tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post1489089313142165041..comments2023-09-28T07:23:51.376-07:00Comments on ProjectPerko: IkebanaCraig Perkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-18729998603384891612013-09-18T19:18:49.751-07:002013-09-18T19:18:49.751-07:00Well, in this design the technology is considered ...Well, in this design the technology is considered stagnant (at peak?), so the driving force is assembling resources and launch bases.<br /><br />Some resources are very common: carbon, light, water. Others are very rare science-fiction materials that are rare enough that shipping them over a 200-year transit would make sense.Craig Perkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-32161750900449808732013-09-18T18:45:21.419-07:002013-09-18T18:45:21.419-07:00The most interesting part of this idea (for me) is...The most interesting part of this idea (for me) is 0.3c. I love the flower design, I dig the branches as a good mechanism for localising and compartmentalising complexity, but 0.3c is such an interesting idea that it sticks in my mind.<br /><br />I did a quick check and found http://www.solstation.com/stars/s20ly.htm, which lists just under 150 celestial objects within a 20 light year (or 60 years of elapsed earth time) radius. Relativistic effects are reasonably easy to discount, as I found here: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/T/timedilation.html, which means cryogenic sleep and generally one-way trips. If we assume mass-accelerator technology (gravity slingshot, mass-driver, etc), then it suggests we can probably fling *some* resources back home (or relay them), but we'd need to set up a fairly hefty permanent emplacement to support it. Based on the transport delay, the design doesn't rule out interstellar mining expeditions but they would be more likely furthering future seed exploration rather than providing primary return-trip supply lines. For particularly rare resources an interstellar supply line would work (in theory) but there would be a major (generational) lag before the investment paid off.<br /><br />This gives you a game timeline of around 500 years, to properly colonise a few dozen stars.<br /><br />From here, the question becomes how the march of technology and progress effect the game over such a significant timeline. As a (bit of a) singularist, Moore's law and nanotechnology are mostly a given, rather than speculation. Fortunately, the laws of physics provide some hard-constants (energy requirements, transport time), but efficiency and computation appear relatively unbounded. Additionally, quantum entanglement could solve the FTL communication barrier, which enables greater synergy than simply resource sharing.<br /><br />This all works in favour of your Ikebana design and theory, where most of the constraints you suggest are resource (and energy) bound. <br /><br />Speculating wildly, part of me wonders if then the solution to human propagation is artificial body construction and conciousness transfer over entangled-link, but by that point we are all technically AI and the body part becomes kind of moot.<br /><br />Anyway, just some interesting extrapolation from your idea.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01820409963072076964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-75792301992837569662013-09-16T17:21:46.724-07:002013-09-16T17:21:46.724-07:00Yeah, the idea is somewhat related.Yeah, the idea is somewhat related.Craig Perkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-36717842150563739712013-09-16T17:20:12.407-07:002013-09-16T17:20:12.407-07:00Interesting idea which reminds me of solar/light s...Interesting idea which reminds me of solar/light sail ship designs. See http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sailing/ for an example of real work being done on this idea.Verzornoreply@blogger.com