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Dyson Trees?

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Tue, 2010-03-23 19:41
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nick012000 nick012000's picture
Dyson Trees?
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if Transhumanity has built any Dyson Trees or not? Given the existence of Meathab, it seems possible, but I can't remember any references to them in the rulebook. [url=http://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oaeg-view-article&egart_uid=48472ab8... [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_tree]are[/url] a couple articles on them.
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Tue, 2010-03-23 20:39
Decivre Decivre's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
nick012000 wrote:
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if Transhumanity has built any Dyson Trees or not? Given the existence of Meathab, it seems possible, but I can't remember any references to them in the rulebook. [url=http://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oaeg-view-article&egart_uid=48472ab8... [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_tree]are[/url] a couple articles on them.
To an extent, yes. I'd imagine that most of the terraforming that occurs on Mars is largely due to genetically engineered plants used to alter the ecosystem of the planet. I'd imagine that plant life would be one of the more common forms of terraforming for locations with relatively receptive climes for life (basically doing the finishing touches to create a sustainable biosphere).
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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]
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Wed, 2010-03-24 01:26
jackgraham jackgraham's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
I'd heard of Dyson spheres (and vacuums... heh), but not Dyson trees. Honestly, I don't find the idea terribly plausible. The problem is that most comets orbit at a distance where growing plants with sunlight is impossible (i.e., out in the Kuiper Belt). You'd need to accompany it with some truly massive solar arrays, or a way of focusing starlight. Even once you get out to Saturn, most plants wouldn't be able to grow on solar energy without a very clever means of focusing it. In EP, we normally assume that past Jupiter, plants are grown using fusion power. Given power, sure, you can grow plants in a comet. The Encylopedia Galatica illos of green plants exposed to the void are a bit more questionable.
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Wed, 2010-03-24 02:12
Decivre Decivre's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
jackgraham wrote:
I'd heard of Dyson spheres (and vacuums... heh), but not Dyson trees. Honestly, I don't find the idea terribly plausible. The problem is that most comets orbit at a distance where growing plants with sunlight is impossible (i.e., out in the Kuiper Belt). You'd need to accompany it with some truly massive solar arrays, or a way of focusing starlight. Even once you get out to Saturn, most plants wouldn't be able to grow on solar energy without a very clever means of focusing it. In EP, we normally assume that past Jupiter, plants are grown using fusion power. Given power, sure, you can grow plants in a comet. The Encylopedia Galatica illos of green plants exposed to the void are a bit more questionable.
Certain plant an animal species can go inert for vast periods of time. Selaginella lepidophylla is capable of hibernating for periods as long as 50 years, without any water or sustenance. I could see a plant species which might have extremely long hibernation periods triggered by waning sunlight, that could survive on a comet during its long orbit around the sun. Granted, such a system would not make for a very effective habitat (since the plants would be inert during most of its orbit, and only activate as the orbit nears the sun for a relatively short time).
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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]
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Thu, 2010-03-25 02:49
nick012000 nick012000's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
Alternately, you could, I don't know, dump a bunch of nanites to make the comet's surface more reflective so it won't boil off, and then stick a rocket on one side and send it into a much less eccentric orbit closer towards the sun. Maybe sending it into orbit around a planet or at a Lagrange point.
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Thu, 2010-03-25 03:23
Decivre Decivre's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
nick012000 wrote:
Alternately, you could, I don't know, dump a bunch of nanites to make the comet's surface more reflective so it won't boil off, and then stick a rocket on one side and send it into a much less eccentric orbit closer towards the sun. Maybe sending it into orbit around a planet or at a Lagrange point.
Yeah, but a more functional means of doing so would be to utilize asteroids, rather than comets. While comets do have a much larger water supply, it isn't particularly hard to produce water considering technology of the time (hell, we can even do it in our time).
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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]
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Thu, 2010-03-25 08:00
nick012000 nick012000's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
Decivre wrote:
nick012000 wrote:
Alternately, you could, I don't know, dump a bunch of nanites to make the comet's surface more reflective so it won't boil off, and then stick a rocket on one side and send it into a much less eccentric orbit closer towards the sun. Maybe sending it into orbit around a planet or at a Lagrange point.
Yeah, but a more functional means of doing so would be to utilize asteroids, rather than comets. While comets do have a much larger water supply, it isn't particularly hard to produce water considering technology of the time (hell, we can even do it in our time).
I don't think asteroids tend to have much hydrogen. Sort of important for water, you know? ;)
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Thu, 2010-03-25 15:23
Decivre Decivre's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
nick012000 wrote:
I don't think asteroids tend to have much hydrogen. Sort of important for water, you know? ;)
Finding hydrogen in the universe is about as hard as hitting the ground with a rock. It makes up 75% of the universe, 90% of Jupiter's atmosphere, 96% of Saturn's atmosphere, 83% of Uranus's atmosphere, 80% of Neptune's atmosphere 73% of the Sun... you can probably guess where I'd recommend extracting it, no?
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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]
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Thu, 2010-03-25 17:01
nick012000 nick012000's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
Decivre wrote:
nick012000 wrote:
I don't think asteroids tend to have much hydrogen. Sort of important for water, you know? ;)
Finding hydrogen in the universe is about as hard as hitting the ground with a rock. It makes up 75% of the universe, 90% of Jupiter's atmosphere, 96% of Saturn's atmosphere, 83% of Uranus's atmosphere, 80% of Neptune's atmosphere 73% of the Sun... you can probably guess where I'd recommend extracting it, no?
Yeah, but then you need to ship it in containers it won't escape from. That adds costs to the entire endeavor.
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Thu, 2010-03-25 17:14
Decivre Decivre's picture
Re: Dyson Trees?
nick012000 wrote:
Yeah, but then you need to ship it in containers it won't escape from. That adds costs to the entire endeavor.
Or you can convert it to water on-site and transport it afterwards. That's far less difficult. Besides, remember that in the EP universe, EVERYTHING gets recycled. There's very little material wasted, so it's likely that they'll only really need on shipment of water. As long as the asteroid is rebuilt to be airtight, water condensers and nanofab-purifiers should indefinitely sustain you.
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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]
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