Discovery: Telepathy is real - and a problem

Robert Adams and Eva Bailey discover that they are telepaths and, as scientists, need to know how telepathy works. Robert is a mathematical physicist with a consulting business and Eva is a neuro-biologist, working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). They enlist their friends, Selena Bethune, a physicist, Harold Farley, an engineer, Dan Kahn, an organic chemist, and his wife Miriam Larson, a biochemist, all working at ORNL. The group also want to know whether there are other telepaths and if non-telepaths can become telepaths. They expect hostility if the scientific establishment discovers their research too soon, but don’t expect the problems they face from corporate and international sources.

Vindication: Telepathy is real, sexy and lucrative

Robert and Eva are married; Selena and Hal are thinking about it; and Miriam and Dan are going to have a baby. Now, they are working on a series of papers on the biological mechanisms of telepathy and a series on the physics that allows for effective faster-than-light transmission. They have the basics, but need more data to nail everything down. To pay for their research, they form a company they call ΨTech; they are going to market the potion that activates telepathy as a sexual enhancer. As their activities become more public, they receive increased interest from both the Chinese and a commercial espionage firm. Both groups are convinced that there is technology they can steal.

Swift War: Telepathy is real - and a threat to China

The company that Robert, Eva, Selena, Hal, Miriam, and Dan formed, ΨTech, is a financial success and Eva is pregnant. The group has also shown that telepathy is effectively faster than the speed of light and passes directly through the Earth from sender to recipient. One result of a Blue-Ribbon Senate panel is that ΨTech is teaming with ORNL for more ambitious researches. Their Chinese and French adversaries have been foiled but haven’t given up there attempts to obtain ΨTech’s technology. 

Gorillas: Telepathic gorillas and Russian aggression

Eva, Miriam and Dan are investigating the possibility of telepathy in the great apes. Robert, Selena and Hal want to test telepathic transmissions through the earth using satellites. In the practical area, the friends wanted to find some way to block unwanted telepathic messages; they were worried about being nagged by their babies, should they develop telepathic abilities. Since China was defeated in the Swift War, Russia and India are seeing opportunities. And both Russia and India are thinking about finding telepaths of their own. 

Society: Telepathy affects societies

Robert gets involved with military actions involving telepathy in Europe. Eva delves deeper into the biological aspects of telepathy. Miriam continues teaching sign language to the gorillas. Dan works on applications of telepathy in the computer domain. Selena works on applications of telepathy with Hal to investigate the Earth. 

Cultures: Telepathic gorillas discover religion

Now that telepaths are being created in many countries around the world, the impact of the telepaths on the cultures is being felt. Some countries, such as the US, are seeing only moderate effects, in part because of the existence of the Telepathic Society, but China is experiencing disruptions because of the way that the telepathy-inducing process was being implemented. And Father Dave is worried about what he should do if the gorillas ask to be baptized. 

Sciences used and abused:  Physics - ultra-high energy gamma rays, volcanoes; biology - pineal gland, cognitive processing; mathematics - information theory, topology; anthropology; sociology; military science.  For more details on the scientific speculation, see here.

Quantum Magic: Quantum randomness presents opportunities

Ross MacDonald and his postdoctoral friends, George Williams, Carl Wallace, and Frank Davis, were drinking beer in Gatlinburg when he showed them that he could snuff out a candle by thinking at it. The friends accused him of performing magic, but he assured them that it was just quantum mechanics at work. The beer and the discussion were absorbing but when two young women, Chrissy Jones and Brandy Evans, assistant professors at the college in Maryville, joined them, the question of magic was forgotten. Later, after an altercation at a demonstration, they meet Leanne Wallace, Carl’s sister, and Peggy Jackson, both graduate students. However, the organizer of the demonstration has developed a hatred of Ross and continues to pose a serious threat. 

Peggy: Quantum randomness is lucrative

Leanne has graduated with a PhD in physics and now Peggy is graduating with her PhD in English. The group creates a company called Quantum Agents to use their quantum manipulation abilities. Ross and Leanne are getting married; George and Chrissy, Carl and Brandy, and Frank and Peggy are engaged. At the same time, a chemical engineering firm, CEXPro feels threatened by the Quantum Agents’ technology and wants to purchase and suppress it. And the CEXPro president will do anything to stop Quantum Agents from destroying his company with their quantum capabilities. 

