Andy44
owner: Oil Creek Astronautix
You have to have Laser Cats in any prediction of the future. :lol:
Science Science Fiction Hardness
- Thread starter Izack
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Izack
Non sequitur
Evil-sceintist lemurs riding mecha laser cats.
And by the way, "Hail Probe" is going in the dedication page. :thumbup:
Ark
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I know exactly what you're talking about. :lol::lol::lol::lol:
Seriously?
You do know that many highly respected scientists regard sapient extraterrestrial organisms as a highly possible phenomenon?
Like what everything in the Universe is doing right this very moment?
Izack
Non sequitur
Again, I don't wish to disclose (and potentially spoil in case it gets published...I'm hopeful!
) much, but the premise in this is that humans are the most advanced lifeforms in the observable universe (and the only lifeforms within the nearest 20 000 lightyears).I don't know why this concept hasn't occurred to more people. Everyone seems to think that if there are aliens out there, they obviously have to be a flying-saucer-piloting superior superrace.
I'm not saying that I am of this opinion, but simply that it is a very interesting prospect.
Another fact I dislike is that people assume aliens don't exist nearby because they aren't constantly blaring their radio transmissions directly at us all the time.
Please don't. The more mystery the better.
Indeed. Sapient organisms, or sophonts are only one type of organism and probably not too common a one at that compared to the rest of life (look at Earth: us, then a few thousand (or million?) other species...)
Only life in 20 000 lightyears seems pretty dim though, IMO. There should at least be single-celled life very close to us- even microenvironments within our own solar system are promising for life, and they could easily exist elsewhere. Not to rant on about your idea, though.
Yeah, or that they don't exist at all. I've heard somewhere that our own radio polllution (if it could be called that) fades away in just a few light-years, and thus that of another civilisation would do the same.
A body where complex life, or even sapient but noncivilised life exists would not blare radio frequencies into space at all, and thus it would be up to us to detect it. Good luck with the current methods of exoplanet detection...
The Fermi Paradox is a very brash assumption when we can't even really detect Earth-size planets in the habitable zone yet...
Izack
Non sequitur
Hmm, well, the only complex life, maybe. It's a plot device, after all. The main thing I want to 'keep real' is the technology,partly because I'm anal about that stuff. Heheh...Please don't. The more mystery the better.
Indeed. Sapient organisms, or sophonts are only one type of organism and probably not too common a one at that compared to the rest of life (look at Earth: us, then a few thousand (or million?) other species...)
Only life in 20 000 lightyears seems pretty dim though, IMO. There should at least be single-celled life very close to us- even microenvironments within our own solar system are promising for life, and they could easily exist elsewhere. Not to rant on about your idea, though.
Yeah, or that they don't exist at all. I've heard somewhere that our own radio polllution (if it could be called that) fades away in just a few light-years, and thus that of another civilisation would do the same.
A body where complex life, or even sapient but noncivilised life exists would not blare radio frequencies into space at all, and thus it would be up to us to detect it. Good luck with the current methods of exoplanet detection...
The Fermi Paradox is a very brash assumption when we can't even really detect Earth-size planets in the habitable zone yet...
As for exoplanet detection, we can't really see many things smaller than Jupiter, right? I don't know too much about it... >_<
Well, just saying. You can't have one part of the story hard and then another soft.
I'd hate to see an oppurtunity for more scientific accuracy to be missed.
Smaller than about 1.9 or 1.7 Earth masses (but only when the object is very close to the star, I think further out only objects at or above 5 Earth masses or so are detectable; I think. I Don't know for sure ).
We have even detected objects less massive than the Earth, see here. That's from pulsar timing though, and I doubt much would live around a pulsar...
I believe the Kepler telescope can detect Earth size planets using the transit method, but this is only possible when the planet transits the star as seen from Earth- only about 10% of exoplanets to this, AFAIK. And unless spectroscopic analysis can be done, you won't know for sure if it's Earthlike or if it has a crushing Venusian atmosphere...
Izack
Non sequitur
Ah, I don't intend to pull one of those previously mentioned Baxters. I only meant that I have to have some control over the story universe, and alien races just don't fit with it yet.Well, just saying. You can't have one part of the story hard and then another soft.
I'd hate to see an oppurtunity for more scientific accuracy to be missed.
As it would turn out, if I presented an alien race of any amount of sentience it would have to be a Chekhov Gun (IE it would have to be a huge overriding part of the story). I really want the focus to stay on humans and human exploits. Also, the main themes have nothing to do with aliens, so if they made an appearance it would grate against the rest of the story.
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Well, maybe you just don't have to mention them- you could have bandersnatches and and jabberwocks (amusing example :shifty
on a nearby planet, and they wouldn't have much to do with current affairs. You could also keep the initial discoveries a few years behind, for example, so that they won't be a dominating story.There are also plenty of stars within a 20 000 lightyear radius from Sol... even if TPF and a Warp Drive were dropped on the collective lap of humanity tomorrow, I doubt we would have surveyed and visited them all by 2095. So unless there is really good cataloging going on in the story universe, there could easily be undiscovered/unserveyed planets.
Tommy
Well-known member
I think a permanant Moon colony is quite feasable. One of the main reasons there hasn't been any effort in that direction is the lack of a financial return. While moon rocks are incredibly valuable, it's largely because they are so scarce. Any large enterprise based on bringing them back will have a short life - once they get more common, well, they'll just be rocks that aren't worth much.
However, fusion (not necessarily cold fusion, but something along the lines of the Polywell reactor) is feasible in that time frame, and the Moon could be an abundant source of He3. Simply put - if there's a profit to be made, some corporation will do it. Even a Moon Hotel would attract some guests, and technologies like the HASTOL system could make Moon tourism affordable for the elite, and isn't stretching the technology much past what's available now. I doubt we'll see that in 85 years in this reality, but in a world where space tech is more common, why not?
I think that my main consideration is that, while governments may be the force behind space exploration, corporations will be the force behind space exploitation.
However, fusion (not necessarily cold fusion, but something along the lines of the Polywell reactor) is feasible in that time frame, and the Moon could be an abundant source of He3. Simply put - if there's a profit to be made, some corporation will do it. Even a Moon Hotel would attract some guests, and technologies like the HASTOL system could make Moon tourism affordable for the elite, and isn't stretching the technology much past what's available now. I doubt we'll see that in 85 years in this reality, but in a world where space tech is more common, why not?
I think that my main consideration is that, while governments may be the force behind space exploration, corporations will be the force behind space exploitation.
Izack
Non sequitur
Ah, you hit me right on the mark. :lol:
All three things you mentioned (Moon colony, the Polywell and He3) are all central to the initial plot. (Although, the 'conventional drives' used at the time are still gas core fission engines, same as chemical rockets are conventional today.)
The first part of the plot is on the main lunar colony (which I have yet to name, but will likely be called von Braun if that sounds like a good idea.)
PS: Heheh, my old Wikipedia instincts made me put links in there.
