Activity for Jim2B
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
How could living cells harness nuclear radiation for energy? Question: many SF stories (e.g. The Expanse) put living organisms in highly radioactive environments and show them consuming that energy in some way. How might organisms put into these environments be able to harness this freely available form of energy? My background isn't biology so I don't know t... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
| Question | — |
How do nanites get the resources that they need? I've been mulling over the idea of nanites (microscopic machines that perform work - usually to transform one material into another). I've come to the conclusion that at a macroscopic level, nanites ought to operate as we see microbial life operating. Whether the nanite is actually coopted microbia... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Does an arbitrary constant burn path between two orbiting bodies exist? Yes but you have to violate one of your conditions. Acceleration To launch from Earth, your acceleration must exceed Earth's gravitational acceleration. So assume an acceleration of 1.1 g (within bounds). Trajectory There exists a family of trajectories called Brachistochrone trajectories for v... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
How might a colony treat the arrival of a new generation ship? Assumptions Space travel is hard. Interstellar travel takes a long time. Chances for a successful trip and colony becoming self-sustaining are not considered super high. Therefore, each colony will be seeded by 2 or more colony ships. The Setting Colony ship 1 successfully completes its voyage ... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
Would generation ships encourage a caste system? The Setting Imagine a generation ship of 10-20 generations (200-400 year trip). The generation ship is divided into living crew and frozen eggs. Upon reaching the destination & for genetic diversity, the crew must begin gestating these eggs and producing colonists. Meanwhile the crew will continu... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: In space, do "shipping lanes" make sense? Under the right set of circumstances, shipping "lanes" in interplanetary space might develop. Other than those specific circumstances, each trajectory will be fairly unique and stuff won't ever share trajectories unless one of the parties wants a close encounter. Interplanetary Transportation Netwo... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
How will uploaded personalities be represented in a government? I'm going to use the US model for the simple reason that I'm most familiar with it. Constraints and assumptions In the US, legislative representation is by region (state) and population levels. Assume that uploaded personalities are granted the franchise. Question Given that an uploaded persona... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
The economics of uploaded personalities Setting Humans have spent centuries investigating human consciousness, brain physiology, AI, and other technologies. We've finally figured out how to "upload" a "consciousness" (these are quoted because I don't really know what this means at this point). Personality upload is non-destructive so the... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
Architecture of richest person's house on the moon Background Several hundred years from now, humans have successfully terraformed the Moon. It has become a fad for the rich and powerful to have exotic residences built in exotic locations. The richest person in the Solar System decides to have his built on the newly terraformed moon. You are the a... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
What is the minimum level of technology to enable interlunar civilization? Definition: Interlunar adjective Of or traveling between moons. I'm (as far as I can tell) inventing the term interlunar to describe travel between moons in a single planetary system. Travel between Stars = Interstellar travel Planets = Interplanetary travel Moons = Interlunar travel (within... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How practical is it to capture an asteroid? Let me address a couple of matters of terminology first. (Unless you need a manned mission or have other factors which impose timing constraints) distance doesn't matter. It is $\Delta V$ (change in velocity) times the mass that needs to move that constrains the mission. To find the most economica... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
Why build space habitats on/within moons? Consider yourself a decision maker for a fledgling space infrastructure project. You've been tasked with establishing the first few extraterrestrial colonies for your species. What aspects of the Solar System's moons make them more (or less) attractive than other bodies (like comets, asteroids, and... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
| Question | — |
What society might survive the 3 generation rule A not widely accepted psycho-social phenomenon but one our descendents might sometime face, the Three Generation Rule states: that the degree of social discipline needed for a space habitat to survive indefinitely is beyond the capability of "normal" human societies. The human tendency to fav... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
What are the minimum set of physical characteristics to define an Earth like planet? Introduction I have a vague notion of building some sort of strategic space game. Similar to other strategic games, locations are assigned value based upon some abstract evaluation. Following in that vein, I'd like to assign value(s) to planets based upon a number of factors including colonization... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
What are mapping or diagramming techniques that would be valuable to someone mapping a planetary system? Basically, it's a question about creating maps or diagrams. In particular, we on Earth are used to maps showing variation over distance & location. The problem with space that is everything is moving. Distance and location are constantly changing. In fact, other things such as travel times and $ \De... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Apparent magnitude of my moon as seen from the planet's surface There's a relatively easy way to calculate this number. Compare your moon's parameters to ours and multiple those differences Size Start with out Moon (diameter 2,156 km) and compare to your moon (diameter 3,500). This means that the size difference in moons makes yours $ \left( \frac{3500}{2156} ... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
Changing Earth's rotation rate Variations of this question have been asked and answered previously but I am looking for something specific. Situation: Earth's body (mantel and crust) rotate at different rates than it's core (I think). The Earth's core is slowly freezing out & solidifying. The difference in the rate of rotation co... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
What is the minimum planetary mass to hold an atmosphere over geologic time scales? I realize that many factors affect this answer so assume the following: Star type: G2 star (like our Sun) Composition: O2, N2, CO2, H2O atmosphere Magnetic field: Two different magnetic field strengths (none or minimal & Earth strength) Distance: two different mean orbital radius (Earth distance & ... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |