三体, part 2: The Dark Forest, 黑暗森林 (Spoilers for 三体 series)

[phills]

 

I just finished the Dark Forest, and found it to be a great sci-fi book. I know a few people have read it, but didn't see a thread on it.

 

I don't know if I believe the fundamental thesis, but I liked the way he played around with his ideas.  That's classic job of good science fiction, building plausible societies from tech & trends and examining their consequences.  He managed to build 2 plausible but very different near future societies (the 21st century & the 23rd century), dealing with the Trisolaran crisis.

Anyways, I had to look up a ton of tech terms in reading the book, and so I thought I'd share it to save others time.  Not for your regular vocab-list, since you'll probably never use these words in daily life, but if you're a sci-fi fan like me, you can geek out over them   

 

These are only things I looked up and noted, so it won't be complete.  Feel free to add more to the list in reply!

 

Tech / Science:

物理 (Physics)
高能物理 (High energy physics)
化学 (Chemistry)
理工 (Science & engineering)
工程师 (Engineer)
可见光 (visible light)
波长 (wavelength): wavelength of electro-magnetic waves
微观粒子 (microscopic particle)
宏观世界 (macroscopic world)
原子 (Atom)
量子力学 (Quantum mechanics)
量子态 (Quantum state): term from quantum mechanics, when matter is a supposition of quantum waves

坍缩态 (Collapsed state): term from quantum mechanics, when the supposition of quantum waves have collapsed into a determinate state
量子层 (quantum-level)
分子层 (molecule-level)
微子 (Neutrino): Very small particle, smaller than atoms
强互作用力 (Strong Nuclear Force): One of the 4 fundamental forces of nature, along with gravity, electromagnetic force & the weak nuclear force

全息结构 (holographic structure)

邮差问题 (Travelling Salesman Problem): Notoriously difficult computation problem, involving finding the shortest path to visit every city in a set

Tech / Astronomy:

水星 (Mercury)
火星 (Mars)
木星 (Jupiter)
天王星 (Uranus)
海王星 (Neptune)
冥王星 (Pluto): used to be the outermost planet of the Solar System
小行星带 (Asteroid Belt): The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
柯伊伯带 (Kuiper Belt): An asteroid belt in the outer solar system, around the orbit of Neptune.  Beyond the 小行星带.

奥尔特星云 (Oort Cloud): A cloud of dust surrounding the solar system, beyond the Kuiper Belt
天鹅座 (Cygnus): constellation depicted as a swan

天狼星 (Sirius, the Dog Star): brightest star in the night sky

第一宇宙速度 (First cosmic velocity): also known as orbital velocity, minimum speed to orbit [a planet]
第二宇宙速度 (Second cosmic velocity): also known as escape velocity, minimum speed to escape gravity [of a planet]
第三宇宙速度 (Third cosmic velocity): also known as interstellar speed, minimum speed to escape the solar system

太阳风 (Solar winds)

哈勃 (the Hubble): Space telescope from real life, becomes a series of ever better telescopes in the novel

拉格朗日点 (Lagrange point): Special astronomical points near large orbiting bodies, where the gravitational forces are balanced
中子星 (Neutron Star): Large star that becomes very dense due to effect of its own gravity
费米悖论 (Fermi paradox): Theory about alien civilizations associated with Dr. Fermi, nuclear physicist

 

Tech/medicine:

血液肿瘤 (hematological malignancy)
白血病 (leukemia)
爱滋病 (AIDS)
冬眠 (hibernation): or cryo-stasis

神经元 (neuron): human brain cell

 

More next post...

[phills]

Tech / current-military:

航空母舰 (aircraft carrier)
驱逐舰 (destroyers)
潜艇 (submarines)
补给舰 (supply ships)
第一次攻击 (First strike): nuclear first strike
防弹衣 (bulletproof vest)
个人防工? (translated as Civil Air Defense in the English version)
冲锋枪 (submachinegun)
远洋海军 (Blue water navy): i.e. ocean going, rather than just coastal
磁性水雷 (limpet mines): naval mines that uses magnets

潘兴坦克 (Pershing tank): WW2 & Korean war tank
歼击机 (fighter plane)
巡航导弹 (cruise missile)
测高雷达 (radar altimater): radar to determine altitude?
和全球定位功能 (GPS): global positioning satellite
食肉动物无人机 (Predator drone)
地狱火导弹 (Hellfire missile)

 

Tech / current:

微处理器 (microprocessor): computer chip

核磁共振技术 (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI): Scanning tech

摩尔定律 (Moore's law): Guiding principle from the semiconductor industry, that projects computing power to increase exponentially over time
化学动力 (chemical reaction drive): Method of propulsion using chemical reactions, e.g. burning fuel
托卡马克 (Tokamak reactor): Current method for nuclear fusion, from real-life, not as yet feasible

