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 Solar Satellites Beam Back Energy
This is really a great idea, but I can only go back to 1941 for the earliest kind of reference. Anybody earlier? (Read
the complete story)
| "My reference for this isn't as old as your oldest one, but it's still a useful one. In Pournelle's book "A Step Further Out," (a collection of lectures and papers he gave in the late 70's and early 80's) he gave a lot of details of how this sort of thing would work, including some alternative uses for it, and claimed that it could be made with only slight modifications to off-the-shelf equipment of the time. (among the alternative uses was in a variant of the Laser Launch System which was effectively a pulse-jet engine for aircraft, so they'd only need fuel for takeoff and landing, not for the flight in-between)" (Ashley 10/23/2008 12:54:35 AM) |
| "Similar, but not quite the same, didn't NiKola Telsa broadcast power before 1900?" (Baja 10/23/2008 5:40:11 PM) |
| "Tesla tried, at least, and it worked at short range. Terribly inefficient, though. Fortunately most problems with wireless problem transmission have been solved by now.
Now my question. To get over 5 GW you need a humongous collecting surface. Concentrating light using lightweight mylar mirrors on relatively smaller PV cells can reduce weight, but it should still require assembling a large space structure with a huge combined weight. ¿How do you put that in orbit in the first place?" ( 10/24/2008 2:48:04 AM) |
| "Did Stapledon tackle this in Star Maker (1937)?" (jesse 10/28/2008 6:46:14 AM) |
| "Jesse - very good! Stapledon wrote about an idea that was very similar. The Symbiotics had "artificial planets for permanent habitation." They were covered with a transparent barrier to keep the atmosphere in. "Immediately beneath it hung the photosynthesis stations and the machinery for generating power from solar radiation." See the near space energy collection devices." (Bill Christensen 10/28/2008 8:17:33 AM) |
Get more information on Solar Satellites Beam Back Energy
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
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
