The Monolith
Encyclopedia
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
s built by an unseen extraterrestrial species
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
that appear in Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's Space Odyssey series of novels and films.
During the series, three monoliths are discovered in the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
by humans and it is revealed that thousands if not more were created throughout the solar system, although none are seen. The subsequent response of the characters to their discovery drives the plot of the series. It also influences the fictional history
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of the series, particularly by encouraging humankind to progress with technological development
History of technology
The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques, and is similar in many ways to the history of humanity. Background knowledge has enabled people to create new things, and conversely, many scientific endeavors have become possible through technologies which assist...
and space travel.
The first monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
appears in the beginning of the story, set in prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
times. It is discovered by a group of hominids, and somehow triggers a considerable shift in evolution, starting with the ability to use tools.
The nomenclature TMA
The first monolith to be discovered in the modern age was unearthed on the Moon near Tycho CraterTycho (crater)
Tycho is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe . To the south is the crater Street; to the east is Pictet, and to the north-northeast is Sasserides. The surface around Tycho is replete with craters of various sizes,...
after it emitted a powerful magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
that was detected and investigated. It was called the Tycho Magnetic Anomaly 1 ("TMA-1") before the monolith was discovered. After this is discovered to be an alien artifact, its name becomes the "Tycho Monolith Anomaly 1" (still TMA-1). Soon afterward, a second, larger monolith was discovered orbiting Jupiter; it was dubbed "TMA-2". A few centuries in the future, a third monolith is discovered that is buried on Earth in rocks that were clearly millions of years old, and it is surrounded by primitive human artifacts. This one is retroactively named "TMA-0" (as opposed to "TMA-3") because it had been the first monolith to be discovered by men-apes during prehistoric times.
The term "Tycho Magnetic Anomaly" is something of a misnomer
Misnomer
A misnomer is a term which suggests an interpretation that is known to be untrue. Such incorrect terms sometimes derive their names because of the form, action, or origin of the subject becoming named popularly or widely referenced—long before their true natures were known.- Sources of misnomers...
when referring to "TMA-0" and "TMA-2", since neither of these is found on the Moon (let alone in Tycho Crater) and neither one of them emits any significant magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
, as described in the novel 2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two is a 1982 best-selling science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is the sequel to the 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, but continues the story of Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation with the same title and not Clarke's original novel. The book is a part of Clarke's...
. In the novel, the Russian crewmen of the spaceship
Spaceship
Spaceship can refer to:* Another name for a spacecraft* An Unidentified flr5tyqertaerying object * "Spaceship", a song by Puddle of Mudd from their album Vol...
Alexei Leonov refer to the TMA-2 as "Zagadka" (from the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
word for "enigma", "mystery", or "riddle").
Origins
The extraterrestrial species that built the monoliths is never described in much detail, but some knowledge of its existence is given to Dave Bowman after he is transported by the stargateJumpgate
In science fiction, a jump gate is a fictional device able to create a wormhole or portal, allowing fast travel between two points in space...
to the "cosmic zoo", as detailed in the novels 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two is a 1982 best-selling science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is the sequel to the 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, but continues the story of Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation with the same title and not Clarke's original novel. The book is a part of Clarke's...
. The existence of this species is only hypothesized by the rest of humanity, but it is obvious because the monolith was immediately identified as an artifact of non-human origin
Xenoarchaeology
Xenoarchaeology is a hypothetical form of archaeology that exists mainly in science fiction works concerned with the physical remains of past alien life and cultures...
.
The extraterrestrial species that built the monoliths developed intergalactic travel
Intergalactic travel
Intergalactic travel is space travel between galaxies. Due to the relatively enormous distances between our own galaxy and even its closest neighbors, any such venture would be far more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel...
millions or perhaps billions of years before the present time. In the novels, Clarke refers to them as the "Firstborn" (not to be confused with the identically-named race in Arthur C. Clarke's and Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter is a prolific British hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.- Writing style :...
's Time Odyssey Series) since they were quite possibly the first sentient
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
species to possess a significant capability of interstellar travel. Members of this species had explored the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
in the search of knowledge, and especially knowledge about other intelligent species.
