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" I sometimes suspect that we're seeing something in the Internet as significant as the birth of cities. It's really something new, it's a new kind of civilization."
- William Gibson
 |
| Near-Space Solar Energy Collectors | ||
| Generating power from solar radiation closer to the source. |
This is a very early reference to this idea, the first that I know about.
| The Symbiotics... armed with their highly developed physical sciences and with sub-atomic power, they were able to construct, out in space, artificial planets for permanent habitation... The planet's external surface, which was wholly transparent, encased the atmosphere. Immediately beneath it hung the photosynthesis stations and the machinery for generating power from solar radiation. Part of this outer shell was occupied by astronomical observatories, machinery for controlling the planet's orbit, and great 'docks' for interplanetary liners. |
| Technovelgy from Star Maker,
by Olaf Stapledon. Published by Methuen in 1937 Additional resources -
|
Read more about the artificial planets envisioned by Stapledon.
Compare to the power planet from Power Planet (1931) by Murray Leinster, the solar energy beam from Masquerade (1941) by Clifford Simak, the solar station from Isaac Asmov's 1941 story Reason and the solar beam from The Long Way (1944) by George O. Smith.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Star Maker
More Ideas
and Technology by Olaf Stapledon
Tech news articles related to Star Maker
Tech news articles related to works by Olaf Stapledon
Near-Space Solar Energy Collectors-related
news articles:
- Space-Based Solar Power May Yet Happen
- Navy's Orbiting Solar Panels To Beam Energy Down To Earth
- PRAM Solar Powered Satellite Hardware Tested In Orbit
| Will Space Stations Have Large Interior Spaces Again? |
| Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution |
| Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri |
| The First Space Warship For Space Force |
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'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
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'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
