Spacescifi

Unless one is making scifi this whole discussion is a complete waste of time. As it would not produce anything. Yet I am. What you said is true, but such a method is too slow for a setting that has masdive SSTO spaceships casually launching and landing from planets. I finally decided to just use a fictional drive that looks cool and also has some connection to reality, only for fun interactions. Since this new fictional drive emits extremely bright and repulsive diamagnetic rays as exhaust. It also produces sufficient momentum transfer on the ship itself to reach orbital velocity and fly around in space. The dianagnetic part is interesting since it would allow the spaceship to 'tractor beam' tow ferromagnetic objects in space while flying in front of them. Which would not work in atmospheres because the air wind blast would prevent that.

Perhaps? I had the understanding that mars is only slightly warmer than antartica. Buy yea, guess you are right afterall. Search Results Featured snippet from the web How hot is the surface temperature of Mars? In the south, summers are hot and quick, whereas winters are long and cold. At the height of southern summer, temperatures can reach 20°C (68°F) by day but drop to –80°C (–112°F) at night. Even so, there is little 'weather' on Mars

Actually I had looked up the definition. Of course, perhaps I used the wrong word, since my idea of harmony was a group working together for one goal, which is what humans already do. A lot. The main difference is that these harmononic aliens would specialize in this to a degree that your average human nowadays won't. And yea, I admit such aliens could make compelling villains if written right, but they also do not have to be placed in a villain role. They could be allies, even heroes in a story, even if readers do not agreer nor adhere to how they act.

What I really want to know is how much propellant the 97,000 ton spaceship would need to reach orbital velocity. Since unless one is willing to totally photon rocket nuke the launch site, using ONLY antimatter seems less than optimal for safety of those living on the planet below. Thus somr type of propellant is needed for getting off the planet in a more safe manner that won't obliterate everything within a 3 kilometer radius just to reach orbit. I know, that is the worse case scenario for lift off, but still a concern. At any rate, perhaps using the air for propellant would be enough. But I am not sure. Lifting 97,000 tons to orbital velocity is... no joke. That takes some serious lifting, and I am not sure air mixed with antimatter is enough to get 97,000 tons to orbital velocity.

I had envisioned the grav-neutralizer as a field that merely deflected the planetary gravity field around it. The field would have a 2 kilometer radius. Anything falling from above into the field would be deflected by falling around and away from the ship at 1g (deflection is 1g because it is set according to planet gravity). Also if you walked into the grav deflector field you would fall forward at 1g, and fly out beneath the vessel and be very dead once you reached the edge of the 2 kilometer field on tbe opposite side. In other words, my grav-neutralizer does not shield the spaceship from it's own acceleration. Only the acceleration by gravity from a planet. Also molten iron as propellant? Wow. I guess heavy propellant and thermo-jet engines,would be popular with these spaceships then As using the air for propellsnt would be as simple as using antimatter by mixing it with air. And a molten iron plume would not look like your ordinary rocket plume LOL! It would be more dangerous.

Just accept the effect as a plot device, shielding the vessel from gravity. It can be turned on or off. Which makes it useful for reaching space, and then the ship can reach orbital velocity and shut it off.

Say you had a device to neutralize gravity's pull on a spaceship with the mass of an aircraft carrier (97,000 tons fully loaded). You are using liquid hydrogen as propellant and mixing it with antimatter. You have 3 tons of antimatter on board. Would your thrust to weight ratio be decent enough to make several take offs and landings? Or just one or two before running out of propellant? What about fuel to cargo ratio? Would the aircraft cartier mass spaceship be more than 10% fuel tank? 50%? 80%? Granted this works better for take off with grav-neutralization, but I still wanna know.

It would be infinite then. As the ideas of mankind are as deep as the bottom of the sea. However, this idea was merely a demonstration of how easy it is to create a fictional race that does not act like your average person. As I have said before, why make fictional aliens if they only behave like an average person?

It seems like a scifi color chart that indicates the subjects or themes that are covered in certain scifi works.

