Must intelligent species build radio telescopes or be interested in communicating with us? Basalla errs when he suggests that the assumption that they must is mere anthropomorphism, for the assumption is not that all aliens must do so, but that only those we can have any hope of contacting must. Granted, people like Carl Sagan did not always make that caveat explicit, but in my reading of the field, few ever seemed to make the broader assumption.
That said, go ahead and buy the book. Read it with interest, and perhaps wonder why Basalla did not go so far as to call SETI an attempt to eavesdrop on the angels. His argument would permit that extension, and even—if he were an evangelist instead of an academic—charging SETI workers with the sin of hubris.
Hmm ... There's probably a story there...
Copyright © 2006 Tom Easton
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In Times To Come
Our July/August double issue features a dramatic cover by Bob Eggleton for Alexis Glynn Latner's novelette “Witherspin.” Humans have long tended to reshape both themselves and their surroundings, and that tendency can only be expected to increase. Put a highly modified fugitive into a world designed to be exotic and challenging, and you get quite a tangled web of a story, and quite a picture!
C. Sanford Lowe and G. David Nordley present “Kremer's Limit,” a self-contained novella that is also the beginning of something much bigger. Scientific research in the past has tended to require ever more and bigger investments of time, money, and equipment, but how far can that process go? Suppose, realistically, that you want to learn to make black holes for fun and profit. Even a prototype requires close coordination of massive construction projects done over decades on worlds of widely separated stars. The technical problems are bad enough, but when you throw in such inevitable problems as human attention spans, rivalries, and chicanery, it becomes an enormous challenge in every sense of the word—too big and far-flung to be contained in one story. “Kremer's Limit” gets the attempt underway, but the ultimate outcome is far from certain...
Richard A. Lovett's fact article is a fascinating look at what mantle plumes can tell us about what's going deep in the core of our native planet. We'll also have Part III of Edward M. Lerner's four-part novel A New Order of Things, and a wide variety of stories by such writers as Joe Schembrie, Ian Stewart, Shane Tourtellotte, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Carl Frederick, and Brian Plante.
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Brass Tacks
Dear Analog,
I just finished reading “Dinosaur Blood” [January/February 2006] by Richard A. Lovett and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was whimsical and serious at the same time, especially the excellent opening paragraphs. The whole issue was very good, but “Dinosaur Blood” was my favorite part. If you cannot print this letter, please pass it on to Mr. Lovett. Thanks!,
Amber E. Scott
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Dear Dr. Schmidt,
I picked up on a brief reference in Richard Lovett's interesting and thought provoking story, “Dinosaur Blood” in the January/February 2006 issue.
Rhona reports from her online search that she found a reference to a huge solar panel installation in New Mexico. What's interesting about the citation is that Rhona reports that the installation caused sufficient local climate change to cause severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that killed 1,500 people.
I am quite interested in seeing major solar panel installations in this country, out on the Gulf of Mexico, as well as elsewhere in the world, and wonder if Mr. Lovett knows of any climate studies that predict a negative effect of large solar panel installations.
I would have expected temperatures to drop if solar panels absorb energy from the solar flux.
I would have expected that heating of the existing desert terrain would result in heating of the air at least as great as would occur from a large array of solar panels, so that if the terrain were shaded, then air heating would actually drop.
Tom Hanson
Columbus, OH
The author replies...
Thanks Amber; “Dinosaur Blood” was one of the most fun-to-write stories I've ever done.
Tom, I'm thrilled that you picked up the reference to solar power and thunderstorms. It's in the story largely because I didn't want “Dinosaur Blood” society to be using such facilities, and was looking for a feasible way to foreclose the option. As far as I know, nobody's done any research on this. But it makes sense and I think somebody should look at it.
You asked about heating vs. cooling. Rhona actually had the same uncertainty. Her full statement was:
“They tried it back in the twenty-first century, but it didn't work. Something called the ‘heat island’ effect. Or maybe a ‘cold island.’ The literature is a bit inconsistent and they were sucking a lot of power out, so it might have been energy drain, not waste heat that created the imbalance—"
You can get a “heat island” effect even if the ground is shaded, because the solar panels might be darker-colored than the ground was. Then they could simultaneously produce electricity and heat up. On an energy-balance basis, the way this works is that light that would normally be reflected into space goes partially to producing electricity and partially to heating up the array.
With a big array, it wouldn't take a huge temperature change to produce thunderstorms. There is research on the urban heat island around cities like Houston and Atlanta. The studies, reported at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union a couple of years ago, found more (and bigger) thunderstorms downwind of big cities than upwind of them.
Alternatively, the solar cells could be lighter-colored than the land they replace. Then you'd get Rhona's “cold island.” That's a lot more speculative, but it seems likely that you'd get an impact on diurnal airflow, with down-flow in the center and rising thermals at the sides. At a minimum, you might get some exotic edge effects at the sides of the array. Instead of creating a big thunderstorm cell in the interior, you might get a ring of them around the outside.
