Thoughts about sphere worlds

PvK · #1 November 26th, 2003, 11:24 PM

As for economic aspects, yes Omicron, I imagine, as I more or less said before, that if you can move the matter from many solar systems to one in order to build a Dyson sphere, and build it and get it to work, then I tend to think there would be many other more practical and/or interesting things you could have done with your time and energy. As you say, resource extraction is a much smaller task than the above.

PvK

Taera · #2 November 27th, 2003, 12:33 AM

You guys are nuts.

narf poit chez BOOM · #3 November 27th, 2003, 12:53 AM

i don't remember who wrote it.

Parasite · #4 November 28th, 2003, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gregebowman:
but there's a series by David Brin that involves intelligent dolphins using space suits. I just can't remember the name of the series, however.

Check out "Startide Rising" about the dolpins. "SunDiver" had a scene of a human in a dolpin suit, but only swimming. IMHO one of the best current authors.

Check out Larry Nivien short story "Bigger than Worlds" in "A Hole in Space". It starts at a colony ship, then ends with covering over a galaxy and filling it with air. Then people just swim around (Maybe using those suits).

Parasite · #5 November 28th, 2003, 12:34 AM

I have always wanted to play baseball (or cricket) on a spinning colony. If you hit the ball in the direction of spin, it would be "heavier" and not go as far. If you hit it against the spin, it would be "lighter" and go farther. Hitting it sideways would cause it to travel in a curve as the "world" spins around you but the ball is floating free.

But a Ring world would be large and fast enought to make these only be slight differences.

Omnicron1 · #6 November 28th, 2003, 07:08 PM

so whats the collective conclusion on sphere worlds?

I say their economically improbable to the extreme and thus won't be built but its just MHO... interested in what some of you others came up with and what is this about flying dolphins!?

Baron Munchausen · #7 November 28th, 2003, 07:23 PM

More than economically (though that is a problem too) it's just not physically realistic. As pointed out, there is no material strong enough -- cannot be a material strong enough -- to make it work, and even if you could build it there would be other problems like the effects of rotation on the non-equatorial regions and like where does the solar wind go? The Ringworld idea by Larry Niven is much better.

SE V is going to be a very different game. Maybe there won't be ringworlds/sphereworlds at all, or maybe just as 'artifacts' that you can configure in the map instead of buildable in the gameplay.