Sierpinski triangle
A fractal based on a triangle with four equal triangles inscribed in it. The central triangle is removed and each of the other three treated as the original was, and so on, creating an infinite regression in a finite space.
Silicon Valley
Encompassing the San Francisco Bay area surrounding Palo Alto, Oakland and other neighboring regions, the home of Yahoo!, Google, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems began in 1939 in a Palo Alto garage. There, Stanford alums William Hewlett and David Packard, encouraged by their professor and mentor Frederick Terman, started an electronics company. Today, that garage is known as “the Birthplace of Silicon Valley.” For the next sixty years, Stanford and Silicon Valley would become a fountain of innovation, from which advances in research and many modern vital companies would emerge to make the region one of most productive high-tech areas in the world.
In 1947, professor William W. Hansen’s electron linear accelerator prototype would inspire the 1948 creation of the first microwave laboratory. Varian Associates built a research and development lab on the edge of campus in 1951 that would become the famed Stanford Industrial Park (now known as Stanford Research Park). In the decade between 1955 and 1965, Stanford embarked on a campaign to build “steeples of excellence,” attracting the world’s most creative students and an overall entrepreneurial spirit.
During the 1960s, not only were two of the university’s most iconic scientific institutions built (the 2-mile-long linear accelerator at SLAC National Laboratory and “the Dish,” a 150-foot diameter radio antenna in the foothills built as a joint venture between the Stanford Research Institute [SRI] and the Air Force), but Professor John Chowning also developed frequency modulation (FM) sound synthesis to digitally generate sounds, leading to the invention of the FM radio frequency and the music synthesizer.
In the early 1970s, professor Vinton Cerf, known as the “father of the internet,” developed with a colleague the transmission control and internet protocols (TCP/IP) that would become the standard for internet communication between computers.
During the 1980s, John Cioffi and his students realized that traditional phone lines could be used for high-speed data transmission, leading to the development of digital subscriber lines (DSL).
In 1991, SLAC physicist Paul Kunz set up the first web server in the U.S. after visiting Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Internet, of course, is central to the story of Silicon Valley. After Stanford alums Jerry Yang and David Filo founded Yahoo!, another pair of Stanford graduates, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, would develop their “page rank algorithm” and launch Google, destined to become the web’s most popular search engine and one of the world’s most influential companies. Other legendary companies with strong ties to Silicon Valley include Intuit and GoDaddy.
Silmarillion, The
Preceding the conception of The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s first Middle-earth novel is the story of that mythical land’s First Age. It tells the ancient histories which set the stage for the world and action in The Lord of the Rings. A labor of love throughout Tolkien’s life, it was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien, with the assistance of fantasy fiction writer Guy Gavriel Kay.
Silver Age of Comics, The (1956-1970s)
Arguably the greatest era in comic book history, The Silver Age emerged around 1956, along with The Atomic Age. The most iconic versions of heroes/characters that we know and love today were almost all established during this period. The heroes changed from deities of magic and mystery to self-doubting and flawed creatures of science. These new space-age characters attracted a new combined audience of children and adults, and the increased readership led to publishers investing in new publishing processes, quality talent, better industry/distribution methods, and these all combined to give rise to better-quality books. More complex stories spanned multiple issues, and in some cases, multiple titles. During this period, DC Comics established the “Multiverse,” in which various Earths and parallel realities co-existed. This concept allowed writers incredible freedom, but also led to inconsistencies and retroactive continuity, or “retcons,” in which continuity mistake were “fixed” by creating new realities. The Silver Age saw Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko refine the “Marvel Method,” a new cooperative way for writers and artists to collaborate together in the creation of stories. At the same time, “underground comics” emerged, directly defying the comics industry. Artists such as Robert Crumb and Dan O’Neill were at the epicenter of anti-establishment comics, creating their own expressionistic art form.
