[ExI] libertarian (asteroid) defense

Eugen Leitl eugen at leitl.org
Wed Mar 2 13:39:26 UTC 2011


On Wed, Mar 02, 2011 at 05:03:10AM -0800, Damien Sullivan wrote:

> Might ruin solar power too.  Might; a slight dimming could mess up

Using realistic predictions for terrestrial photovoltaics
conversion rate, we might be mostly done by 2050, with
some uncertainty in terms of Earth's total consumption by then,
and the amount of electrification required to partly 
absorb loss of fossil fuels and liquids.

Assuming above happens, by 2050 there will be the beginning
of increasing extraterrestrial photovoltaic capacity, which 
would actually show exponential growth if fueled from
extraterrestrial resource base, and stay on an exponential 
track for a long time.

Notice that such extraterrestrial photonics base could be
made to act as a giant phased array radiator, allowing
you to target potential impactors to change their orbits.

> temperatures without removing that much light.  Don't know how dark
> nuclear/impact winters are supposed to be.

One of the damage modes of impactors is ignition of organics
by molten impact ejecta as well as some ejecta aerosols 
persisting in the upper atmosphere, causing a nuclear 
winter-like effect.

So it's less totally dark than dimmish, with nasty particulates
descending from the skies (though not nearly like a supervolcano) 
very cold, and ozone layer destroyed for a few years.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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