What if the goal was one that was virtually infinite or impossible in scope? For that matter, the harmonic civilization could ask a human "What is the common goal that all of your human civilization is working toward?" You may say, "To evolve and become better men than we were. If not that, we wish to become no worse than what we feared." Really what goal they are working toward currently as a race matters little to me, as that is easy for me to create. And their collective goal as a race WILL change over time. I mean I could be silly and say their goal is to teach every sapient alien being alive how to cook like a gourmet chef. And I could still make it work! What matters most to me is their story role. Are they better than humans? Worse? Or kind of like us? I prefer a mix of better than us yet kind of like us. Not gods or galactic angels who do no wrong, just different and advanced.

Then perhaps we are viewing the word harmony through different lenses? Harmony for them simply means working in unison for a common goal. Like the musicians again. Not everyone getting exactly what they want all day everyday (indeed they would likely be unhappy if they did).

As I said earlier, just because a race is harmonic, it does not change the fact that the universe has challenges and conflict that exists... beyond their immediate world. Aliens my friend. Aliens. That is why. EDIT: For that matter even their world has challenges and conflict. But rebels on their world are swiftly dealt with, so civil unrest and crime is not a major problem for them. Prevention is even more instituted, to prevent it in the first place. Indoctrination from an early age is important in their society. It also helps that the aliens have some peculiar quirks we do no have. Words do not hurt their feelings. At all. Also, they do not resent being told what to do by their equals or even their inferiors. Unlike us.

I think that people are thinking this is a case of the author thinking "If only humans were this way everyting would be utopia!" I do not think that at all. Humanity as is will never have utopia, nor can they. This concept is merely fun for fictional aliens interacting with humans and the inevitable culture clash that results. With humorous results as well. What? You think they would kill the human exchange sailor? Unlikely. As for musical harmony, if you watched the video you no doubt saw that all the players either stopped in unison, or waited their turns to play. That is harmony. Indeed. All the great acomplishments of mankind have required harmony among men. Especially... space travel.

How well do you think a human could get along with a harmonic civilization? Example: Humans and aliens do a cultural exchange. A navy guy is chosen to serve aboard an harmonic civilizations star cruiser, while a harmonic alien is chosen to serve aboard a human aircraft for a month. After a month, what is the result for the human? I can tell you that the alien would feel disturbed if he heard any sailors badmouth their own human government or superiors behind their backs. He would suggest to the complaining human sailor that he speak to his commanding officer directly. To make peace between them. How does it go for the human sailor on the alien star cruiser?

Oh, I you think that harmony means an absence of competition? It really does'nt. I have seen people who get along have competitions and still be in harmony afterward. I think you are assuming more to the harmony than I was. As for negative feedback, harmony does not prevent that either. The diligent and intelligent would generally get to enjoy things that those who are less industrious and intelligent would not. There is your negative feedback. Because they work for it. And others do not or not as hard, so they do not get the good things others have.

A fictional harmonic civilzation does not eliminate the challenges inherent to the fictional universe they live within. That is your source of conflict right there. Challenge is always present. Whether conflict is present or not. Man vs his environment is like a never ending battle. Since nature does not give man what he wants for zero effort. Or for fictional aliens for that matter, unless their homeworld coddled them, in which case the universe will be a very scary place for them. I do not believe that harmony prevents progress in general. But it does prevent certain types of social change. This music is a product of harmony. Just think of what an ENTIRE civilization could do! In harmony. Does harmony prevent technological progress. Not so much. As tech is more a means to an end.

Why do you think? Not familiar with either. Could you tell me about them? Did they thrive and prosper? Or not?

I think kerboloid is pointing out that the real creatures we do have have the most efficient body design for the life style they lead. One need not get bogged down in theories to make a design seem logical. Just give a reason that makes the design optimal or necessary. Even if it would not be optimal on Earth, it should be optimal for an alien world designed for alien life. Just as Earth is optimized for our kinds of life. So the fictional aliens have six arms? Well perhaps mostly all the vegetables and plants they eat only grows on trees and their fruits do not fall to the ground. Rather they rot where they grow until picked by a bird, animal, or sapient climbing alien. Suddenly six arms seems reasonable.