Simon, Joe
Marvel Comics writer, editor, illustrator, and most notably a co-creator of the superhero Captain America during World War II, Simon was born in Rochester, New York on October 11, 1913. He took to drawing at an early age, creating comic strips and cartoons for his high school newspaper and yearbook. After graduating, he worked in the art department at newspapers in Rochester and Syracuse, learning how to retouch photographs and lay out pages. He created cartoons and illustrations for the papers’ sports sections, and drawing athletes turned out to be the perfect preparation for drawing superheroes. He later got a job retouching still photographs of movie stars for Paramount Pictures, and eventually, he began freelancing for glossy magazines, and an editor who admired his work recommended he seek employment in the emerging comics business, which was hungry for artists. He met his longtime partner Jack Kirby in the late 1930s, when they were both working for the comic book publisher Fox Publications.
After the comic book industry waned in the mid-1950s, Simon worked mostly as a commercial artist and in advertising, though he occasionally returned to comics. He founded a satirical magazine called Sickin 1960 to compete with MAD magazine, and was its editor for several years. Simon created or helped to create dozens of characters during the Golden Age of Comics. He was also the first editor of Timely Comics, which evolved into Marvel Comics. Later, as the popularity of superhero tales dissipated after the war and comics sought to branch out into other narrative genres, he and Kirby created a romance comic book, Young Romance, often credited with being the first of its kind. They also created a Western comic for adolescents, Boys’ Ranch, and a horror comic, Black Magic, which was unique for its lack of gore. The pair’s most enduring character was, of course, Captain America, who appeared on newsstands for the first time in December 1940, one year before the United States entered World War II. On the cover, the patriotic symbol of the United States was portrayed delivering a right cross to Adolf Hitler. It was Hitler who provided the impetus for the character. It was Simon’s idea to put Hitler on the cover as the villain. Simon and Kirby produced ten issues of Captain America for Timely before they ran afoul of the publisher and were fired. They moved to Detective Comics (later DC Comics), but Captain America stayed at Timely, which would become Marvel Comics. In 2003, Simon and Marvel reached an agreement that granted him royalties for merchandising and licensing of the character, and ensured that he and Mr. Kirby would be recognized as the creators of the character. Simon passed away on December 14, 2011 at his home in Manhattan. He was 98. He is survived by five children and eight grandchildren.
Simpson, Bart
America’s favorite troublemaker Bartholomew Jojo Simpson got an early start: only seconds after he was born, he lit his dad Homer’s tie on fire. Since making it to grade school, Bart spends a lot of time in detention and writing sentences on the blackboard, much to the satisfaction of Principal Skinner. When Bart isn’t in school or at home, he’s finding other ways to amuse himself. Bart suffers from a lack of ambition, something made abundantly clear by his goal to become a “drifter” when he grows up. Along with a few of his family members, cartoonist Matt Groening’s Bart Simpson premiered in a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987, and the clan’s antics became a regular feature. After Ullman’s show was canceled, the Simpsons got their own spin-off series, which premiered on Fox in 1989.
Sindarin
See Eldarin.
Sinestro
Cold, arrogant and harsh, Thaal Sinestro will do whatever it takes to preserve order in the universe, a trait that eventually got him expelled from the Green Lantern Corps. He is also a master strategist and manipulator. Originally an anthropologist from the planet Korugar, Sinestro had a natural affinity for order as displayed by his meticulous reconstructions of ancient ruins. It was at one of these reconstructions that Prohl Gosgotha, a wounded Green Lantern, crash landed. He gave his ring to Sinestro, who barely defeated the Lantern’s pursuer at the cost of the very ruins he had restored. When Gosgotha requested his ring back after the battle so that it might keep him alive, Sinestro instead allowed him to die and took his place. Unaware of his actions, the Guardians allowed Sinestro to become the Green Lantern for sector 1417. As villainous as he is, Sinestro does have his good traits, such as genuinely caring for his daughter and wanting to bring order to the universe.
Sinestro was the finest officer in the Green Lantern Corps. He was respected by his fellow Corpsmen and the Guardians for having a near-perfect space sector. However, during the “Emerald Dawn II” story arc, Sinestro undertook an apprentice named Hal Jordan, after the death of the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 Abin Sur. Sinestro was disgusted by most of Jordan’s tactics in keeping order and had virtually no tolerance for him. He completely disregarded the lives of criminals on Earth and would have easily murdered countless imprisoned felons, if it was not for Jordan. Not too long after showing the new Green Lantern the basics of wielding a Power Ring, Sinestro had to return to his sector. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to bring Hal with him.