Barbara: Teleportation through quantum randomness

Ross and Leanne, George and Chrissy, Carl and Brandy, and Frank and Peggy, have added Dr. Barbara Moore, their computer expert, and Sheila Anderson, their secretary, to the company. They have plans for further investigations of the implications of quantum manipulations, both as applications and in the field of philosophy. However, they are considering defensive applications, as they are also worried about needing more protection against people who want to steal from them and don’t mind hurting them in the process.  FBI Special Agent JJ Johnson is helping with that.  John Smith, a major criminal, who has replaced CEXPro as the principal danger, is considering why his plan for stealing money from Quantum Agents had not worked and what he wants to do about it.  

Brandy: Practical teleportation and Chinese mimicry

Quantum Agents has demonstrated teleportation of rocks from the Moon, in addition to the lucrative commercial applications of quantum manipulations in chemical engineering and reclamation of valuable chemicals from waste. Frank is investigating applications in medicine. Leanne is pregnant and Barbara is discussing marriage with Joe Parker, a doctor she met while skiing in Gatlinburg. Meanwhile, the Chinese are reading the Quantum Agents’ publications and working on developing their own quantum manipulation abilities – or stealing them. 

JJ: Quantum randomness and nuclear attacks

Quantum agents has solved the problem of teleporting living things and has created t-buggies for distance travel. However, they are also planning a teleporting spaceship. Now, Ross and Leanne are preparing to test a pocket-nuke. Carl and Brandy are preparing a major philosophical conference on free will and are thinking about the mind-body problem. Ross and Leanne have a baby and, Chrissy, Peggy, Brandy, and Barbara are all pregnant. And Li Xinshu, the Chinese intelligence agent is learning what happened to his commandos – he isn’t going to be happy. 

Skylark: Quantum space travel becomes a reality

Ross and his company have an operational spaceship, in which they have teleported to the Moon. Now, they are ready to think about building a base on the Moon. However, there is another country that objects to the US having a Moon base. 

Sciences used and abused:  Physics - quantum theory; biology - neural processing, cognitive processing; mathematics - information theory, topology; chemistry; military science; philosophy - free will, mind-body problem.  For more details on the scientific speculations, see here.

Earth: Mathematics leads to a space drive

Dr. Chuck Anderson creates an artificial gravity-well. And with the help of Cathy Hall and her parents, Frank and Dot, and their family yacht-building business, he builds a spaceship. However, the dangers of space are nothing compared to the dangers of drug gangs on Earth. 

Moon: The space drive leads to a Moon base

Chuck and Cathy are married and have fought several battles with a drug cartel. Chuck and Cathy won, but their first spaceship, the Puck, was destroyed. Now, Chuck and Cathy’s company, C&C Space Exploration, is ready to build a new, larger spaceship. Bill and Anna Cooper, scientists at ORNL who are helping with their Moon researches, will be happy to continue research on extraterrestrial bodies when the new spaceship is built. Further, BGen Fred Hughes, who helped Chuck in the final battle with the drug gang, wants to buy a spaceship for testing at the Defense Intelligence Agency. The local drug gang has been demolished, but there are foreign countries who are interested in controlling space. 

Mars: Aliens were on Mars before us

C&C Space Exploration has mounted several expeditions to the Moon in the Puck 2 and has built a Moon base for the US. Now, Chuck is thinking about building a bigger spaceship and exploring the planets of the Solar System, beginning with Mars. He is also considering other applications of the space warp. However, a European company and the Chinese, in opposition to the US, are set on owning the Moon. 

Asteroids: Space wars are matters of minutes

C&C Space Exploration has built a fleet of ships for the US; the US has fought off an attack on its Moon base; and the C&C Space Exploration expedition to Mars in the Puck 3 has discovered evidence of an alien race on the Mars moons. Now Chuck is thinking about an expedition to the asteroids. However, China hasn’t given up its lunar ambitions. 

Jupiter: An FTL hyperdrive changes things

Following the space war with the Chinese, the government wants more C&C spaceships. Opposition from China is quiescent, but Iran is a potential adversary. The commercial installations on the Moon are growing. Moreover, Chuck has invented a faster-than-light (FTL) drive and wants to know if it is safe for humans.  

