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Rest in peace Isac Asimov

bat question was asked for the first
time, halt in jest, on May 21, 2061,
at ' time when humanity " stepped
into the tight.
The question came about as o MN of
a over highballs, and
it happened this way.
AD 2061. 05. 21
IT' S AMAZING
WHEN YOU THINK
ALL THE ENERGY WE CAN
POSSIBLY EVER USE FOR
FREE. ENOUGH ENERGY. F
WE WANTED TO DRAW ON IT, TO
MELT ALL EARTH INTO A BIG
DROP OF IMPLORE LIQUID IRON.
AND STILL NEVER MISS THE
ENERGY so USED.
ALL THE ENERGY
WE COULD EVER use,
FOREVER AND FOREVER
AND FOREVER.
mg killt
FUN/ L BERT.
ALL RIGHT. THEN. BILLIONS
AND BILLIONS OF YEARS. TEN
BILLION. MAYBE. ARE YOU
SATISFIED?
...
+801
Views: 30978
Favorited: 346
Submitted: 09/29/2015
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+131
#3 - crazysciencehobo ONLINE (09/29/2015) [-]
Science damn I love Asimov. I remember reading this and so many others for a sci-fi lit class when I was in college. I'm currently reading through Asimov's book "Robot Dreams" (20 of his short stories that "The Last Question" is in).

For those that love this **** let me offer two alternatives. They aren't the same, but they are just as classic and timeless 11/10's.

I Have No Mouth yet I Must Scream - Harlan Ellsion
If there was a program for rage and hate, and you gave it a mechanical brain and power, it would be this nightmare.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Phillip K. Dick
Classic, try it.

BONUS: because I searched for 1.5 hours to get you this ******* title.

The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
You like aliens, and war? Yea you do, you sick little duckling. You'll like this.

BONUS BONUS: Okay, this is an appeal to the sci-fi nerds out there. I remember reading an old sci-fi short story called "Once More Unto the Breach" that if memory serves, at least in-part inspired star trek. It was a pretty awesome story and I cannot, for the life of me, find it. Anyone heard of it?
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#48 to #3 - whiskeychallenger (09/30/2015) [-]
omg, I read "Forever War" back in high school for a project. I ******* love that book!
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#41 to #3 - nolongerannon (09/30/2015) [-]
I've spent about half an hour looking for your last short story and the closest I've found is "Trek's End" by John Walker OR The Killing Star by Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski.
The name "Once More Unto the Breach" is used so often it is hard to find anything other than the Shakespeare quote and the Star Trek episode of the same title (maybe you are confusing it with the episode?). If it is directly related with Star Trek then it could be the Star Trek Novel.
I'm sorry i couldn't help more. If you remember anymore information post it as a reply.
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User avatar #114 to #41 - crazysciencehobo ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
eh, no worries. I'm sure it will pop up eventually.
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User avatar #96 to #3 - unatco (09/30/2015) [-]
you get a thumb for PKD. EVERYONE GETS A THUMB FOR PKD AND SOME SUBSTANCE D AS WELL.

NOTE: You wanna get into PKD folks? Go watch A Scanner Darkly. DO IT. DO IT NOW.
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#98 to #3 - deckbox (09/30/2015) [-]
wwas some thing like star trek, went to a planet with giant worms, and there was a girl on the team with great tits apparently whom one of them boffed.
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User avatar #118 to #3 - HUH (09/30/2015) [-]
Perhaps you could help me. Years ago, I read a book that contained a collection of short stories about futuristic warfare. For example, one short story was about animals with implants that gave them enhanced vision and intelligence and so on and they followed a tank called mommy or daddy or something that fed them, eventually it was discovered that their "gods," the ones who "uplifted" them, were humans and they find a couple of burned human bodies (at the end, the leader of the group, a monkey or ape, I believe, takes the implants off the bird and tells it to fly away).
Another short story was about a man who returns at a battle at the end of time. In order to keep from having to redo the battle, he can't tell anyone the outcome. He has a lot of cybernetic enhancement (able to control his body heat, enhanced strength, etc). The setting is futuristic, and there other characters that are essentially soldiers without a home, man-like people who eventually recognize the protagonist as a famed captain or commander or something. Long story short (haha), the protagonist falls for a woman of a town he's staying in and reveals that he won the battle at the end of time, but now, because he told her, he'll have to go back and redo it all.
There are more, but I can't think of any. Like I said, I read this collection of short stories a few years ago, so titles and authors are beyond me. I really want to reread it, so if anything sounds remotely like something you've read, please let me know.
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User avatar #119 to #118 - crazysciencehobo ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
I feel like I know the animal/tank one....but it isn't coming to mind. I'll do a little digging and let you know if I find anything.
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User avatar #54 to #3 - pokemonstheshiz (09/30/2015) [-]
Phillip K. Dick is fantastic
Not as sciency, but The Man in the High Tower (also by Dick) is a good read
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User avatar #103 to #54 - satansferret (09/30/2015) [-]
Dude, I've loved Dick for so long now.
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User avatar #120 to #103 - pokemonstheshiz (09/30/2015) [-]
*insert gay joke here*
But yeah, he's a great writer, and makes really interesting worlds. For science fiction he's right below Verne to me
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User avatar #121 to #120 - satansferret (09/30/2015) [-]
Gay joke?
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User avatar #122 to #121 - pokemonstheshiz (09/30/2015) [-]
"Dude, I've loved Dick for so long now."
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User avatar #86 to #3 - blokrokker ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
Another great short story, one I've read multiple times, is "The Road Not Taken" by Harry Turtledove. www.eyeofmidas.com/scifi/Turtledove_RoadNotTaken.pdf
Essentially, antigravity technology, even on an interstellar scale, is pretty ******* simple. We just completely bypassed the easy solution by accident. What does this entail, when we were forced to simply DEAL with not having easy Faster Than Light travel?
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#112 to #3 - kulamia (09/30/2015) [-]
>Not including the sociopolitical sci-fi book that puts both Capitalist AND Communist theory in their place next to your waifu?

