An Argument for a Human Colony in Earth Orbit

The best insurance policy for the survival of the Human Race are permanent  off-world colonies. The first one should be in earth orbit. The following discusses the advantages and addresses the problems of this approach.

Immediate and cost effective solution.

All of the pieces  are now in place from the private sector. The International Space Station can be retasked to be the kernel of a modularly  expanding colony. Bigelow Aerospace has modules in production and is testing a module currently attached to the ISS. This colony can be easily supported from earth with private sector spacecraft currently in operation.

Revenues

This colony could generate revenues by functioning as a tourist hotel and space port. Space shuttles can be assembled here for exploring the solar system, asteroid mining, establishing farther out colonies, etc. These shuttles can be as large as needed since they don't land on planets. They can carry landers if required.

Zero-G

The biggest argument against such a colony is bone loss and other health problems due to zero-G. I discount this argument because life evolved in the oceans. Training in pools is the closest astronauts  can get to zero-G on earth. Whales may suffocate when beached, but in the ocean, their bones and organs are just fine. We should be able to adapt as well as they did.

However, permanent space colonists must commit to never living on a planet. They will never again have to plod around under the tyranny of gravity. In zero-G people can essentially fly. Unneeded feet can evolve into hands (What does God need with feet? Are we really made in His image?) Life could actually be better.

Yes, they will forever be dependent upon technology. But naturalists don't understand how  dependant and vulnerable  we are on this one of a kind jewel of a planet. It can be gone in a heartbeat. We must expand our horizons as soon as possible.

If it turns out zero-G is not feasible, we should be able to figure it out long before these colonists are unable to re-adapt to a gravity well.

Self Sufficiency

A priority will be to become self-reliant as soon as possible. This will be the best insurance policy for the survival of the human race. It will be absolutely necessary for remote colonies and can be developed  at low risk here.

Shielding

The advantage of a low earth orbit colony is that it gets sufficient shielding from earth's magnetosphere.  However, the "day" is rather short with a sunrise every 90 minutes . A geosynchronous orbit, or spacecraft will require artificial shielding. I propose a magnet field generator at the center of the structure.

The Benefits of a Magnetic Field

 A strong magnetic field will require quite a bit of power, but can have benefits in addition to shielding. If it is AC or even pulsating DC,  it can be used to distribute power to devices throughout the habitat  without wiring. Pickup coils will transform an AC magnetic field into local current.

One device can be a motility belt that will works against the magnet field and propel the wearer throughput the structure, or enable station keeping. It may be possible to design the belt to use the field like an induction motor; requiring no local power source.



So the ideal habitat will have very large open spaces (simply bubbles) where the occupants can fly around in at will.  This is infinity cheaper  than O'Neill ships, that are massive and must withstand the enormous forces created by rotation in order to generate artificial gravity (no one living today will ever see one).

Generational Starships

These habitats can be used as starships . All that is required is a propulsion source. I propose the sun. We use a Dyson swarm to collimate a large light beam to Alpha Centauri, using reflectors, or lasers if necessary. It should have a solar flux density roughly equal to that which illuminates Earth. This will provide all of the energy required for the journey. The habitats will use this "light bridge" to sail to the next star. It may take 100,000 years, but stay at homes will simply orbit the sun for that same time period. This light bridge should be miles in diameter in order to support a flotilla of spacecraft and all of the asteroids and comets that will be sent along for raw materials. Only light sails are required to these masses.

The one problem with this is that local inhabitants must maintain the bridge for the required length of time or. at least, not interfere with the robots built to maintain it. Assuming, of course that no other energy source  is developed during that time.

Another argument is why try to colonize the next star with such low tech. In 1000 years we will develop warp drive and zoom past them. Maybe, but they can be picked up along the way. But then again what difference does it make whether you are spinning in circles around a star or on a linear  trajectory between them. The habitat is your home.

This journey can be shortened significantly if the habitats can be decelerated in order to achieve orbit around the star. There is a danger of traveling so fast that the habitats cannot be captured by the star. If robots can be sent to the destination star ahead of time, they can build a bridge that can decelerate the habitats. This will be a more reliable energy source since it can't be interfered with by Terran politics. This opens the door for gravity lovers. A strong enough  solar flux density can accelerate the habitats at one-G and then at mid point decelerate them at one-G. Sorry, but I can't do the math to come up with actual numbers for the journey to Alpha Centauri. However, since they will probably prefer to remain in their habitats while orbiting the star, they will be back to zero-G.

We colonized the Earth with sails. No one suggested to wait until we invent jets.

For those of you who can't conceive of  a space habitat as comfortable as earth, you forget about the storms, hurricanes, tornadoes , fires, floods, earthquakes, etc. that we have had to deal with for the past 100,000 years.

Search for Intelligent Life

If some other intelligence in our galaxy is using light bridges for this purpose, we should be able to detect them. This will confirm both their presence and the viability of this approach. Start looking.