Colonies: Colonizing the Moon and Mars

The war with Iran has been concluded; however, North Korea is conducting provocative activities. C&C Space Exploration, together with NASA, has explored the moons of Jupiter; they found more evidence of the mysterious aliens. With the FTL drive, Jupiter is as close as next door and the stars are a possible destination. However, before attempting an interstellar trip, Chuck will be investigating the outer planets. While C&C is selling the modules for lunar hotels and other lunar enterprises, it has also begun work on terraforming and colonizing Mars. 

Centauri: The stars are in reach

Now, the planning is underway for a visit to Alpha Centauri, with a fleet of four civilian spaceships and a fleet of five military spaceships. However, several other expeditions within the solar system are planned to take place first; in addition to the scientific value, everyone wants to find more about the mysterious aliens who built tunnels in so many moons of the Solar System. 

Sciences used and abused:  Physics - gravitation, special relativity, orbital mechanics; mathematics - topology; military science; planetary sciences; astronomy; geology; astrogeology; chemistry.  For more details on the scientific speculation, see here.

Jura: An imaginary dimension yields a new planet

Bob Hunter is a new assistant professor in the math department at the University of Tennessee and Suzie Fletcher is a new assistant professor of physics at UT. They are busy with teaching duties, counseling students, and serving on departmental committees. Additionally, they are expected to be working on publishing papers. All of this is completely ordinary for young professors. However, Bob has an idea. He proposed that the imaginary values in common physics actually represented a real dimension, different from the normal length, width, and depth dimensions. Further, he suggested that, if the universe were folded in this imaginary dimension, it might be possible to view distant parts of the universe as if they were next door. Bob and Suzie found this concept so intriguing that they work on it in their spare time. When they succeed, they discover dinosaurs! Their work also brings out criminals who want to use it for their own purposes. 

Jura Colony: Portals lead to big changes

Bob and Suzie’s bombshell paper on creating portals between the Earth and other planets appeared while they were on their honeymoon. As a result of the paper, they are having a growing influence on the other members of their departments while they work on the theory behind the folding of the universe in the imaginary dimension. The couple have also enlisted Pat and Rita Kelly as partners in forming Folded Universe, Inc., to take people on safaris to Jura to take pictures of the dinosaurs. Amidst their theoretical researches and commercial endeavors, they have to contend with both Russian and Chinese aggression. Bob and Suzie are also working on a use for the portals that will totally disrupt the economy if it isn’t implemented properly. They are planning on economic upheaval, but not wars. 

Yucatan: Asteroids can be dangerous

The Russian and Chinese assaults were defeated through the use of portals supplied by Folded Universe. However, there were still spies, seduction, and a war being planned. Folded Universe is now a profitable company. Bob and Suzie Hunter and Pat and Rita Kelly are running safaris on Jura and have helped found a colony on Jura. The Russians have also founded a colony there, where they had previously had a military base. Rita and Pat are running a large University of Tennessee project that is funded by the National Science Foundation to investigate Jura. And the math and physics departments are researching various aspects of the 4-dimensional space that contains the folded universe; Bob and Suzie are leading these efforts. But Jura was just one of the near-Earth planets, so Bob and Suzie picked another planet to investigate. This one contained an abandoned city that was being engulfed by a jungle of vegetation. Accordingly, they named this planet Yucatan.  

Hades: Describing the folded universe is important

Bob and Suzie have completed their second major paper, this one providing the theoretical explanation of the folding of the universe and a predictive map of the folds. Within the university, they are searching for remnants of the population of Yucatan and the planetary scientists want them to find an exotic planet to explore. At the same time, Folded Universe’s implementation of the major air routes with a portal-based system is bringing in a phenomenal amount of money. On the international front, Russia and China have exhausted each other, but Syria’s dreams of forming a Greater Syria are generating a quagmire. 

Settlements: Hunting dinosaurs for trophies can be dangerous

Suzie and Bob have shared the Nobel Prize in physics for their first bombshell paper and are set to give lectures around the country. France, Germany and the UK are all building their own colonies on Jura, bringing the total settlements there to five. Bob and Suzie are worried that trophy hunting for dinosaurs will be instituted and that, in time, the planet’s ecology could be irreparably damaged. On Yucatan, the survivors that Pat had found were now settled into three towns, the subjects of intense anthropological study. At some point, the researchers were going to make contact with the survivors, although how and when were not yet determined. 

Un-named: In preparation

Sciences used and abused:  Physics - curved space; mathematics - topology; military science; planetary sciences; astronomy; anthropology; sociology; geography; geology.  For more details on the scientific speculations, see here.