While these early explorers discovered that life was quite common, they observed that intelligent life was often stunted in its development, or else died out prematurely. Hence, they set about fostering it. The "Firstborn" were in many ways physically different from human beings, though from another point-of-view they were fundamentally the same: they were creatures made of "flesh and blood", and hence like human beings they were mortal.
However, the evolutionary development projects they began would by their nature require very long time-spans to complete, far longer than the lifetimes of their creators. Therefore, the aliens created increasingly complex automated machines to oversee and carry out their projects over the eons. When they encountered a living world that had features in favor of the evolution of intelligent life, they left behind the monoliths as remote observers that were also capable of taking a variety of actions according to the wishes of their creators. The monoliths are possibly the last remaining (and ultimate) technology that they ever devised. One such planet, encountered when it was still quite young, was the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. They also observed Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
and its watery moon, Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
. The decaying ecology of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
was also visited, but passed over in favor of more fruitful locations like Earth. The aliens left behind three monoliths to observe and enact their plan to foster humans to pursue technology and space travel.
As described in Clarke's novel, the Firstborn discovered later how to transfer their consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
onto computers, and thus they became thinking machines. In the end, they surpassed even this achievement, and were able to transfer entirely from physical to non-corporeal forms — omniscient, immortal, and capable of travelling at great speeds. The Firstborn had abandoned physical form, but their creations, the monoliths, remained, and these continued to carry out their original assignments.
Appearance and capabilities
All the monoliths are black, extremely flat, non-reflective rectangular solids whose dimensions are in the precise ratio of 1:4:9 (the squares of the first three integers). These dimensions are the main source of debate regarding the monoliths' simple external design. It is suggested in the novel 20012001: A Space Odyssey (novel)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film...
that this number series does not stop at three dimensions.
The monoliths are observed in several different sizes - TMA-0 and TMA-1 are both about 11 feet long and TMA-2 is two kilometers long on its longest axis, whereas the monolith that appears on Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
is considerably larger. They may be able to assume any size, because in 2010: Odyssey Two, the Star Child, created from Dave Bowman, cryptically notes that the monolith is actually one size - "as large as necessary".
These monoliths appear to be extremely long lived and reliable machines, essentially an incredibly advanced form of multifunction robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
, being able to survive for millions of years buried in the ground or resisting meteorite impacts and radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
in space, with no apparent damage. The two monoliths recovered and examined by humans reveal themselves to be virtually indestructible and impenetrable, resisting all attempts to analyze their composition or internal structure right up to the end of the series. It is suggested by Dr. Heywood Floyd
Heywood R. Floyd
Dr. Heywood R. Floyd is a fictional character in the Space Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke. He is featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey and is the main protagonist in 2010: Odyssey Two and 2061: Odyssey Three. In the first movie he is portrayed by William Sylvester, in the second by Roy...
that they possess some sort of force field
Force field
A force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, or deflector shield is a concept of a field tightly bounded and of significant magnitude so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the central axis of the field and reach the...
, an impression he gets from touching it and much later accepted as most probable because the monoliths resist destructive testing
Destructive testing
In destructive testing, tests are carried out to the specimen's failure, in order to understand a specimen's structural performance or material behaviour under different loads...
beyond the theoretical limits of material strength. However, they are not completely indestructible - the TMA-4 has suffered from damage caused by a giant meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
of solid diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
that collides with Europa in 2061: Odyssey Three
2061: Odyssey Three
2061: Odyssey Three is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke that was published in 1987. It is the third book in Clarke's Space Odyssey series...
. In the final book, 3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Sir Arthur C. Clarke. It is the fourth and final book in Clarke's Space Odyssey series.-Plot summary:...
, all three monoliths known to humankind are deactivated by infecting them with a powerful computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
.
While it is unclear what the composition of the monoliths is, they clearly have mass, which is about the only observation that can be made. In the novel 2010, the crewmen of the Alexi Leonov measure the mass of TMA-2 and they find that it has a density slightly higher than that of air (presumably at a standard temperature and pressure). The masses of TMA-0 and TMA-1 are never revealed.