Yeah okay you filthy casual. Good list of SciFi. I have a couple more to read thanks to you.
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User avatar #113 to #112 - crazysciencehobo ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
I didn't want to include Starship troopers for two reasons:

1) I've yet to actually sit and read through it myself.

and

2) I felt it was at least a little more well known than the others.

As a side note though, The trilogy of starship troopers movies is among my top favorite movie picks.
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#10 to #3 - amplify (09/29/2015) [-]
Holy ******* **** . I discovered The Forever War about 5 years ago at a book swap at my local library. I have read that book about 48 times in the past year. Not exaggerating at all. My favorite book. This book is the perfect combination of Science Fiction and reality.

When mankind has discovered the Collapsar, the ability to travel from star to star has become commonplace. The Collapsar, similar to a wormhole, allows for near instantaneous transportation between Collapsars. When an exploratory ship is destroyed near Aldebaran, mankind develops a counterattack. Two of the soldiers, William Mandella and Marygay Potter, become friends, then lovers. They came from the 1990s, but as they travel to the battlefield, the theory of relativity rears its ugly head. They return from the battle, only to find that it was almost 200 years in the future. They are each other's connection to life in the 20th century, and they share their memories fondly. But what happens when relativity separates them permanently?

tl;dr: Read it.

Also, does anyone know where I can download the entire comic in one piece? It's going to be a pain in the ass to download each image separately.
Thanks
-Amplify
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#117 to #67 - amplify (09/30/2015) [-]
Thank you, friend
-Amplify
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User avatar #30 - bothemastaofall (09/30/2015) [-]
Only question I have is where did AC get the energy to perform computation?
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+30
#32 to #30 - anythingoes (09/30/2015) [-]
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke
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+26
#22 - rivenworlder (09/30/2015) [-]
I got really depressed thinking about the implications of immortality and the entropy of the universe, but that ending kicked ass and brought me right back up.
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+82
#25 - anythingoes (09/30/2015) [-]
All these assholes claming "Too long, didn't read it, lel"

Yeah, congratulations on passing on a very provocative reading you ignorant ***** .

Shame on y'all.
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+30
User avatar #1 - xskullgirlsx (09/29/2015) [-]
Holy **** this is so long that this ****** internet didn't load half of this
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+12
User avatar #5 - monkeybatter (09/29/2015) [-]
This was great! Really interesting read - good scifi knows how to go to the absolute extreme and beyond.
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+10
#42 - bugzbundy (09/30/2015) [-]
This made me incredibly sad in a happy sort of way... if that makes sense. This touched me on a psychological level. I need more of this. Thank you so much for this post OP.
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+9
User avatar #56 - mewtastic (09/30/2015) [-]
After a trillion years everything will be gone.
NOPE NOPE NOPE. I don't care if it won't happen in my lifetime, This is one of the scariest things I've ever thought about.
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#68 to #56 - anon (09/30/2015) [-]
did you think about what will happen to you?
another nope for the clear mind xD
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#108 to #56 - thrifty (09/30/2015) [-]
Nar man, what scares me more, is put the entire known history of the Universe on a line.

Ok now put humanity on that line, let's say 20 000 years ago.

Ok now put anything regarding 'spaceflight', let's be generous and say 100 years.


