Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Earth Now Needs Agricultural Worlds
SF writers pondered this problem a generation ago, and came up with the answer. (Read
the complete story)
| "WWF suggestions:
We share the Earth with 5–10 million species or more - By choosing how much of the planet’s biocapacity we appropriate, we determine how much is left for their use. To maintain biodiversity, it is essential that a part of the biosphere’s productive capacity is reserved for the survival of other species, and that this share is split between all biogeographic realms and major biomes. To manage the transition to sustainability, we need measures that demonstrate where we have been, where we are today, and how far we still have to go." (Bill Christensen 11/2/2008 5:36:25 PM) |
| "Call it 'cynicism,' it just seems like at the end of the day people are gonna say screw the environment, screw those foreigners, screw everything. If any politician ever says anything remotely like 'your kids will not have as much stuff as you do, and your grandkids will have even less,' or god forbid 'STOP HAVING SO MANY GODDAMN KIDS,' that's the end of their career. It's like being halfway down the bridge in a game of chicken where you have to call a vote and elect a new driver before you can swerve." (foo 11/3/2008 5:32:06 AM) |
| "Also, Philip K. Dick fans could always hope for a Crack in Space (also published as Cantata 140). Here's a quote from the part where a Jifi-scuttler repairman finds a passage to a parallel Earth.
'"This may be Earth, but it's obvious that it isn't our Earth. In that case, whose is it? And how many Earths are there?"
|
| "Every Malthusian prediction to date has been proven wrong. I'm not going to hold my breath. " (AJ Dual 11/4/2008 8:45:42 AM) |
| "You really can't get around the fact that US citizens support their lifestyle by being the number one consumer of 11 of the top 20 traded commodities. Corn, coffee, copper, lead, zinc, tin, aluminum, rubber, oil seeds, oil and natural gas - the US gets the largest share. It's just not possible for the rest of the world to live the way we do. Even if we made unlimited energy available in some sustainable way, there is no way to manufacture enough goods without resources. What are we going to do about that?" (Bill Christensen 11/8/2008 2:29:01 PM) |
| "How about O'Neill habitats for agricultural worlds? Being smaller than planets and being a product of engineering, they can be optimized for food production, with no bad weather or pests. The asteroid Ceres alone contains enough material to build enough such habitats to provide over five hundred times the land area of Earth. Enough room for people and food production alike. The entire Earth could become a nature/historical preserve." (Sailor Barsoom 1/29/2009 11:39:42 AM) |
Get more information on Earth Now Needs Agricultural Worlds
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned; if you have a comment, send it to bill at this site (include the story name) and I'll post it.
More Articles
Huawei Pura X Folding Phattie Phone
Why can't we get more innovative phone configurations?
Sleep Pods At Daxing International Airport
'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
Robot Baristas Learn Their Trade Without Paying Royalties
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
JAXA Int Ball 2 Coming Right Along As Star Wars Remote
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
Robot Bricklayer Or Passer-By Bricklayer?
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
Robot Gas Station Attendant Pumps Gas For You
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
Engineer Creates Crazy Motorized Track Hospital Bed
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