One reason we haven't seen aliens yet may be that intelligence life simply colonizes space. Living in zero-G may have advantages which includes lots of room for expansion. They may have little interest in gravity wells. All you need is a star for energy... if that.

So why aren't they orbiting our star and mining our asteroids? Perhaps there is no rush to spread your seed throughout the galaxy. Just doing it is sufficient.

The Permanent Disposal Of High Level Nuclear Waste

Abstract

This document outlines a technology that is intended to provide a permanent solution to the disposal of high-level nuclear waste. It has as a second objective a method to create revenues by generating electricity from this waste. The following topics are presented:

·         The permanent disposal of high-level nuclear waste.

·         Generating electricity from high-level nuclear waste.

·         Generating electricity from nuclear fusion.

·         The permanent disposal of low-level nuclear waste.

  

History

Several years ago Scientific America reported that Lawrence Livermore Laboratories proposed to develop a device that could be used to more accurately measure the yield of a thermonuclear warhead. This device is a vessel that can contain the detonation of an H-bomb. The detonation would heat the box and thus, the energy released could be measured. It is basically a giant calorimeter. If such a device could be built, then the objectives delineated above are feasible.

This document will propose how this devise, hereafter called the “Box”, can be used to economically solve the nuclear waste problem.

  

The Permanent disposal of High Level Nuclear Waste

The reason for proposing such a strong and massive device as the Box is, of course, for safety reasons. The Box must permanently and safely contain high-level nuclear waste for thousands of years. It must be able to withstand all possible scenarios for such high concentrations of waste, such as small explosions or meltdowns.  Although it may be possible to engineer a smaller and weaker version of the Box to achieve these goals, a Box that can safely contain the detonation of a full-scale thermonuclear warhead can expand the scope of the project. This will be discussed later.

The primary objectives for this approach are:

·         Permanent disposal of high-level nuclear waste.

·         Safety: No possible way for this waste to find it’s way into the environment. Whatever goes into the Box, stays in the Box.

·         Cost: Although this Box is expensive, billions of dollars have already been spent with no permanent solution in sight.

Generating electricity from high level nuclear waste

The problem (and advantage) with concentrating high-level nuclear waste is the heat that can build up in the Box. If enough heat is produced, then electricity can be generated from the Box. Coolant pipes can be placed in the walls of the Box to extract the heat. See figure 1. It may be possible to find the right ratio (mass of the Box) to (mass of the waste) to generate electricity for thousands of years. If this is true then the Box will pay for itself well before it’s lifetime.

For safety reasons it would be wise to design the Box to withstand this heat build up with no active cooling.

If enough heat cannot be produced from concentrated high-level nuclear waste to generate electricity, at least the disposal problem is solved. However, there is a solution for this situation.

Figure 1

Electricity generated from concentrated high-level nuclear waste

Generating Electricity from nuclear fusion

The Box can be the first practical online fusion reactor if it is strong enough to safely contain a thermonuclear detonation. There is a large stockpile of warheads to be disposed of. Since tritium and deuterium have a limited shelf life, it may be more economical to extract the energy with the Box than any other method.

This can be used in conjunction with nuclear waste to periodically add energy to the Box if the waste does not produce enough energy of it’s own. The radioactive byproducts will remain in the Box and add to residual energy production.

Disposing of low-level nuclear waste.

The Box can be used for the disposal of low-level nuclear waste if a filter can be designed to extract the radioactive elements from the gases that must be vented from the Box. The radioactive material will be thrown back into the Box. This is high risk and requires advanced technology.

Summary

This document outlines a low-tech solution to many of the nuclear waste problems our country faces. The technical problems and considerations that arise to implement this technology are not discussed. It is the goal of this document to foment such a discussion.

Faster than Light Communication

If the following is true, then faster than light communication is feasible.

1. Quantum entangled photons are emitted pairs, or structures.

2. Any change in one will instantaneously affect the other, no matter what the distance between them. For this design, the change will be annihilation. One theory states that simply measuring one photon will collapse the wave front. Reflection or absorbsion should also work.

An emission source is required. It would be fortunate if a star would suffice. 

The transmitter can be any distance from the emitter, the receiver on the opposite side must be slightly farther away. Let's say they are both 10 light years away from the emitter.

The receiver is measuring the photons issuing from the emitter. 10 years ago, two sets of entangled photons left the emitter. They arrive at the transmitter first, who then annihilates enough photons to be detected by the receiver. The receiver measures the change in flux density immediately after they were annihilated by the transmitter. 

Thusly, an instantaneous digital data stream can be established over a distance of 20 light years, delayed only by how much farther away from the emitter the receiver is than the transmitter.

The advantage of using a star is that they have been emitting photons for millions of years. All that is required is that the receiver be able measure the change in flux density created by the transmitter. Only annihilated entangled photons will be useful. They don't have to be on opposite sides of the star, just preferably equidistant from it. 

SETI hunters might want to look to see if an alien intelligence is modulating a star in order to communicate. I would start with the hydrogen spectral line, but maybe a broad spectrum works better. 

