[ot] Mars colonization

[tleilaxu]

Actually, it IS the consensus that the pyramids were built by slaves. Consensus means the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned, not the judgment arrived at by all of those concerned. The view that the builders of the pyramids were voluntary is the exception, though a loud one right now, based on the discovery of some builders remains within the tombs. However, it is the vast minority opinion, and far from the concensus. Right now, 9 out of 10 Egyptologists will still tell you it was slaves who built the pyramids.

I wanna ask where you got your info from and call you out but this conversation is already too far off the topic of this thread...

 

[tleilaxu]

nt

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

To get this debate slightly more back on topic, has anyone used the Pyramids of Mars in an RPG campaign?

Personally, I can't wait for Chaosium's Undying Mars, which will feature them...

 

[tleilaxu]

nt

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

Re: Self-Replication and Nanotechnology

The naysayers, understandably, will say that nanotechnology is a pipe dream, or at best something we won't see for centuries. Fortunately humans have a very long and very poor history of estimating the advance of technology, both in direction and in speed, leaving me with plenty of hope.

My hope for reasonable terraforming and settlement is in nanotech. Wanna get more oxygen in the air? Molecular disassembly of CO2 will do the trick, and in the meantime you can assemble the extra carbon into nanotubes, buckyballs, diamonds for lasers, and what-have-you, including assembling it into additional nanomachines.

Ah, nanotech, make my fantasy come true.

Actually, nanotech is hardly a fantasy even now... the first micromotors, gears, and nanocircuitry have already been constructed in laboratories and both the private sector and the government are pumping billions of dollars into nanotech research. Basic nanochemical products, such as fullerene alloys (fullerene "steel" has one-hundred times the tensile strength and one third the weight of normal steel) and color-shifting paints are going to be in mass production by the end of the decade. I'd shoot for working "nanobot" assemblers by 2025, and entire computers based off of nanoscale and quantum systems available even earlier than that.

Check out www.foresight.org... there's new news in the nanotech research community every week. It's tremendously exciting.

 

[Mistwell]

Not sure if y'all already saw this, but here is an article on the actual building of a space elevator, a real project:

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_021120.html

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Not sure if y'all already saw this, but here is an article on the actual building of a space elevator, a real project:

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_021120.html

Unfortunately, I doubt they have the neccessary budget for such a project...

 

[Kilmore]

Well, as far as the asteroid tethering concept goes, I know it would be (mostly) safe, and the science behind it is pretty reassuring, but it's the uneducated opinion that I'm worried about. There are some people who will always believe that there is no way that nuclear power will ever be safe, while we still have oil tankers wrecking off the coast of Spain.

And as far as the adverse effects to the body from prolonged exposure to microgravity, I think there'll be a technological solution before there's a medical solution. In other words, I see gravitics becoming a major technology of this century. In my uneducated opinion, of course.

 

[Storminator]

Well, as far as the asteroid tethering concept goes, I know it would be (mostly) safe, and the science behind it is pretty reassuring, but it's the uneducated opinion that I'm worried about. There are some people who will always believe that there is no way that nuclear power will ever be safe, while we still have oil tankers wrecking off the coast of Spain.

And as far as the adverse effects to the body from prolonged exposure to microgravity, I think there'll be a technological solution before there's a medical solution. In other words, I see gravitics becoming a major technology of this century. In my uneducated opinion, of course.

The adverse effects of gravity only manifest when you return to a higher gravity. So if you never come back from your space retirement, you're cool.

Of course, old people like to visit their grandkids...

PS

 

[tleilaxu]

the diamond age by neal stephenson is an awesome book and a must for those interested in nanotech