Upon his death, Sinestro transferred his mind into the green central power battery and deactivated it, cutting off the entire Green Lantern Corps from their power source. Hal Jordan entered the power battery in an attempt to restore the powers of his fellow lanterns. He was able to defeat the spirit of Sinestro and leave him trapped and powerless inside the battery, with the goal being to keep him there for all eternity. However, Sinestro had one more trick to play on his nemesis. He was able to “infect” Jordan with the parasite Parallax, the source of the Green Lantern’s weakness against the color yellow. When Hank Henshaw and the alien warlord Mongul laid waste to Hal Jordan’s beloved Coast City and all of its inhabitants, Jordan was driven mad with grief, allowing the Parallax entity to possess him and led him on a rampage that decimated the Green Lantern Corps and left most of the guardians dead. In a desperate bid to stop him, the remaining guardians freed Sinestro from the central power battery. Jordan defeated Sinestro, snapping his neck, but this Sinestro was only a hard light construct, operated by the real Sinestro still trapped inside the battery. When Hal destroyed the power battery and absorbed most of its energy into him, Sinestro was able to escape and went into hiding. He came out of hiding after the existence of Parallax was revealed, culminating in the return of Hal Jordan from the dead. Sinestro was forced to retreat into the anti-matter universe when his ring became damaged in the fight.
Sinestro was created by John Broome and Gil Kane at DC Comics as an enemy of Hal Jordan and the entire Green Lantern Corps. He first appeared in August 1963 in the comic Green Lantern #7. In the 2011 motion picture Green Lantern, Sinestro was portrayed by actor Mark Strong.
Singh, Khan Noonien
One of Earth’s most notorious dictators in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, Khan was a genetically-bred “superman” who rose to power in India of the late 1990s. At his most powerful, he held dominion over 25% of the planet. When the people rebelled against the genetic supermen, Khan and a small party of his kind had themselves sent into space aboard the Botany Bay, where they remained in suspended animation until the year 2267, when they were awakened by James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Khan’s story was originally told in the February 16, 1967 Star Trek episode “Space Seed,” featuring Ricardo Montalban as Khan. With his fellow survivors and awed crewmember Marla McGivers at his side, Khan attempted to seize the starship. When that attempt failed, he and his people were sentenced to be transported to the wild M-Class world of Ceti Alpha V, which Khan took as a personal challenge.
As seen in the motion picture Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, six months after being left on Ceti Alpha V, the star system’s sixth planet exploded, and the shockwave wreaked havoc on Ceti Alpha V’s ecosystem, turning it into a desert wasteland. Holding Kirk personally responsible for not checking on the group’s progress, as well as the subsequent death of McGivers, who had become his wife, Khan (a role Montalban reprised) set out to exact revenge. Inevitably, though, Khan was again defeated, shouting his defiance at the moment of his death.
In the reboot film Star Trek Into Darkness, Khan is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch as a man driven by revenge, but not against Kirk. Kirk and Khan meet under altered circumstances, but in the end, Khan again rages against Kirk, and Kirk defeats his plot.
Singularity
A theoretical one-dimensional point in the center of a black hole, a gravitational singularity contains infinite mass in an infinitely small space, where gravity becomes infinite, space-time curves infinitely, and the laws of physics as we know them cease to operate. As the eminent American physicist Kip Thorne describes it, it is “the point where all laws of physics break down.” Current theory suggests that as an object falls into a black hole and approaches the singularity at the center, it will become stretched out or “spaghettified” due to the increasing differential in gravitational attraction on different parts of it, before presumably losing dimensionality completely and disappearing irrevocably into the singularity. However, an observer watching from a safe distance outside would have a different view of the event. According to relativity theory, they would see the object moving slower and slower as it approaches the black hole until it comes to a complete halt at the event horizon, never actually falling into the black hole. Although an observer could send signals into a black hole, nothing inside the black hole could ever communicate with anything outside it, so by its very nature, it does not seem likely that we will ever be able to fully describe or even understand a singularity.