弦论 (string theory): currently one of the most advanced theories of physics
 

Tech / future-tech:

宇宙社会学 (Cosmic sociology): kind of like psychohistory from Asimov, applying sociology & game theory to interactions between civilizations in the universe
智子 (Sophons): Trisolaran technology, sort of a supercomputer, made from a single photon, involving un-folding/folding higher dimensional space
低维展开 (lower dimensional unfolding): something Sophons do, to affect normal space

星舰 (Spaceship)
航天飞机 (Space shuttle): from the real world
空天飞机 (Space plane): plane that flies into space, better than the space shuttle
太空战舰 (Space battle cruisers)

太空城市 (Space city): artificial city in space

星舰地球 (Starship Earth)

近地初级警戒防御圈 (near-Earth primary warning and defensive perimeter)

林格一斐兹罗 (Ringier-Fitzroy): name of a telescope in the book, named after the characters Ringier & Fitzroy
太空电梯 (Space elevator): a system that allows you to ride a cable up to space, allowing cheap movement of people / goods into orbit

赤道基点 (Equatorial base): Base at the equator from which to attach the Space Elevator
油膜 (oil film): precursor material for making space dust, part of Project Fog Umbrella

雾伞丁程 (Project Fog Umbrella)

空间高能物理 (Space based high energy physics): high energy physics, but in space? or studying emptiness?

磁悬浮 (Magnetic levitation)

工质型 (media-based [propulsion engines]): engines that require exhaust materials
无工质聚变发动机 (media-free nuclear fusion drives): nuclear fusion engines that don't require exhaust material
可控核聚变 (Controlled nuclear fusion): endless, cheap energy via nuclear fusion
宏原子聚变 (Macro nuclear fusion): unclear how this is different from regular controlled nuclear fusion?
离子发动机 (Ion drives): method of propulsion using ions (离子)
微子发射系 (Neutrino drive): method of propulsion using neutrinos (微子)
超导体 (superconductors)
常温超导材料 (room temperature superconductors)

引力波 (Gravitational waves)
反重力(Anti-gravity): method of propulsion by manipulating gravity

 

有近炸引信的狙击步枪子弹 (proximity fused sniper bullets)
太空电磁发射导轨 (Space electromagnetic launch rails): a railgun to launch things into space
球状闪电 (Ball lightning): weapon system invented by the author, and explained further in another book.  Creates quantum spirits / ghosts (possible spoiler of his other book).
量子幽灵 (Quantum spirits): Ghosts created by Ball lightning, that can still fight ?!
伽马射线激光 (gamma radiation laser): shoots gamma rays
电磁动能炮 (electro-magnetic railgun / cannon)
星际鱼雷 (stellar torpedos): torpedoes, but in space, like Star Trek
高能粒子束 (high energy particle beam): kinda like a laser, but particles instead of light

声波氢弹 (Sonic Hydrogen Bomb): Uses a nuke to create sonic waves to kill people, but leaves infrastructure intact
 

非冯结构 (non-Von Neumann): computer not based on a Von Neumann architecture (current real world computers are almost all using a Von Neumann architecture, not clear what this would be?)
量子计算机 (quantum computer)
生物分子计算机 (bio-molecular computer)

全息显示器 (Holographic display): displays 3-D images
解析摄像机 (Resolving imager): Futuristic scanning technology

思想钢印 (mental seal): system to lock ideas into a person's brain
 

永动机 (perpetual motion machine): tech not in the novel, just used as descriptor

时空蚀洞 (Time wormhole): tech not in the novel, just used as a descriptor

[Publius]

On 9/6/2021 at 6:54 PM, phills said:

个人防工? (translated as Civil Air Defense in the English version)

Must be 人防, short for 人民防空.

There was a huge wave of 人防工程 projects popping up everywhere in China during the 1970s following Chairman Mao's 深挖洞、广积粮 instruction. Some of the air raid shelters survive till today.

[Jim]

I thought I'd seen "first strike" as 先发 which seems to me closer to the usual meaning in terms of missile use policy, though 第一次攻击 did come up in that context on a search just; also as the more expected meaning (from my POV) as e,g, the first barrage in a conflict (and whether it would be overwhelming).

[Jim]

Also find it interesting that ancients in Europe thought of Sirius as the Dog Star and in China it was canine too. I'd actually not long ago encountered a lot of astronomical terms translating an essay on the history of star-gazing and calendrics, which was fascinating but jam-packed with new vocab. Wonder if other cultures see that same constellation and think dogs if they do?

Also, great to see @Publius posting!