If a star is impractical, then a laser emitter should work. If annihilation is impractical, any method that will allow a receiver to measure a statistical change  will do.

Musings on The Fabric of the Universe

My weakness in mathematics prevents my being a physicist, but it interests me greatly. In trying to make sense of the current state of physics, I have come to view the Universe much differently than most. Allow me to present a hypothesis that the universe is composed of a fabric of fields. it further proposes that what we observe as particles, or "strings" are merely resonances in this fabric. What follows is a simple 3D model of how this universe might function.

A particle

A particle can be defined as a point in free space. A point can be defined as the intersection of three orthogonal planes: electric field, magnetic field, and gravitational field. A particle is a resonance between these fields at this point or "node", There must be a resonance mode to account for every unique particle in the Standard Model. In its null state, this node appears as empty space. A resonance at a node displaces one or more of the 3 fields from its null state and becomes "visible" to the universe. Since these fields extend to infinity, a displacement at a node pushes or pulls at every other node in the universe according to the inverse square law.

Below is a snapshot from Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos. Envision an infinite number of parallel electric field planes, orthogonal to those an infinite number of parallel magnetic field planes and orthogonal to both an infinite number of parallel gravitational field planes. Particles can exist only where these planes intersect: the nodes illustrated by the intersection of three lines. It is not likely that space is organized in such a simple 3D pattern, but let's keep it simple for now.

The 4 episodes of The Fabric of the Cosmos

Quantum Mechanics

Particles appear to be fairly stable once they come into existence (conservation of energy). This allows them to jump from one node to another in order to move about. This may account for the quantum effect that perplex so many physicists.

The Photon

The Photon may be a simple example. It is a resonance mode primarily between the electric and magnetic field planes. First transferring its energy into the electric field plane and then the magnetic field plane 90 degrees out of phase as it jumps from node to node at the speed of light.

  

The Electron

The electron appears to be a resonance between the electric and gravitational field planes. This gives it "mass". The resonance seems to be DC, if such a thing is possible. The static displacement of these fields, described as a point source interact with all other particles similarly displacing these fields in accordance to the inverse square law.

Gravity

This hypothesis is  not inconsistent with Einsteins General Theory of Relativity which asserts that particles with mass bend space. The difference with my hypothesis is that these particles are not independent of space, but simply resonances that displace the gravity field plain from it's null state. This displacement falls off in accordance to inverse square law.

Field Equations

Newton's Law of Gravity posited that it was a force field that pulled matter toward each other. Einstein's theory of curved space is more robust and favored by physicists. But no one has come up with similar alternative explanations for the magnetic and electric force fields, so the concept of force fields are still with us. They are remarkably similar.

This is the "inverse square law" cited above. The force diminishes with the square of the distance between them.

But how does an electron generate an electric field that reaches to infinity and interacts with every other subatomic particle in the universe? One theory is that photons act as intermediaries. That's a lot of photons. We don't see them.

My hypothesis is that particles are connected by the fabric of space itself, it is not that different except for the concept that there are no independent particles at all.   

Dark Matter and Dark Energy

The Electron may give us a clue about Dark Energy. Particles that displace the electric field planes in like manner are pushed apart. The nodes of Space/Time don't move, the resonances are moved to other nodes because they are connected by the fabric.

Similarly, particles that displace the gravitational field planes in like manner are drawn together. We just don't understand all of the possible resonance modes, or the mechanism by which particles influence each other.

Resonance

Resonance is a common phenomena in our universe. It occurs in both mechanical and electrical systems, and is remarkably similar in both. An electronic tank circuit uses a capacitor and an inductor to store energy using magnetic and electric fields. Theoretically, it could continue forever if not for losses in this system at room temperature. All it needs is to be excited with energy.

It is easy for me to see how the fabric of the universe can act as a tank circuit. As in the photon, which is alternating current, or AC.

An electron appears to be direct current or DC. It doesn't appear to oscillate. It stores it's energy like a capacitor and statically displaces the electric and gravity field planes. However, it can move from node to node and when it does, it displaces the magnetic field plane, so I choose to call it a resonance mode as well.

This is consistent with String Theory which says that all particles are vibrating strings. Note the use of the word resonating. The quality of a musical instrument depends on resonance.

I believe that the strings are the fabric of the universe itself.

String Theory

For your convenience the three episodes of "The Elegant Universe" are linked below. I have never worked with String equations. The episodes don't explain how vibrating strings generate the electric and magnetic fields that our technology is based on. However, I believe that integrating String Theory into the Fabric of space will bring us closer to the truth.

The laws of Physics.

We don't have any true laws of physics because we really don't know what the universe is. 

What we have are very powerful mathematical models that predict the behavior of the universe to some very high degree of accuracy. This is a very good thing because it gives us the power to predict the future, and it proves to me, at least, that these laws do exist.

However, I think we will be stuck with these models for a very long time because the true laws of physics work only at the subatomic level. To use them at the macro level, we must know the state of every subatomic particle in the universe at some particular instant in time and then calculate how they influence every other particle. This may never be possible.