases. The smallest of the weapons seem to have been considerably more powerful than conventional space-borne weapons, and at least one is deemed capable of destroying a planet-sized object from a distance exceeding 100 AU. It is suggested that some of the weapons can have negative effects upon stellar bodies. Their level of sophistication differs widely—the most basic cache weapons appear to be radical extensions of otherwise conventional principles, such as relativistic projectile weapons with antimatter or neutronium ammunition and gamma-ray lasers. Others, however, make use of gravity wave effects and other complex phenomena, with certain weapons even containing microscopic black holes. Once a weapon is programmed to fire, the process cannot be stopped by any method short of destroying it. Some of the weapons appear to be single use, including some deployed in the novel ''Absolution Gap'' (in several cases this is because the weapon destroys itself when firing), while others are at least theoretically capable of being reloaded, though this is never attempted. == Conjoiner Drive == Conjoiner drives are starship engines that use quantum mechanics to propel starships up to relativistic speeds, giving such ships the name "lighthuggers". It is at one point said that Conjoiner drives contain a small wormhole linked to the very deep past, through which they draw their propulsion energies from the Quark–gluon plasma created by the Big Bang. In ''Redemption Ark'', their design is implicated as attracting the Inhibitors, and subsequently modified after a 100-year suspension of their production (referred to in ''Revelation Space''). The Conjoiners did not actually invent the drive themselves, but received the instructions for it via the Exordium. A small part of the workings of the drives is revealed in ''Galactic North''. The drive has six manual control dials that allow the power of the drive to be varied. As the drive power is increased, so does the risk of an uncontrolled, ship destroying explosion. Lighthuggers mount a pair of Conjoiner drives, both of which are controlled by a disembodied Conjoiner brain that performs rapid calculations to control the internal drive reactions. If the turbulence within the drive exceeds the ability of the brain, the drive will explode. The drive is also designed to explode if non-Conjoiners attempt to open it for reverse engineering, or if the gap between two drives on the same ship grows too large. This occurs because the Conjoiner brain is housed within one of the engines and controls the other remotely; once the other drive passes out of the brain's control, the internal reactions quickly spiral out of control. == Cryo-arithmetic engines == Cryo-arithmetic engines are a specific class of quantum computer discovered by the Conjoiners. When certain algorithms are executed on processors of this architecture, it leads to a local violation of the Second law of thermodynamics: the computer gets colder instead of hotter. Consequently, cryo-arithmetic engines have massive industrial (as opposed to computational) ramifications for Conjoiner manufacturing; such engines abound in Conjoiner asteroid factories, where their calculations can drain away the heat of starship construction. Cryo-arithmetic engines are also used by the Conjoiner's modern 'stealthed' lighthuggers; they cool the exterior of the ship to the temperature of ambient space, making the starships difficult for the Inhibitors (or other foes) to detect. Like many of the technologies in the Revelation Space universe, the cryo-arithmetic engines can have potentially catastrophic consequences in the event of an accident. In ''Absolution Gap'', Skade's ship crashes in the ocean of the planet Ararat, and the cryo-arithmetic engines malfunction. Their control systems fail, and so they get colder. Getting colder enables them to calculate faster, prompting a positive feedback loop. By the time the inhabitants of Ararat find the wreck, Skade's ship is encased in an ever-expanding iceberg. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Technology in Revelation Space」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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