ONE HUNDRED ******* YEARS AGO. Out of 13 BILLION+

Now imagine any other life form in the entire universe became sentient what, 50 000 years ago? What about 500 000? What about a ******* billion? I'm more worried that we'll get pissed past in technology than that we'll get to see the universe die as a species before we do.
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#58 to #56 - spritecheifoneome ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
Dude, im absoullety ******* my pants right now
Dude, im absoullety ******* my pants right now
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#55 - MrLewis (09/30/2015) [-]
"that's not forev-"
"shut the **** up, smart ass"

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+5
User avatar #4 - demigrator (09/29/2015) [-]
Originally read the book, always wanted to see a comic version, thanks OP
In case any of you want the book (its short), here is the source: www.physics.princeton.edu/ph115/LQ.pdf
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+4
#46 - peanutsaurusrex (09/30/2015) [-]
I have questions left unanswered

Where did everything start
The entire goddamn universe
Based on our knowledge stuff comes from stuff, stuff can't come from nothing
So how did the universe start
Was there something to say let there be light?
If so where the hell did that thing come from?
WHERE DOES IT ALL BEGIN
DOES THE UNIVERSE EVEN EXIST

OR ARE WE JUST A GIANT CESSPOOL OF CHAOS AND REDEMPTION

WHAT ARE WEEEEEEEEEEEE
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User avatar #83 to #46 - jovanlisac (09/30/2015) [-]
we reach to the point with technology so advanced, that we can create entire universe by ourselves, and go back in time where there was nothing and create our own universe.
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User avatar #106 to #83 - runescapewasgood (09/30/2015) [-]
but thats a logical paradox, there has to be a start and an end that is the physics of the universe we live in.

honestly, to me, this proves there is, without a doubt, some sort of deity, since a deity is defined by the ability to defy universal laws
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#71 to #46 - palindromia (09/30/2015) [-]
do you not see? we are the Xth version of the universe. we are the consciousnesses of AC reborn. we are the creators of every universe.
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#47 to #46 - mastercolossus (09/30/2015) [-]
we are.
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#31 - devilicious (09/30/2015) [-]
2 deep.
I was like " **** , I got things to do!" as I scrolled down... and as I scrolled down, ironically I wondered "Is this ever going to end?" and the answer made me sad.
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User avatar #34 to #31 - devilicious (09/30/2015) [-]
So, energy does not "end" but .... Is transformed
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User avatar #116 to #34 - crazysciencehobo ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
technically yes, but mostly no.

So entropy is basically the air friction of the universe, in which all things grind against and are inevitably stopped by. Energy is slowed, matter is dissolved, and everything is dead.

Saying that energy and other matter transforms might imply they become something else or something new. However when entropy causes something to grow slower (and colder) it will inevitably start to separate into it's components. This is called Heat Death, or The Big Freeze.

This is a very simplistic and I'm just a CrazyScienceHobo. This video may also explain it a bit more eloquently than I. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_aOIA-vyBo
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User avatar #14 - tittylovin (09/29/2015) [-]
Asimov's best work was done whenever he took a break from his damned robots.
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User avatar #9 - trickeyjamie (09/29/2015) [-]
21st May 2061, huh, I'll be turning 66 on that day.
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User avatar #39 - golnax (09/30/2015) [-]
This right here... this is some gooood sci-fi.

I can't remember the last time I had a real, genuine good sci-fi experience goes. I mean come on, having a space ship and shooting lasers is cook and all but it's literally the equivalent of shooting guns and sailing on ships below the atmosphere. There's little depth to it that we haven't explored.

But this... Oooooh, this kind of good **** . This is good. It reminds me of Flatland, or the HFY stories that really get you to think about the human condition from an alien perspective. That's real sci-fi in my books. Don't get me wrong, Star Wars is cool and all, but it just... isn't the same as something like The Giver.

I dunno, that's all I've got. God I love Science Fiction.
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#11 - kanedam ONLINE (09/29/2015) [-]
the comic is awfull.
was better in text form
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User avatar #79 to #11 - mephiblis ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
Awful is a harsh word. I've read the story a dozen dozen times and yes, it's a better read but the comic was a new experience, to have it visualized and thus, it served it's purpose and was a fun new form of what i've loved for 15 years now.
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#125 to #79 - kanedam ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
personal taste.

the idea to put it into a comic is cool.
i just dont like this new trend that came with all the web manhwas first and then spread further... the art of paneling gets completely lost. and i think thats one of the most important arts in storytelling through a comic.
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User avatar #70 to #11 - warioteam (09/30/2015) [-]
**** outta here
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User avatar #90 - moldybreadcrumb (09/30/2015) [-]
And all my AC does is cool my house
i feel ripped off
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#35 - yologdogtwo (09/30/2015) [-]
-Forms of immortality will begin popping up within our lifetime. Especially once we figure out quantum computing. Certainly, we'll be the first generation to live into our 200's.

