[extropy-chat] 10th Planet Discovered

[Brent Neal]

 (3/15/04 15:49) Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:

>On Mon, Mar 15, 2004 at 09:26:48AM -0500, Brent Neal wrote:
>
>> Its seems to me that a necessary condition for any outer planet colonization is a manufacturing base outside of our gravity well.  
>I'm sure some will disagree, but unless we -vastly- improve the cost of putting a pound in orbit, even Mars remains a difficult 
>colonization prospect.
>
>Sustainable colonization is equivalent to local fabbing. The launch
>capacities are only a bottleneck if your seed size is not small. Not a
>problem with small scale technology, especially nanotechnology.

Your argument is almost circular. You assume colonization as a fait accompli, essentially. You also (apparently from your previous email on the subject) assume the inevitability of molecular replicators. I would certainly prefer that the possibility of colonizing the solar system not be dependent on the development of a technology that may or may not be possible, or if possible at all, be centuries away.  We have the technology -right now- to colonize the inner system, were we to bootstrap carefully, and to gain large returns from doing so. Why wait for self-replicating nanomachines?


>
>> 
>> I find the hype about Sudna to be an exceptionally amusing journalistic conceit, considering that many astronomers are proposing 
>removing Pluto's 'planet' status. Categorically, it makes more sense to do that that to try to find some arbitrary size limit on KBOs 
>that defines 'planet' or not.
>
>http://www.hvgb.net/~sedna/story.html
>
>Sedna is a very significant figure in Inuit mythology. There are a number of
>different versions of the myth of Sedna. I will share with you the one I
>prefer.


Yes, but what does this have to do with whether this body is considered a planet or not? 

B
-- 
Brent Neal
Geek of all Trades
http://brentn.freeshell.org

"Specialization is for insects" -- Robert A. Heinlein