Among the more dramatic abilities of the monoliths are self-teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
and self-replication
Self-replicating machine
A self-replicating machine is an artificial construct that is theoretically capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using raw materials taken from its environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of self-replicating machines...
.
In 2001, TMA-2 opens up a stargate that enables Dave Bowman to travel across the Galaxy
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
at speeds that are faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
and with as much acceleration as he wishes. In 2010 and again in 3001, the TMA-2 is observed to teleport itself (disappear and reappear elsewhere).
TMA-2 is observed to self-replicate by a form of symmetrical binary fission and grow exponentially
Exponential growth
Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportional to the function's current value...
to thousands or millions of units in just a matter of days. In 2010, the many units act to increase the density of the planet Jupiter until stellar ignition is achieved, converting it into a miniature star. In 3001, millions of copies of TMA-2 are observed to assemble themselves into two megastructure
Megastructure
A megastructure is a very large manmade object, though the limits of precisely how large this is vary considerably. Some apply the term to any especially large or tall building....
disks that attempt to block the sun from Earth and its human colonies in the Jovian system in an attempt to cause the extinction of humanity.
The monoliths are clearly described in the novels as being controlled by some sort of computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
. In 2061, the non-corporeal entities of Bowman, HAL, and Dr. Heywood Floyd, are essentially downloaded and stored as programs in TMA-2, which observes the Europans and shields them from human interference.
The TMA-1 and TMA-2 are observed to produce powerful, directional radio transmissions. TMA-2 is observed, in the 2100s, to direct a radio transmission toward a star system about 450 light years
Light Years
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes"....
away. Only TMA-1 ever demonstrates the ability to generate a strong magnetic field around itself.
It also appears any kind of transmission into the Monoliths produces a high-pitched squeal. This only seems to affect humans, and possibly only in the presence of open radio transceivers, such as those built into a spacesuit.
Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1
Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1 (also known as TMA-1) refers to the apparent magnetic irregularity found at the Tycho craterTycho (crater)
Tycho is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe . To the south is the crater Street; to the east is Pictet, and to the north-northeast is Sasserides. The surface around Tycho is replete with craters of various sizes,...
on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
's surface by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s. The anomaly is caused by a monolith buried 40 feet under the lunar surface; when exposed, it was found to be a black cuboid
Cuboid
In geometry, a cuboid is a solid figure bounded by six faces, forming a convex polyhedron. There are two competing definitions of a cuboid in mathematical literature...
whose sides measured in the precise ratio 1:4:9 (1²:2²:3²). In the book it is indicated that this ratio extends past the three spatial dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
s with which we are familiar.
Not long after the monolith is exposed to sunlight after excavation, it emits an extremely powerful burst of radio-frequency energy outward through the Solar System, and the magnetic anomaly surrounding it simultaneously disappears.
Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-2
An identical (except in size) object was found later, orbiting JupiterJupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
(on a moon of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
in the book, although this was changed to Jupiter in the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
book, 2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two is a 1982 best-selling science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is the sequel to the 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, but continues the story of Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation with the same title and not Clarke's original novel. The book is a part of Clarke's...
). This object was dubbed "TMA-2", a term that the book calls "doubly inappropriate": it had no magnetic field and was millions of miles from Tycho (TMA-2 was often referred to as "Big Brother" due to David Bowman's comments on its immense size). In 3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey
3001: The Final Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Sir Arthur C. Clarke. It is the fourth and final book in Clarke's Space Odyssey series.-Plot summary:...
, HAL and Bowman destroy TMA-2 with a computer virus after it is learned that its superiors are sending an order to destroy humanity.
Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-0
In the year 2513, the first Monolith to be encountered by humankind's prehistoric evolutionary predecessors was found in Olduvai Gorge, Africa buried in ancient rock, and was retroactively dubbed "TMA-0".Name sake
"Monolith" was used by GrundigGrundig
Grundig AG is a German manufacturer of consumer electronics for home entertainment which transferred to Turkish control in 2004-2007. Established in 1945 in Nuremberg by Max Grundig, the company changed hands several times before becoming part of the Turkish Koç Holding group...