Sirens
Beautiful but dangerous creatures in Greek mythology who, with their beautiful songs, lured sailors to their doom, causing ships to crash on the reefs near their island. They were the daughters of the river god Achelous, and their mother may have been Terpsichore, Melpomene, Sterope or Chthon. Although closely linked to marine environments, they were not considered sea deities. Sources provide different opinions as to their number and their names; some mention two or three, while others mention more. The Sirens were probably considered the companions of Persephone, daughter of goddess Demeter. The latter had given them wings in order to protect her daughter; however, after Persephone’s abduction by Hades, Demeter cursed them. The Sirens’ song is said to have been a beautiful, yet sad melody, eternally calling for Persephone’s return.
The Argonauts encountered the Sirens, but successfully evaded them; Orpheus, who was on board, started playing his lyre so beautifully that the music completely drowned the Sirens’ song. Another well-known encounter is that described in Homer’s Odyssey; Odysseus, advised by Circe, plugged the crew’s ears with wax and ordered them to bind him on the mast of the ship. He also told them that no matter how much he begged, they should not untie him. When they passed near the Sirens’ island, Odysseus started begging his shipmates to let him go, but none heard him; instead, they tied him even more. After they passed, Odysseus let them know that they were now in safe waters.
Sisko, Capt. Benjamin
The central character of the 1993–99 television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Benjamin Lafayette Sisko was (or, indeed, will be) born in the year 2332 in New Orleans. During a remarkable career involving several historic incursions, Sisko led the Starfleet contingent onto the Bajoran-owned station Deep Space Nine in 2369. While at DS9, he helped discover a Bajoran wormhole, as well as making first contact with its builders, known as “the Prophets.” He was prophesied to be Bajor’s Emissary, a religious icon, and millions of Bajorans knew him as such. Sisko also made first contact with the Dominion from the Gamma Quadrant, as well as with the Jem’Hadar.
In 2371, Sisko was given command of the experimental starship U.S.S. Defiant to beef up DS9 defenses. Two years later, he spearheaded a Federation-Klingon alliance in order to face the Dominion, commanding the Defiant (a starship which Sisko himself designed) during several months of front-line fighting. The following year, he led a task force to recapture Deep Space Nine, and was involved in persuading the Romulan Empire to join the Alliance. He led an invasion force to liberate the Chin’toka System from the Dominion, and was awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor. In 2375, he commanded the Defiant in battle against the Breen, but was forced to abandon ship upon its destruction. Sisko was subsequently assigned command of U.S.S. Sao Paulo, which would later be renamed Defiant. Along with Adm. William Ross and Chancellor Martok, he led an offensive against Cardassia, which ultimately effected the surrender of the Dominion to end the war.
Sisko did have a temper and was known for his stubborn independence, but also risked his life on more than one occasion in the line of duty, including the retrieval of the Defiant when stolen by the Maquis, and his decision to destroy the Defiant rather than let it start another war.
Sisko met his future wife Jennifer on Earth following his Starfleet Academy graduation in 2354, but while serving on the Saratoga in early 2367, Jennifer was killed during the battle of Wolf 359, which pitted Sisko against Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, who had been assimilated by the Borg at that time. Still reeling from his wife’s death, Sisko took the DS9 post without conviction, only to face Picard again, this time at a rather awkward send-off.
Sisko was able to meet a hero of his – one Capt. James T. Kirk – after the accidental use of the Bajoran Orb of Time put him in the Old Earth year 2267, aboard Kirk’s Enterprise. Unlike Kirk and Picard, however, Sisko is a family man: a widower and father to son Jake, who was eleven years old when his father grudgingly accepted the Deep Space Nine assignment.
Throughout his Academy and Federation command years, Sisko was a close acquaintance with the Trill symbiont called Dax. Dax entered Sisko’s life three times in three different hosts: as Curzon Dax, he was a mentor and friend; as Jadzia Dax, a colleague and confidant aboard DS9; and as Ezri Dax, a DS9 crew member, coming aboard as the station’s counselor.
Sisko’s record shows his last official status as “missing in action.” He was last witnessed departing alone to Bajor, reportedly to “fulfill his destiny.” His abandoned runabout was later found in orbit over Bajor, but Sisko was not aboard, and he was never located, either alive or dead (though his wife reported that he contacted her in a vision, claiming he had “joined the Prophets” and would return at some unknown time).
