I got this book for Christmas, and it seems like it would be of interest to folks here. The premise is that of bio-engineered crop plagues spreading out of control and causing the creation of a calorie-based economy. Humanity has done a lot of fiddling around with genetics, but little to upgrade themselves, so they are very vulnerable to the bio-plagues.
It's a good read, and presents some interesting ideas, even if most of them wouldn't be out of place in the Jovian Republic.
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In other words, firing off a laser with a sufficient TWR for the recoil to be noticeable would require a post-miracle-tech laser weighing less than a disposable plastic spoon and powerful enough to shoot down Death Stars? -- ShadowDragon8685