The operative word here, of course, is “might.” I'd love to see a climate modeler take a crack at this. From the point of view of the story, of course, all that matters is that Rhona's civilization tried, botched it, and gave up. I can think of some possible fixes, but that might be another story, and her civilization wouldn't have tried them.
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Dear Dr. Schmidt,
I enjoyed the short story “Report on Ranzipal's Plus-Dimension Carry-All” in the January/February 2006 issue. Unfortunately, it spoiled the rest of the issue for me. I just couldn't get the technology off my mind. The idea of “pocket universes” (PUs) intrigued me greatly. I don't know if the author, Mr. Tiedemann, has written more stories using this concept. If so, I would truly like to read them. It just seems like there are so many possibilities for future stories.
If a fanny pack size carry-all can contain a baby grand piano and more it must be capable of great expansion. If this pack is easily portable, its power requirements must be very low. If it can absorb 150 kilograms (for at least short periods of time, on “overload") then there are a lot of options. Some questions/ideas that occurred to me are (in no particular order):
This seems like a perfect soldier's pack. This would certainly lighten the load soldiers today are expected to hump. Also, it would seem that this could be an instant foxhole or bunker. The only exposure that a soldier would have is through the mouth of the bag. If the fanny pack unit is hardened sufficiently, it could withstand even a nuclear explosion. There would have to have provision for air supply for extended stay. I suppose that there would have to be a way to vent heat generated inside the bag too. Without that, someone could cook from his or her own body heat.
Camping could be affected. Right now, there is a minimalist philosophy in camping based on what you can carry on your back. That may be appropriate. If the PU technology is embraced, every man could be his own “Winnebago". Energy usage would be c
ritical. Even climbing Everest would be within the range of the middle-class. No base camping would be necessary. If supplementary oxygen were allowed, a strong mountaineering type would have no problem.
If a person can climb inside and stay for an extended period of time, this could affect transportation greatly. If all a transport company needs to transport is something the size and weight of a fanny pack, they could either increase the number of passengers, or reduce the size of the transport vehicles. Either would increase profits. Safety would be increased. If a transport went down, passengers might not even be aware of it until they emerged at the end of the trip time. That might be awkward, but I'm sure that there would be communication between the real world and the pocket universe.
If you wanted to go on a vacation cruise, you could take your entire home with you. No strange sheets, mattress or cutlery to worry with. It's already yours. No strange room layouts, it's “Home” after all.
If a person didn't want to deal with “normal” transit between home and work, there could be many alternatives. Strapping your unit into a powered skateboard, model aircraft, human-sized telerobot, etc. shouldn't be a problem. That should expand the current transit experience from what is currently experienced. Telecommuting is an option currently, but actually making the relocation without the necessity of encountering “difficult” people could be appealing. No smells, little risk to personal security, personal comfort by not having to leave our own personal space until the ultimate point of contact at the job would be very attractive.
I'm guessing that the only limitation as to what size of PU, and the amount of mass it could handle would be the power requirements. With increased power, a person could have their home in one easily-transportable package. With a larger power pack, it might not be fanny pack size. It might be backpack size. For people that are highly mobile, this could be very convenient. Some people might never have to really leave the office, but still go home. Just plug in the backpack to a convenient wall plug, stash the backpack at your desk, and ‘Shazam’ your ready to go. Management might frown on this. Or maybe not, they'd always have their workers “on-call” if necessary. This would give new meaning to the term “prairie dogging". Everyone truly would have his or her own hole. Waste disposal and water supplies in the holes could be a problem, but if water and waste storage each had their own fanny pack size PU, you could go for a long time on your own. Periodically these would have to be filled or emptied appropriately, but this could be done on an exchange basis, similarly to the way we do propane tanks now.
What if you lived in one of these units, and someone stole it while you were out? Worse, what if someone did it while you weren't? I'm guessing that each unit would have wireless communication so if you were snatched, you could scream for help electronically. I assume each unit would have a unique, traceable serial number, GPS signature, etc.
If units like this were to become mainstream, rather than having roaming “Winnebago” type existence, they could be tied to a kiosk type link. This would be opposed to traditional housing. The only link would be a “permanent” address and connection to site utilities. There would be different “classes” of kiosk depending on the level of utilities required. If a person wanted to appear as a high-roller, but only have a minimum investment, they could use even a back pack PU. I doubt that the hookup connections would be directly compatible, but adapters could easily be available.
I assume that if people can live in these units, that locks can be installed from the inside to prevent unauthorized entry. If the mouth of these units can be locked from the outside, kidnapping can be greatly facilitated. Smaller units could be fired at individuals, sort of a high-tech version of the netting that Arnold underwent in “Running Man". Depending on the size of the unit, an entire crowd could be snatched. Police could use this for crowd control.
Putting locks on the outside of the units opens up changes to the penal system. You could have as large a cell and as many amenities as you can afford, without affecting security much. Utility costs (power, water usage, etc.) would be paid for by the inmate, above a basic minimum.