Sisyphus
In Greek mythology, the mythical founder and first king of Corinth, or Ephyra, as it was called in those days. He was a cunning trickster, known for his abilities to deceive gods and humans alike. He was also known as a murderer in his own kingdom, as he would often entertain himself by killing travelers to his city. Sisyphus was condemned to Tartarus, the deepest, darkest level of the Underworld, by Zeus. There, he managed to fool Thanatos, the demon responsible for death (or in some versions, Hades himself) by asking him to try out his chains to show him how they worked. When Thanatos did, Sisyphus secured him in place. When his prisoner was finally released, Sisyphus was ordered summarily to report to the Underworld for his eternal assignment. The consequence of his imprisonment was that mortals could no longer die. This obviously upset the normal order of things, and especially upset Ares, god of war, who intervened and released Thanatos. Sisyphus was then deemed guilty of hubris in his belief that he could outsmart the gods, but the wily one had another trick up his sleeve. Sisyphus had told his wife not to bury him, and then complained to Persephone, queen of the dead, that he had not been accorded the proper funeral honors. As an unburied corpse, he had no business on the far side of the river Styx, as his wife hadn’t placed a coin under his tongue to secure passage with Charon the ferryman. Persephone assented, and Sisyphus made his way back to the surface, where he stayed for another good stretch of time; but even this paramount trickster could only postpone the inevitable. Eventually, he was hauled down to Hades, where his indiscretions caught up with him. For a crime against the gods (the specifics of which are variously reported), he was condemned to an eternity at hard labor: as punishment, he was condemned to spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill. Each time the boulder would near the summit, it would roll back down to the bottom. Sisyphus would then be forced to repeat his task.
“Skinjob”
Derogatory term for a replicant, as seen in Blade Runner, the 1982 motion picture version of the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Skinner, Rodney
Representative of H.G. Wells’ “Invisible Man,” Skinner was a character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film), the cinematic adaptation of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (graphic novel series). Although the invisible man in Wells’ novel was only referred to as “Dr. Griffin” with no first name, and in the graphic novels as “Hawley Griffin,” the studio could not get legal rights to use the name “Griffin” for their invisible man, so they changed it to “Skinner,” the name of Griffin’s landlord in the novel.
Skyrim
The fifth game in the “Elder Scrolls” line of role-playing games (RPGs), Skyrim features many different classes of avatars: elves, orcs, humans (“nords”), and even lizard-like people. A player can make all of his or her own armor, as well as weapons, which can include bows, maces, axes and more. A player takes on quests, which can range from extremely easy to very difficult.
Slag code
See Logic bomb.
“Slasher”
See Sabretooth.
Sleestak
Reptilian biped creature, featured in the 1974-76 Sid &Marty Kroft Saturday morning live-action series Land of the Lost as being present during the prehistoric period. The mysterious mute beings would regularly torment the 20th Century Marshall family, who had been thrown back in time.
Smartphone
A cellular telephone that features advanced functions beyond those of a simple portable phone. In addition to making calls and sending text messages, a smartphone may include such features may include cameras and photo storage, video recording and playback, accessibility to the internet and e-mail, and the ability to run a host of downloadable applications.
Smigel, Robert
Born February 7, 1960, the New York native comedy writer is one of the longest-lasting writers in Saturday Night Live’s history, on staff since 1985. Some of his parodies and sketches include “Superfans,” “The McLaughlin Group” and the “TV Funhouse” series of cartoon shorts. Smigel has also written for The Dana Carvey Show (1996) and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. As an actor, he has had bit parts in such comedies as Wayne’s World 2 (1993) and quite a few Adam Sandler movies, including Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Little Nicky, and more dramatic Punch-Drunk Love. His puppet character “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” (for which he does the puppeteering and the voice, as well as the writing) has transcended its original arena of Late Night, and appeared in such venues as Christmas specials and award shows, and even put out a comedy album. Some of Smigel’s best-received work has been in animation. Appearing in tiny bursts on cable and late-night programming, his short cartoon bits include “The Ambiguously Gay Duo,” co-created with comedian Stephen Colbert, and “Fun With Real Audio.” Smigel eventually had enough bits to launch a whole TV Funhouse show on Comedy Central, for which he acted as creator, executive producer and voice actor. Aired in eight episodes from 2000-2001, the show was a comedic blend of live-action, puppetry, and animation. Smigel is also a voice on cable’s Crank Yankers and a writer of many television specials.