Googled it once and it said between 50 and a hundred lightyears is the safe distance between Earth and a supernova. 30 lighyears away (further than Proxima Centauri) is still considered deadly, since the gamna rays and cosmic rays would wreck our atmosphere and us with radiation. Granted, that gives us 30 years to prepare. Some of the rich could likely survive under the ocean as the ocean would absorb a lot of radoation. Many more commoners would die of cancer it seems.

In practice? Requires patience. How can you create a virus without a working knowledge of human anatomy? Aliens won't know this from the beginning. It may take years of study, and even then the human immune system tends toward becoming immune, which us one reason why diseases have not wiped us out totally already.

Daily 25? What is that? A great start? Perhaps. It all comes down to the execution. The concept is really not a new one. It is really just one possible end result of a civilization. As opposed to the static evolution/revolution cycle that humanity knows as their reality. Fictional civilizations need not be that way.

Most all fictional civilizations, human and otherwise are based on reality. Real civilizations throughout history often have the support of their citizens in the beginning. But later such support fragments as citizens balkanize into their own factions. Then they split, new civilizations form, and the cycle repeats it self. Over and over. Barring that, a civilization is merely absorbed by another (read conquered). So... what do you think an actually harmonic fictional civilization would be like? Such words as these come to mind, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." A simple solution would be to implement the exact opposite of this. Where the primary goals of the average citizen and the government are one and the same. Thus having full support. Yet, to fully implement it, rebels would have to be dealt with swiftly. Thus the reason why many view utopias as dystopias under a paradisiac veneer. Of course, my ideas on how a harmonic fictional civilization could be are not the only ones. What are yours?

Excellent ideas. What is UDH fusion? I do think your solution to kerboloids hamster wheel inner sphere to be hilarious though. Interestingly, a saucer can also have other reasonable configurations still more practical than anything seen on popular scifi. Like a massive pancake with four smaller pancakes. One for each corner, each about 25% the radius of the big saucer in the middle. The four lateral saucers would be the engines, while you could get away with no engines whatsoever on the main saucer. The flat belly would be great for landing, as the spots for landing gear are numerous. The irony is that spin gravity is most useful for spaceships that have to worry about running out of fuel. Another irony is that not aligning a spaceship's crew decks with the engine thrust actually can make plenty of sense for a scifi SSTO. If the spaceship has limited fuel. Since getting stuff out is easier that way onto the planet, and you're going to spend waay more time coasting than thrusting in space anyway. So such a vessel would not reap the gravitational benefits of thrust g-force anyway. If anything, a saucer with limited fuel rockets only makes practical sense if it can shield itself from gravity somehoe while launching. Even then, to save fuel the saucer would be wise to fly like a frisbee upward rather than hitting all the air like a shield.

A good design if fuel is not an issue. However I do not see a way around reaaranging the furniture on the saucer. Unless you just make it simple with tents and portables. "Hey everyone! We are going camping on the inner rim! Let's get our tents and portable toilets. And be sure to put away your poo when it fills all your bags." If I understand Zubrin's idea correctly, it involves letting the engine out with a tether, and then using lateral thrusters on the engines to rotate the ENTIRE ship? Ingenious! I never had thought of this. I had always thought that putting thrusters near the rim for thrust would be problematic. What with the crew needing that area for rotational gravity. But it is not necessary, given your ingenious idea. Although the ship will need some thrusters along the rim for pitch and lateral roll, just not horizontal roll along the rim. By the way: I too like kerboloids hamster wheel approach, but I am not sure how to do it without fictional technologies. Given the crew won't be in a safe position due to every action requiring an equal and opposite reaction. The crew sphere would just roll backward, unless they could somehow dump that momentum elsewhere.

Yea I get what you're saying. But that is different from the original post. Where you get 3 chances and everyone alive presently can time-shift. No one else can. Which means that hitler could not rewrite history afterall. But some really old person could who is still alive.