Post AlZ3Q6YcORocoRL9lo by isaackuo@spacey.space
(DIR) More posts by isaackuo@spacey.space
(DIR) Post #AlZ3Q0KvWRIZWEt8b2 by Hcobb@spacey.space
2024-09-01T13:47:36Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
What exactly are the colony systems shipping back to Sol system to pay off their trade deficit in intellectual property such as entertainment, scientific development, and R&D?https://www.reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/ keeps saying metals, but starlifting Sol would be astronomically less expensive.1/2
(DIR) Post #AlZ3Q1CoI6OsDM6AaG by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T15:03:01Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@Hcobb The key to interstellar trade is to provide something that can't be acquired within a single solar system.What is that? Relativistic kinetic impactors. One or more star systems some light decades away can launch a stream of relativistic impactors of gradually increasing cruise velocity - coordinated time on target style to all impact at the same point simultaneously.This is suitable for various tasks such as stripping a gas giant's atmosphere to get at the juicy core.1/2
(DIR) Post #AlZ3Q2z3gCaXjHgDQW by Hcobb@spacey.space
2024-09-01T13:47:46Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Whataboutism the Flag is the Trade? The colonies provide allegiance to the empire of Sol and hence have their local militia hired by the empire. The settlement of the galaxy is tiny line item in the military budget called "Distant Intelligence, Surveillance, and Recon".2/2
(DIR) Post #AlZ3Q6YcORocoRL9lo by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T15:04:47Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@Hcobb This sort of time-on-target relativistic impactor service is something that star systems can provide to each other on a "you scratch my back I scratch yours" basis.But a star system can't provide it to themselves. It requires a "runway" light decades long.2/2
(DIR) Post #AlZFQUaqEAIwoBKbjs by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T16:30:00Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@Hcobb Another potential service is data storage. What is the most efficient form of data storage? Photons. The number of bits stored per joule of photons blows away the number of bits stored any other way.Only one problem ... photons move at c, rather than staying put.So if you want to store a lot of data in photons, you need an interstellar network of photon relays. It's delay-line memory upscaled to interstellar levels.
(DIR) Post #AlZG2hDLkc8ExLYnWS by cstross@wandering.shop
2024-09-01T18:21:43Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@isaackuo @Hcobb @nyrath Yes, but then you run into absorption by the interstellar medium, diffraction effects, beam spreading, and so on. I suspect the amount of power needed will be insane and the bandwidth piffling.
(DIR) Post #AlZRdExmqiVtY0uQM4 by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T18:29:58Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@cstross @Hcobb @nyrath I've calculated the size required for efficient intergalactic photon transmission and it's only on the order of 10,000km. Even with dumb zone plates, we're talking roughly 25% efficiency. With fresnel lenses (which are actually possible with X-rays), efficiency can be higher - and also such fresnel lenses can be easier to make.By intergalactic, I mean on the order of millions of light years. Within a galaxy, you can use much smaller lenses.1/2
(DIR) Post #AlZRdGrTn8elR1yPnk by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T18:31:53Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@cstross @Hcobb @nyrath (I was studying intergalactic photon transmission for purposes of supplying power to an intergalactic mission.)For interstellar communication, you can also use gravity lenses on both ends.2/2
(DIR) Post #AlZgTAsChRqBHMxKEa by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T22:26:22Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@cinebox @cstross @Hcobb @nyrath That's why I say it's a potential service. It assumes that your civilization is ALREADY utilizing all of the available solid matter for ... whatever.For example, you could have almost all solid matter tied up in computers running sentient being models. The population could be unimaginable to us already, but what if they want more? You could time-share runtimes to boost population by many orders of magnitude ...1/2
(DIR) Post #AlZgTD4KXKjG5Ye2Pg by isaackuo@spacey.space
2024-09-01T22:30:00Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@cinebox @cstross @Hcobb @nyrath But if all your matter is tied up in computing hardware already, where do you store, say, 6 orders of magnitude more data in the time-sharing population?That's where interstellar delay line storage comes in. The photons doesn't cost extra solid matter.2/2
(DIR) Post #Alb9f9irtYGZ0xcAIy by 60sRefugee@spacey.space
2024-09-02T16:02:17Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@isaackuo @cinebox @cstross @Hcobb @nyrath I fear that an expanding colonial Kardashev-3 civilization would regard existing in an actual physical body in an actual physical environment as a tremendous waste of resources, and forcibly download all of us into virtual reservations.