Sniglet
Debuting in 1983 on the HBO comedy series Not Necessarily the News, sniglets are “words that aren’t in the dictionary, but should be.” Examples of sniglets are:
disconfect – v., To sterilize the piece of candy you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, somehow assuming this will remove all the germs.
elecelleration – n., The mistaken notion that the more you press an elevator button, the faster it will arrive.
funch – v., To turn a pillow over and over on summer nights, trying to find the cool spot.
hereoglyph – n., The little stick figure on a mall directory that tells you where you are in a mall, often accompanied by the words “You Are Here.”
Created by comedian Rich Hall, a Not Necessarily cast member, sniglets became a pop culture fad throughout the 1980s, with viewers of the show inventing and sending in new sniglets to be added to the growing list. The fun “new words” appeared in the paperback collections Sniglets (1984), More Sniglets and Sniglets for Kids (both published in 1985), Unexplained Sniglets of the Universe (1986), Angry Young Sniglets (1987), and When Sniglets Ruled the Earth (1989). Also in 1989, a board game simply titled The Game of Sniglets was released.
Snow, Jon
A central character in the 2011-18 HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Jon Snow is raised by his father Lord Eddard Stark, but knowing that he is a bastard and not in line to inherit anything from his father, Jon feels like an outsider. Unsure of his position, Snow chooses to join the Night’s Watch. Proving his bravery and skills as a tactician there, he rises to the highest position of Lord Commander. He leads the defense when the Wildlings attack, fending off giants and woolly mammoths. After defeating Ramsey Bolton, he is made the King in the North. Despite his Night’s Watch oaths, he would love and be loved, and he would come to know loss, as well. Eventually, his true identity and inheritance would come to light.
Throughout the run of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow was portrayed by Christopher Catesby “Kit” Harington.
Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA)
An international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the skills, arts and activities of pre-17th Century Europe in live-action role-playing events. What the Society considers its “Known World” consists of 20 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which typically feature tournaments utilizing foam weapons, royal courts, feasts, dancing, as well as various classes and workshops.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
A software distribution and delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely over a network, typically the internet. Software as a Service allows organizations to access business functionality at a cost typically less than paying for licensed applications since SaaS pricing is based on a monthly fee. It also removes the need for organizations to handle the installation, set-up and often daily upkeep and maintenance.
Southdown Abbey
An abbey on the planet Persephone in the Firefly universe, where Shepherd Derrial Book resided prior to coming aboard the Serenity.
Space: 1999
Due to Star Trek’s immense popularity following its 1970s syndication, television producers and audiences discovered a renewed interest in science fiction. One result was this 1975-77 British series, which debuted in the U.S. on October 17, 1975. According to the show’s premise, in the then-distant year of 1999, the Earth’s moon hosts Moonbase Alpha, which not only carries on scientific research, but also watches over a huge nuclear waste dump on the far side of the moon. When a colossal thermonuclear explosion occurs, the moon is ripped from its orbit, and sent hurtling through space. The 311 stranded crewmembers face dynamic adversities as they search for a new home. The series, which was heavily influenced by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, was produced by Sylvia and Gerry Anderson (of Thunderbirds fame). Space: 1999 starred Mission: Impossible alums (and, at the time, married couple) Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, as well as The Fugitive’s Barry Morse.
Speech recognition software
See Voice recognition software.
Speed of light
Physical and mathematical constant, abbreviated c in most equations, representing the speed at which electromagnetic radiation spreads in a vacuum. The common value given to this constant is 299,792,458 meters per second.
Speed of sound
The velocity at which audio vibrations travel from a source to a receiver. While the speed of a given sound is affected by temperature, pressure and humidity to some extent, it is an accepted value that in dry air at sea level at 0 degrees Celsius, the speed of sound is approximately 331.4 meters per second.
