Sci Fi: What environment would you like to see used in science fiction?

[Drunkrobot]

All stories, the best stories at least, treat the reader to a magical (in the poetic sense) world that let's them build a picture in their mind of what reality is to the characters. Science fiction takes what is known about the world and takes it a step further. These two facts of literature mean the greatest works of sci fi ever written tends to borrow their "worlds" from real life. Red Mars, one of the greatest books I have ever read, goes into detail of the environment known to exist on Mars at the time (my copy had a map of the red planet at the beginning of the book, complete with the settlements humans made during the colonisation, so you could imagine how the surface changed as time went on).

Recently I had been watching the TV series Wonders of the Solar System (nonfiction, goes into the most exciting features of the worlds in the solar system, love it!) and I was treated with a real reminder of how gifted we are to have hundreds of worlds on our doorstep, each one having something extremely interesting about it. What adventures could the human race find on any one of these worlds?

At least one environment stood out to me. The underground network of caves on Mars.

This is the entrance to a martian cave. It is also what total unknowing looks like. If you ever had to walk to the toilet at night as a kid, and you weren't sure whether or not there were monsters in the dark, then you have an idea of what planetary scientists feel about this hole.

The thing about these caves is, that once a (martian) year, around summer time, they spurt out a large amount of Methane. Methane can only be produced in nature in one of two methods, biological and geological. As far as we can tell, Mars is geologically dead. So, what is producing the Methane? Nobody has a clue. No probe has been sent inside, and since they require line of sight with Earth or a satellite orbiting overhead, an unmanned mission is unlikely to be technically feasible anytime soon. It is very likely the first time we look into these caves is when we have humans on the surface...

While human explorers going into the unknown to search for alien life is a fanstatic goal to work towards, for now, a tale of what they might find in there will be a good read. What corner of the Solar System do you think needs more attention, and would serve as a good backdrop for the next great story?

[Faark]

You're sure there are mentionable caves? Those round holes might just be usual craters in special lighting situations (is that snow? => its has to be on a pole) so no direct light reaches the bottom... you even see that one edge is much brighter. Also what is the origin of those methane story? Google did only showed the opposite on a quick "mars [crater] methane"...

[Skyrunner27]

LEO is ignored a lot in modern day science fiction. I would wish that it was used more than just a film about Kessler Syndrome or as just the starting point for other places. For celestial bodies I would go for Venus because ever since we discovered how terrible it is to live on Venus Science Fiction has ignored the hot planet.

[Drunkrobot]

First off, it is not a colour photograph, I'm pretty sure that is not ice.

That second image has been quoted as having a floor about 20 metres below the edge.

Also to note is the Caves of Mars Project, a NASA study on how we could use subsurface structures like lava tubes to build colonies in the Martian underground. A quick Google search gives their wikipedia page.

Another thing to consider is, why shouldn't there be a significant cave system on Mars? It has a geological history, water was present in liquid from for a long time, why not?

Here is the NASA.gov page on Methane's role in the exploration of Mars. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.html

[magnemoe]

Currently reading the Integral Trees by Larry Niven. Probably the weirdest setting ever, naturally a zero g ecosystem.

Take a Uranus sized gas giant and put in very close orbit around a neutron star so it orbits in 6-8 hours. Tides will drag off the atmosphere but it will stay in orbit around the star, the center parts of the gas torus will get decent pressure.

Issues, you would need something like an super venus not an normal gas giant as its just hydrogen and helium while you want co2 and nitrogen.

The neuron star need to be pretty old and inactive to not getting to much radiation even if the atmosphere will block much of it.

Anyway life evolves here and humans find the place,

[magnemoe]

You're sure there are mentionable caves? Those round holes might just be usual craters in special lighting situations (is that snow? => its has to be on a pole) so no direct light reaches the bottom... you even see that one edge is much brighter. Also what is the origin of those methane story? Google did only showed the opposite on a quick "mars [crater] methane"...

Probably more like a sinkhole, it was ice, methane or co2 below, it has evaporated leaving a void who falls inn, in this setting the void might be larger than the hole itself.

[Godot]

Probably more like a sinkhole, it was ice, methane or co2 below, it has evaporated leaving a void who falls inn, in this setting the void might be larger than the hole itself.

People at NASA assume they are caves:

http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/21sep_caves/

Due to the thermal behavior (the holes don´t seem to be as influenced by the day/night cycle of MArs as the surrounding environment)

[TimMartland]

Is that the Mohole?

[XIRA]

Is there even a slight change that there could be live down there?!

[Scotius]

Is there even a slight change that there could be live down there?!

Everything is possible For me, most incredible place in Solar system would be low orbit around Io. Just imagine seeing those enormous volcanic eruptions happening straight under your feet, rising into space, and then dispersing slowly in a rain of sulphur. Hellishly amazing view

[Krevsin]

Personally, I'd love to see something set in the equivalent of the rings around Saturn.

[Kryten]

Personally, I'd love to see something set in the equivalent of the rings around Saturn.

Wouldn't most stuff set in pop-culture 'asteroid belts' fit that pretty well?

[Mr Shifty]

Stephen Baxter's novel Raft is set in a universe where the intrinsic gravitational constant is a billion times larger than it is here. Star lifetimes are a few years. Galaxies are nebulae of rapidly forming and cooling stars. Humans exert a tangible gravitational pull on each other. Ecosystems exist on the nebula-wide scale.

And another of his novels, Flux, imagines an engineered human civilization inside a neutron star.

[nettcod]

The oceans of Europa.

[Holo]

Either Venus or Neptune.