[ExI] rebuilding a saturn v today

Mike Dougherty msd001 at gmail.com
Tue Mar 29 23:16:29 UTC 2011


On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 4:12 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> Of course, nearly everyone on that path could get very cheap solar power:
> they could get perhaps twice the output from their panels at no extra
> charge.

Considering the number of outdoor "nightlights" and motion-triggered
floodlights that my neighbors employ to keep the darkness away, my
guess is that many would welcome the absense of scary scary night
hours.

In "Destiny's Road" Larry Niven poses a nanotech solution of polishing
the moon's surface to mirror-smooth finish to provide solar power at
night.  Probably some other bits of future-tech magic too, it's been a
while since I read it.  I always wondered what that might do to
plants/animals that depend on the cycles of light/dark.

In the case of the suncatcher ribbon, I assume you would attempt to
focus the light as much as possible to ground collectors, so how far
from the equator would one need to be to still be able to see the same
number of stars as the average suburban american?  (I imagine the
average urban american is already scarcely aware that stars would
otherwise fill the sky if not for light pollution)



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