Spider-Man
In 1962, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was looking for an original idea for a new superhero. As there was a recent surge in teenage demand for comics, Lee decided to create his new hero Spider-Man as a character with whom teens could identify. Supposedly inspired for the concept after he observed a spider climb up a wall, Lee first had to convince publisher Martin Goodman to introduce Spider-Man as a filler story in the last issue of the canceled anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy. He next approached legendary artist Jack Kirby for an initial character design, but was dissatisfied with Kirby’s submission, as the character turned out to look too much like an adult hero. Lee then turned to Steve Ditko, who developed the now-iconic look of Spider-Man, and the new superhero appeared in Amazing Fantasy # 15 (with the Adult removed from the title in an attempt to attract more teenage readers) in August 1962. This debut soon led to an ongoing comic series that began with The Amazing Spider-Man, debuting in March 1963.
Having a teenage main character was a radical departure from the mainstream comics of the day, as teenage characters had been typically relegated to sidekick status beside older, more experienced heroes. The gamble paid off, and young readers responded powerfully to high school student Peter Parker, prompting an ongoing title and ultimately, a media empire that would include video games, several animated and one live-action television series, a live-action film franchise, and even a Broadway musical.
Born to CIA agents Richard and Mary Parker, Peter Benjamin Parker was orphaned at a very young age and raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May in Forest Hills, New York. As a high school student, Peter attended a science exhibition on radiology. There, he was bitten by a radioactive spider, and this bite granted him the proportionate strength, stamina and agility of a spider (including the ability to cling to any surface with his hands and feet), as well as a “Spider-Sense” that warned him of any nearby danger.
To test his newly acquired abilities, Peter entered into a wrestling challenge in a homemade “Spider-Man” costume and easily won. Backstage, he witnessed a burglary but did nothing to stop the thief. Upon learning that someone had broken into his home and murdered his Uncle Ben, Peter pursued and defeated the culprit, who turned out to be the same thief he did not detain earlier. With this, he sadly learned that “with great power comes great responsibility,” which became a theme throughout the Spider-Man series.
Spider-Man quickly became a central Marvel hero, interacting (and sometimes exchanging blows) with such formidable Marvel heroes as the Fantastic Four, that group’s Human Torch (another teen hero), Daredevil and the Incredible Hulk, and he was also featured in his own animated TV series from 1967 to 1970. “Spidey,” as fans have come to call the character, also quickly developed a colorful, soap-opera-worthy supporting cast, including the vocally anti-vigilante Daily Bugle newspaper editor-in-chief (and later owner) J. Jonah Jameson Jr., girlfriend Gwen Stacy (to be replaced later by Mary Jane Watson, following Gwen’s untimely death, as covered in issues through the summer of 1973), and such costumed adversaries as Dr. Octopus (or “Doc Ock”), the Sandman, the Green Goblin and Kraven the Hunter.
Peter’s Spider-Man outfit includes wrist-worn web-shooters (Peter’s own invention) that emit lines of synthetic “webbing” capable of supporting great weight with a high degree of holding power. In addition, the suit features various optical functions, a voice changer, a drone-tracking device, and some degree of protection against outside elements.
When not fighting crime, Parker is also noteworthy as a comics character in that he battles everyday problems such as personal and financial challenges. For many years, Peter earned the money he needed to keep his aunt alive by selling freelance photos of Spider-Man in action (taken with an automatic camera, usually webbed to a wall) to an unsuspecting Jameson. Although Parker’s earnings are barely sufficient to make ends meet, he generally approaches life—and crime fighting—with an upbeat attitude and a sly sense of humor, even in the midst of battle.
Spider-Man became a fast-expanding franchise which featured frequent cross-over adventures with other Marvel characters. These popular tales led to the bimonthly title Marvel Team-Up, which began in March 1972 and ran for 150 issues. The debut issue teamed Spider-Man with the Human Torch, and the series eventually paired him with nearly every high-profile character in the Marvel universe before it was replaced by the Web of Spider-Man monthly series, which started in April 1985. Also during the 1970s, the monthly comic Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (later shortened to The Spectacular Spider-Man) ran for 263 issues beginning in December 1976. One notable event of this era took place in ASM Annual no. 21 (1987), in which Peter Parker and Mary Jane were married.