(German electronics manufacturer) to name a series of its high fidelity
High fidelity
High fidelity—or hi-fi—reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound or images, to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment...
loudspeakers. The largest model in the series, Grundig Monolith 190 (1979-1983), weighted 83 kg and its proportions (including a height of approximately 2 m) were reminiscent of extraterrestrial monoliths.
In the late 1980s, Apple Inc. bought a Cray
Cray
Cray Inc. is an American supercomputer manufacturer based in Seattle, Washington. The company's predecessor, Cray Research, Inc. , was founded in 1972 by computer designer Seymour Cray. Seymour Cray went on to form the spin-off Cray Computer Corporation , in 1989, which went bankrupt in 1995,...
supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
to model experimental processor designs. After the machine was installed and set up, a company-wide contest was held to choose a name for the machine: the winning suggestion was TMA-1.
Danish headphone manufacturer Aiaiai have recently released a model named the TMA-1 due to the matte black finish and design of the headphones. They have attributed the naming of this model to the monolith from 2001.
Seattle Monolith
On New Year's DayNew Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
2001, the Seattle Monolith
Seattle Monolith
On New Year's Day 2001, a replica of the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey appeared on Kite Hill in Seattle's Magnuson Park. The Seattle Monolith was a guerrilla art installation by a group of Seattle artists calling themselves “Some People”.-Timeline:...
, a replica of the Monolith
Seattle Monolith
On New Year's Day 2001, a replica of the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey appeared on Kite Hill in Seattle's Magnuson Park. The Seattle Monolith was a guerrilla art installation by a group of Seattle artists calling themselves “Some People”.-Timeline:...
made out of welded steel appeared on a hill in Seattle's Magnuson Park, apparently having been placed there during the night before. It disappeared overnight three days later, and was presumed to be a reference to the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In popular culture
- Tributes to Monoliths have appeared in several video games. In SimEarthSimEarthSimEarth: The Living Planet, the second life simulation computer game designed by Will Wright in which the player controls the development of a planet. The game was published in 1990 by Maxis...
and SporeSpore (2008 video game)Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
, Monoliths are used to encourage the evolution of species. - In the Game EVE OnlineEVE OnlineEve Online is a video game by CCP Games. It is a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting. Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems. Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates...
several Monoliths appear through out the game. They appear to have no use other than homage. - Monoliths appear in various times and places throughout the 2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey (comics)2001: A Space Odyssey was the name of an oversized comic book adaptation of the 1968 film of the same name as well as a monthly series, lasting ten issues, which expanded upon the concepts presented in the Stanley Kubrick film and the novel by Arthur C. Clarke...
comic book by Jack KirbyJack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, from Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. They also appear in the (related by way of Machine ManMachine ManMachine Man is a fictional character, an android superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character was created by Jack Kirby for 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 , a comic written and drawn by Kirby featuring concepts based on the eponymous Stanley Kubrick film and Arthur C. Clarke novel...
) Earth XEarth XEarth X is a 1999 comic book limited series written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon and published by Marvel Comics. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian future version of the Marvel Universe....
comic book series. - The "monolith" cartoon series from The Electric CompanyThe Electric CompanyThe Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
used white versions of the monolith, that crumbled apart to expose letter clusters and dipthongs, subsequently pronounced by a deistic voice (e.g. "oo", "ee", "ow", "all", "alk", et. al.). - The band RosettaRosetta (band)Rosetta is an American post-metal band from Philadelphia incorporating elements of post-hardcore, shoegazing, drone, post-rock, avant-garde, and ambient, with influences as diverse as Neurosis and Isis, My Bloody Valentine, Frodus, and Stars of the Lid...
has recorded an instrumental song titled TMA-1. Also, on the album The Galilean SatellitesThe Galilean Satellites-Personnel:* Michael Armine – sound manipulation, vocals* David Grossman – bass guitar* Bruce McMurtrie Jr. – drums* J. Matthew Weed – electric guitar, violin, mastering* Aaron Turner – artwork...
, the monolith is referred to several times in the lyrics. - The Monolith, an enemy faction featured in the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter video game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone in the near future and causes...
, that worship an object that is supposedly from outer space. It is claimed to hold the power to grant wishes - The Monolith scene at the start of 2001 is also featured in a Simpsons episode with primitive man represented by Homer Simpson.