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Gaia is a fictional planet described in the book ''Foundation's Edge'' (1982) and referred to in ''Foundation and Earth'' (1986), by Isaac Asimov. The name is derived from the Gaia hypothesis, which is itself eponymous to Gaia, the Earth Goddess. In this fictional universe, Gaia is located in the Sayshell Sector, about ten parsecs (32 light years) from the system Sayshell itself. It orbits a G-4 class star, and has one natural satellite (50 km or 31 miles in diameter). Its axial inclination is 12°, and a Gaian day lasts 0.92 Galactic Standard Days. In its course of settlement, the human beings on Gaia, under robotic guidance, not only evolved their ability to form an ongoing group consciousness, but also extended this consciousness to the fauna and flora of the planet itself, even including inanimate matter. As a result, the entire planet became a super-organism. ==Gaia's powers== Because of the size of the consciousness involved, Gaia's mental powers are significantly greater than those of any other mentalics encountered before in previous books. Where Second Foundationers generally required eye contact to alter emotions, Gaia could detect and alter minds without this constraint within a limited range. Gaia's influence is spread throughout the Galaxy, through a web of agents who are capable of instantaneous communication via hyperspace with the group mind as a whole. Gaia is able to channel the kinetic energy of its matter, a phenomenon Asimov calls transduction. Transduction allowed Gaia to provide limited electrical power, move objects as large as starships, or take over the computer control system of a space vessel. It may also be capable of obliterating large sections of matter, though this ability is never discussed by Gaia; the Solarians (much more powerful transducers) were capable of destroying objects at least as large as space vessels. Gaia's ability to store data does away with information technology. Gaia has no written records; every amount of information is stored in the collective consciousness. Naturally, a good deal of this is stored in humans and other large-brained animals, but some is stored in inanimate objects such as water, geological features, or trees. Historical records are based on the memories of individuals stored forever in the collective consciousness. Any part of Gaia can access these memories directly, as if they were just another part of their own mind. Because Galaxia will also include stars, black holes, uninhabited planets, and cosmic debris, the powers of data storage will be enhanced significantly. One drawback however, is that all historical information prior to the completion of Gaia's collective consciousness has been lost, as they cannot recall a memory that predates them, and early written records were not saved. It is also mentioned that drawing information from inanimate objects, such as a rock, requires more time than from a living organism. Because of the nature of Gaia, natural disasters can be regulated. The collective consciousness can be alerted to an impending volcanic eruption because of the consciousness of the inanimate matter involved, and take the necessary precautions. Likewise, weather can also be carefully controlled. Despite the enormous powers of Gaia, they are a relatively local phenomenon at the time of ''Foundation's Edge''. This is because mentalic effects occur at the speed of light. To have them happen more quickly, Gaia must act through hyperspace, which takes a good deal more energy. However, once Galaxia is accomplished, these problems will be somewhat reduced, because all matter in the Galaxy will be part of Galaxia. Gaians have long names; the longer the name, the higher their status. They are generally addressed by only one syllable of their name, depending on who they are communicating with. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gaia (Foundation universe)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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