IRL
Often used in internet chat rooms, the abbreviation stands for “in real life,” and is typically used by chat room visitors to let someone know that they are talking about something in their actual life, away from the internet world. Can also be used to differentiate between an actor/actress and the character they play.
Iron Age of Comics (1985–present)
An alternate interpretation of the Ages of Comics timeline, in which the Dark Age of Comics (1985–98) and the Modern Age of Comics (mid-1980s–present) are viewed as one era, defined by alternate realities and universes, retroactive continuity (retcons), reboots, and an overall adult (or “serious”) tone.
Iron Man
The comic book brainchild of Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Iron Man first appeared in Marvel Comics’ Tales of Suspense #39 in 1963. The brilliant Tony Stark was fascinated with building and controlling machines from a very early age. At the age of 15, he entered the undergraduate electrical engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and graduated with two Master’s degrees by age 19. At the age of 21, the playboy inherited Stark Enterprises when his parents were killed in a car accident. While taking part in a field test of his military hardware at one of his international plants; Stark’s party was attacked by terrorists. During the skirmish, a land mine went off and lodged a piece of shrapnel near Tony’s heart. Afterward, he equipped one of the battlesuits he had been developing with a magnetic field generator to prevent the shrapnel from reaching his heart. He eventually returned to the US, where his new life was a torment. His armor’s chest plate had to be worn constantly and required frequent recharging. He kept the armor a secret from everyone, including his fiancée. Turning suicidal and drinking heavily, Tony was supported by Joanna, with whom he shared his secret identity. Joanna encouraged him to use his armor as a super hero.
Iron Man appeared in his own cartoon series, which originally aired in 1966, and in Hollywood blockbuster films released between 2008 and 2019, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.
Irrational number
A real number that cannot be exactly expressed as the ratio of two integers (which do not contain fractions). In decimal form, an irrational number goes on forever without repeating any pattern. For example, the number pi, which is typically expressed as “22/7,” is an irrational number, as well as any ratio (fraction) that has 0 as its denominator (except for 0/0), since no number other than 0 can be divided by 0.
Isotope
Any one of the two or more unstable forms (species) of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number (number of protons) and position in the Periodic Table of Elements and nearly identical chemical behavior, but with different number of neutrons (atomic mass) and physical properties. An isotope gives off radiation in order to become stable. Also known as a nuclide, but nuclides actually combine to form isotopes.
Itasha
A Japanese fad that involves decorating a car with paint and/or decals to resemble characters from anime, gaming or manga. Translated from Japanese as “painmobile,” which is derived from the feeling of driving a car around that would typically be very embarrassing.
Ivanova, Cmdr. Susan
The executive officer of the Earth alliance space station Babylon 5 was a dedicated career officer, born on 10 August 2230 in St. Petersburg in the Russian Consortium to a telepathic mother. Susan’s own mild telepathic power (which she was able to keep secret from Psi Corps) afforded her a certain power of suggestion. As an adult, she joined EarthForce, where she first met and worked with John Sheridan. After a few transfers over the years, in 2258, Ivanova was appointed as Jeffrey Sinclair’s first officer on Babylon 5, running the Command & Control section, monitoring the station, and controlling incoming and outgoing traffic. When the situation called for it, she also led Starfury squadrons to defend Babylon 5 and hunt for raiders.
Ivanova commanded Babylon 5 for a six-day period in 2259, between Sinclair’s recall and John Sheridan’s arrival. Sheridan arranged Ivanova’s promotion to Commander shortly after arriving on the station. Her new duties included diplomatic responsibilities, yet she also played an active part in the Shadow War, after which she became the Voice of the Resistance. When Sheridan was captured during the open rebellion against Earth in October 2261, Ivanova took command of the fleet, leading it to several victories against President Clark’s forces. Her last victory was against a group of advanced Earth ships incorporating Shadow technology. She was mortally wounded and sent back to Babylon 5 where she was expected to die. However, Marcus Cole returned to Babylon 5 and used an alien healing device to transfer his energy to her.
As his last act before resigning from EarthForce, Sheridan promoted Ivanova to Captain. Ivanova took command of the Titans, one of the first new Warlock class destroyers, on 1 January 2262 and left Babylon 5 to give herself time to deal with her feelings.
When Babylon 5 was decommissioned, Ivanova, now a general, ordered Marcus Cole’s cryotube shipped to Minbar. After Sheridan’s passing, Ivanova took over his position as Anla’shok Na (or Ranger One), the leader of the Rangers, a position she held for the rest of her life. Shortly before she died, recordings of Ivanova’s memories and neural pathways were created. This image of her mind, known as her Voice, was eventually stored at the Sirius Nine Neural Archives. After her death, Ivanova’s body was interred in Memorial Park in the Minbari capital city of Yedor. Three centuries later, a revived Marcus Cole created a clone of Ivanova and used her Voice to restore her memories up to her injury during the Earth Civil War. He marooned them on an uninhabited paradise world and convinced her that she had merely lost a few weeks of memory as a result of their crash.
Susan Ivanova was portrayed by Claudia Christian for the first four seasons of the TV series Babylon 5 (1994-98), plus an appearance in the series finale.
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