The Spider-Man Marvel series, launched in August 1990, showcased the writing and illustrations of Todd McFarlane, whose eye-grabbing style drew unprecedented fan attention. The first issue of Spider-Man also inaugurated Marvel’s now-common practice of releasing a single comic book with multiple covers, a marketing maneuver that arguably appealed more to collectors than to casual readers. Nevertheless, that issue sold more than three million copies around the world. Also noteworthy, The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 2, no. 36 (published in December 2001), written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by John Romita Jr., dealt with Spider-Man’s reactions to the September 11 World Trade Center attacks. Gaining national media attention, Spider-Man sees the non-superpowered police and fire personnel who risked (and in many cases, lost) their lives during the catastrophe as the real heroes of the day. The carnage of 9/11 forces Spider-Man to confront the limits of his abilities to thwart evil.
Writer Dan Slott rehabilitated the wall-crawling hero after the disastrously received 2007 story line “One More Day,” which featured Spider-Man engaging in a deal with the devil that erased his marriage to Mary Jane from comics continuity.
The momentum that Spidey gained in the comics pages was also reflected in Hollywood. After resolving a host of legal issues that had previously prevented its production, Sony brought Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, to the big screen in May 2002. Critics adored the film, and it eventually earned more than $800 million worldwide. Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007) proved equally successful. Director Sam Raimi, who helmed the trilogy, bowed out after the third film.
Spider-Man’s Broadway debut was somewhat less auspicious, as Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark was plagued with problems. U2 members Paul “Bono” Hewson and Dave “The Edge” Evans wrote the music and lyrics, and the original show was directed by Julie Taymor, who had overseen the spectacularly successful Broadway production of Disney’s The Lion King. Exasperated by the repeated postponements of the official opening, theatre critics reviewed the show anyway, with most panning it. Taymor was forced out, and playwright and Marvel comics writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was brought in to collaborate on revisions to the script. The musical finally opened in June 2011; the critics’ reviews were still mostly negative, but the show, nevertheless, remained popular with audiences.
The Spider-Man film series underwent a “reboot” for The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Marvel, which had been purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2009, developed its own successful franchise of superhero films under the banner of the “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” but existing licensing agreements precluded the use of Spider-Man. That impasse was resolved in February 2015 with a unique deal between Disney and Sony that allowed the character to appear in films produced by either studio. Tom Holland made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the third act of Captain America: Civil War (2016) as the protégé of Iron Man alter ego Tony Stark. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) traced the slow and often painful transformation of a Queens high-school student into a superhero, and Holland’s Spider-Man returned to the screen in the blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
Aside from Maguire and Holland, Peter Parker/Spider-Man has been portrayed on the television screen by Nicholas Hammond in the 1977-79 television series The Amazing Spider-Man, and in movie theaters by Andrew Garfield in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man and 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Spirited Away
The first anime film to be nominated for and win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, this 2001 full-length film was written and co-directed by Hayao Miyazaki and co-directed by Kirk Wise, with art direction by Yoji Takeshige. The mysterious and emotional film, originally titled Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, was produced without a script, as Miyazaki developed the plots for all of his films while creating them on the storyboard. “It’s not me who makes the film,” he stated. “The film makes itself and I have no choice but to follow.” The plot follows Chihiro, a young girl who stumbles upon a supposedly abandoned theme park, which turns out to be a town inhabited by demons, spirits, and evil gods. Chihiro learns that she must work to free both herself and her parents from the mystical land.
Spock
Spock is a character from the original Star Trek science fiction television series (1966-69) created by Gene Roddenberry. Spock, an alien from the planet Vulcan, served aboard the starship U.S.S. Enterprise throughout the series, as first officer and science officer under Captain James T. Kirk. Vulcans live under the disciplines of pure emotionless logic, yet Spock, who was half-human, waged many inner battles between his logical mind and his silenced emotions.
In several television and motion picture series, Spock was portrayed by Leonard Nimoy. In the rebooted theatrical series that began with the film Star Trek in 2009, Spock has been portrayed by Zachary Quinto.
Spoiler
Unknown information which, if revealed before someone can learn it for themselves, would possibly ruin an otherwise entertaining experience. For example, revealing the identity of a murderer in a mystery novel before someone has read it.
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