Apartment buildings and prisons might greatly resemble one another. I envision these as being much more related to automated, computer-operated warehouses than traditional buildings today. If an occupant wants entry into or out of their unit, they signal the control unit, which selects the appropriate unit and transports it to a vestibule area for entry or exit. If a friend drops by for a visit, they either contact the control unit to request communication with the occupant, or contact them directly. If you want to interact face-to-face, you respond. If not, the visitor gets an answering machine type response.
An extremely large apartment block might require a series of vestibules and be organized similarly to airplane gates. If security issues are involved, a series of private booths might be utilized.
The possibility of having your own PU could broaden personal freedoms. If “the freedom to swing my arms ends at the tip of your nose", but there is no possibility of my actions affecting you, then my freedom should not be infringed. This could result in mini Las Vegas experiences ("What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"). This might require people to prove that what they do behind closed doors does not affect the larger world in any significant way. If these pocket universes are ruled to be outside the normal universe and applicable law, then anything is possible between consenting (or possibly non-consenting) individuals, animals, etc. This can yield interesting, if not down right scary, possibilities. Almost anything can be transported between PUs without any knowledge of outside authorities. If I want to order up a prostitute, she can be delivered to my door by courier, possibly within minutes (hot and ready to go, sorta like Domino's).
If these back pack units aren't too expensive they could be a great way to dispose of a body (bodies?). Just do the dirty deed, walk out, close it up, pick it up and walk away and throw the unit in the river or any convenient trash receptacle. I assume that once the power pack runs out, that the contents of the bag return to the normal universe. By that time, it might be in some location that would be difficult to track back to the perpetrator.
The original story details that an override mechanism releases the contents item by item, but I assume that a total failure or shutdown of the system returns all the contents into the real-world universe instantly. Depending on the size of the PU this might or might not cause a problem. A large enough PU collapsing into the real-world could cause what would amount to an explosion. A large zero-gee PU grid entering a real-world environment and collapsing could cause a real mess by itself. If there were environmental problems (chemical, biological, etc.) the problems would be exacerbated. Terrorism raises its ugly head again.
The possibility of larger PUs opens more variations on the basic soldier's pack. You could put the bulk of tanks, battleships, etc. into a larger bag and only expose gun ports, vision ports, tracks, screws, etc. exposed. This would minimize the need for armor, except on the exposed parts. You might even be able to “turtle up” and pull everything back inside for brief periods. Elimination of the weight restrictions on vehicles puts no limitation on engine or crew size. With inertia virtually eliminated, maneuverability is maximized. What conventional vehicle could compete?
If you just want to use a conventional vehicle, the use of PUs could be the perfect armor. If you open the mouth of a PU to every side of vulnerable vehicle, nothing can get through. Even a nuclear weapon would just go down the rabbit hole, and never affect the target, even if the enemy could detect it through the shield of the PU. The use of PUs as armor could be limited by visibility “back to front” through the mouth of the mouth of the PU. As the PUs aren't really part of our universe, I'm guessing that that they'd be transparent, or virtually so. This isn't addressed in the original story.
Space vehicles would be particularly affected by the use of PUs. Everything but exhaust, sensors, telemetry etc. outside the PU would be massless. Tank size, engine size, crew compar
tment volume, etc. would be irrelevant to flight performance. Speeds would be increased and transit times would be greatly reduced dramatically. Generation ships might not be required to begin colonization of other planets.
If gravity were eliminated inside the units, what would the space inside be like? I am assuming that the volume inside is only defined by the object or objects inside. Even a light-weight structure could define a large volume. I don't think people would be comfortable in a large-volume space that they could be trapped in due to zero-gravity. I'm guessing something like a giant “monkey bars” arrangement would be better. This would provide a framework to fasten appliances, equipment, etc. to. What comes to mind is the traditional Japanese partitioning of space using even something as insubstantial as rice paper.
Zero-gravity inside the units could cause interesting aspects to a story. Life-extension is one aspect. Loss of bone mass, similar to that experienced by astronauts, could cause people to be confined to a zero-gee experience. I thought that this would imprison people in the homes, but then it occurred to me that pocket universes wouldn't be confined to residential use. Commercial use would probably be more significant than just the residential. If you can have an entire factory or warehouse in one of these units, with little, or no real estate requirements, that could be a real advantage over a traditional arrangement. Again, if the PCs are judged to be outside the normal universe/rules/laws, then the tax position is affected.
Does gravity have to be eliminated? If a PU had a large opening/volume ratio and was oriented horizontally, the PU is more a dome than a pocket. I think that this would give gravity in the PU. Of course, it's less of a true pocket universe than others.
If a person lives in a zero-gee PU and wants to visit another PU all they have to do is contact a transport company to do the transfer. If the “real world” unit is small enough, this could even be a bicycle courier. Depending on security levels, weight of the unit, etc. this could be left up to an armored car company or even more. Once the PC is transported into the new PC, the occupant exits from one zero-gee environment into another.
Analog SFF, June 2006 Page 25