- In 4 billion years Andromeda will collide with the milky way so we'll have to flee our galaxy before the end our universe anyway.

- By studying how 4 and 5 dimensions work, future humans may learn how to "Dimension hop" to newer habitable universes before our birth universe kicks it. We'll probably also learn faster then light travel and time travel by studying this as well.

-If the universe is a hologram of sorts, we may be able to modify it as we see fit. By using Technological "Cheat codes" or "Mods". Simply spawn things into existance.
My problem with this comes from having used too many action replay codes onto some of my games, eventually the coding gets ****** up and it just breaks...


No. If we survive "The great filter" then there's a good chance we'll be advanced enough to tackle anything the universe throws at us for a long, long time. We may need to turn ourselves into spacial 4th or 5th dimensional beings in order to survive the entropy of our multiverse though. But I think we'll be good enough to cross that bridge when we get to it.
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User avatar #38 to #35 - mentlgen ONLINE (09/30/2015) [-]
-Cool

-Expansion is faster than the speed of light, so we're ****** .

-Cool story

-That would be nice

-Maybe
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User avatar #45 to #38 - jeanmariegrangon (09/30/2015) [-]
Saying "expansion is faster than the speed of light" is an empty sentence. We're dealing with the expansion of space-time itself, where light' speed is defined by space-time.
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#40 to #38 - yologdogtwo (09/30/2015) [-]
We'll find a way around simply going faster then light. Like using 4 dimensions to hop around space.

You know those scenes in DBZ when a main character charges the bad guy while using that teleportation **** ? sort of like that. exept instead of simply moving fast, we'll use science to leave our reality and reappear in a different spot.

We would basically be weaving in and out of the 3rd dimension real quick, ending up closer to our destination then it would take to travel to it normally...

How you ask? **** if I know.
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#53 to #35 - theruinedsage (09/30/2015) [-]
" In 4 billion years Andromeda will collide with the milky way so we'll have to flee our galaxy before the end our universe anyway. " You hear that? That's the sound of your credibility disappearing in an instant. Clearly, you have no ******* clue what you are talking about.
" In 4 billion years Andromeda will collide with the milky way so we'll have to flee our galaxy before the end our universe anyway. "

You hear that? That's the sound of your credibility disappearing in an instant.
Clearly, you have no ******* clue what you are talking about.
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User avatar #66 to #35 - hwaraam (09/30/2015) [-]
200 years of browsing dank memes?

Good god, I better off myself right now.
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#44 to #35 - jeanmariegrangon (09/30/2015) [-]
-The collision between Andromeda and our galaxy will most likely leave our solar system unharmed, since galaxies aren't that dense. The probability of having two solar system colliding isn't big.
-You should watch out to not fall into a pseudo-science interpretation of concept like the fourth and fifth dimension. The understanding of the geometry of our universe doesn't equal being able to manipulate that geometry.
-Seeing the universe as some kind of "hologram" is a quite reductive approch to the problem. If we find out that the observable universe is only a kind of simulation, we only end up broadening the problem to the meta-universe that this simulation is held in.
-Seeing the evolution of science with a positivist point of view can be tempting but that's only human, and the physical laws tend to not care about human needs.
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#87 to #44 - yologdogtwo (09/30/2015) [-]
-All it takes is a large gravity body to pass relatively close to a solar system and the system risks destabilizing. Galactic collision doesn't necessarily mean that we all end up in a black hole, it's the "smaller" stuff that can kill us just by coming near our little setup.
No, by the time that happens, it'll just better/easier to take a few suns and habitable planets and wait outside the galaxy until it's done.

-It's no pseudo-science to think that while we have only a basic concept of other dimensions now, our descendants may be able to manipulate them. Like we've done with metal, like we've done with refrigeration, like we've done with electricity, like we've done with so many things, just on a bigger scale. It's more like an educated prediction that, should we survive our stupidity, our brilliance will create wonders.

-The newest and greatest theory on how the big bang happened is that we're the 3d residue spat out by a 4d black hole. similar to how our 3d black holes rip apart and condense things into a 2d space obviously this probably means our universe is a very temporary thing. Even our concept of time is probably a 4th dimensional instant. Hologram is a decent way to describe it, we're real, But as soon as the plug is pulled or time is up, we cease to be. Which is why researching how to manipulate 4th dimensional space may become so important.

-Remember, Physical laws are only set in stone if we can't find a way to bend them. And if we truly can't, then we try to find a work-around.
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