Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:35:05 pm
EDIT: Fixed buggy link.
Post by: Scott Allen Abfalter on May 07, 2004, 01:36:20 pm
?
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:49:02 pm
Post by: Khalee on May 07, 2004, 01:51:27 pm
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:53:04 pm
Post by: Speaker to Aliens on May 07, 2004, 03:03:03 pm
Quote:
I'm comparing the black hole's room temprature gas torus to the Niven si-fi fantasy Ring World.
Ok, I'll bite. I think you meant the Smokering, not the Ringworld.
Quote:
There are similarities.
There are differences:-
The Ringworld is an artificial ring of ultra dense material 1 million miles wide and 97 million miles in radius with a star at its centre, spinning around at 770MPS (yes - miles per SECOND). The rings surface is sculptured to produce river valleys, mountainss, streams, seas etc. There are walls 1000 miles high to hold in the air. Between the rings surface and the star are shadow squares, these provide a day/night cycle at the surface. The surface area of the Ringworld is millions of times that of Earth. The Ringworlds defensive systems are... well... stellar
, they have to be though - imagine the damage even a simple meteor would do, impacting at 770 MPS!Note:(A Banks' Orbital is a smaller version of a ringworld).
The Smokering is a naturally occuring freefall environment that is the gas-torus (doh-nut shaped ring of gas) formed when a gas giant planet orbits too clode to a neutron star and is torn apart by the tidal forces. In the densest part of the gas torus (at about a 5 hour orbit) the atmospheric preasure is approx. Earth normal. The air remains breathable outwards to the 10 hour orbit and inwards to the 2 hour orbit. Beyond these extremes the air will no longer support terrestrial life. The Smokering presents us with a free-fall breathable-air environment which has many times the VOLUME of the Earth! There is life here, most of which is able to move back towards the densest part of the ring - "In the Smokering even the fish can fly".
Quote:
I was vague because someone who knows the books will pick up on the allusion and find it pleasing.
I did. Thankyou.
Quote:
Someone who has not read the book will not know what I'm talking about but may find the article interesting anyway.
If anybody reading this hasn't read either "Ringworld" or "The Integral Trees" by Larry Niven (or "Excession!" by Iain M. Banks for that matter) do yourselves a favour and beg, steal or borrow these books. They are well worth the effort. (BTW - for a clue to how much I like these stories take a look at my email address).
Larry introduced the Kzintii to the STAR TREK universe in a story called "The Slaver Weapon" (ST:TCS). This was an adaptation of his short story "The Soft Weapon", set in the same furure history as "the Ringworld".
Taldren had to call them the "Mirak" for legal reasons.
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 03:08:36 pm
But still it is an interesting comparison, no? They found and environment like that in the novel. No reason it could not be breathable gases, etc...mere accident that it is not.
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:35:05 pm
EDIT: Fixed buggy link.
Post by: Scott Allen Abfalter on May 07, 2004, 01:36:20 pm
?
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:49:02 pm
Post by: Khalee on May 07, 2004, 01:51:27 pm
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:53:04 pm
Post by: Speaker to Aliens on May 07, 2004, 03:03:03 pm
Quote:
I'm comparing the black hole's room temprature gas torus to the Niven si-fi fantasy Ring World.
Ok, I'll bite. I think you meant the Smokering, not the Ringworld.
Quote:
There are similarities.
There are differences:-
The Ringworld is an artificial ring of ultra dense material 1 million miles wide and 97 million miles in radius with a star at its centre, spinning around at 770MPS (yes - miles per SECOND). The rings surface is sculptured to produce river valleys, mountainss, streams, seas etc. There are walls 1000 miles high to hold in the air. Between the rings surface and the star are shadow squares, these provide a day/night cycle at the surface. The surface area of the Ringworld is millions of times that of Earth. The Ringworlds defensive systems are... well... stellar
, they have to be though - imagine the damage even a simple meteor would do, impacting at 770 MPS!Note:(A Banks' Orbital is a smaller version of a ringworld).
The Smokering is a naturally occuring freefall environment that is the gas-torus (doh-nut shaped ring of gas) formed when a gas giant planet orbits too clode to a neutron star and is torn apart by the tidal forces. In the densest part of the gas torus (at about a 5 hour orbit) the atmospheric preasure is approx. Earth normal. The air remains breathable outwards to the 10 hour orbit and inwards to the 2 hour orbit. Beyond these extremes the air will no longer support terrestrial life. The Smokering presents us with a free-fall breathable-air environment which has many times the VOLUME of the Earth! There is life here, most of which is able to move back towards the densest part of the ring - "In the Smokering even the fish can fly".
Quote:
I was vague because someone who knows the books will pick up on the allusion and find it pleasing.
I did. Thankyou.
Quote:
Someone who has not read the book will not know what I'm talking about but may find the article interesting anyway.
If anybody reading this hasn't read either "Ringworld" or "The Integral Trees" by Larry Niven (or "Excession!" by Iain M. Banks for that matter) do yourselves a favour and beg, steal or borrow these books. They are well worth the effort. (BTW - for a clue to how much I like these stories take a look at my email address).
Larry introduced the Kzintii to the STAR TREK universe in a story called "The Slaver Weapon" (ST:TCS). This was an adaptation of his short story "The Soft Weapon", set in the same furure history as "the Ringworld".
Taldren had to call them the "Mirak" for legal reasons.
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 03:08:36 pm
But still it is an interesting comparison, no? They found and environment like that in the novel. No reason it could not be breathable gases, etc...mere accident that it is not.
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:35:05 pm
EDIT: Fixed buggy link.
Post by: Scott Allen Abfalter on May 07, 2004, 01:36:20 pm
?
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:49:02 pm
Post by: Khalee on May 07, 2004, 01:51:27 pm
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 01:53:04 pm
Post by: Speaker to Aliens on May 07, 2004, 03:03:03 pm
Quote:
I'm comparing the black hole's room temprature gas torus to the Niven si-fi fantasy Ring World.
Ok, I'll bite. I think you meant the Smokering, not the Ringworld.
Quote:
There are similarities.
There are differences:-
The Ringworld is an artificial ring of ultra dense material 1 million miles wide and 97 million miles in radius with a star at its centre, spinning around at 770MPS (yes - miles per SECOND). The rings surface is sculptured to produce river valleys, mountainss, streams, seas etc. There are walls 1000 miles high to hold in the air. Between the rings surface and the star are shadow squares, these provide a day/night cycle at the surface. The surface area of the Ringworld is millions of times that of Earth. The Ringworlds defensive systems are... well... stellar
, they have to be though - imagine the damage even a simple meteor would do, impacting at 770 MPS!Note:(A Banks' Orbital is a smaller version of a ringworld).
The Smokering is a naturally occuring freefall environment that is the gas-torus (doh-nut shaped ring of gas) formed when a gas giant planet orbits too clode to a neutron star and is torn apart by the tidal forces. In the densest part of the gas torus (at about a 5 hour orbit) the atmospheric preasure is approx. Earth normal. The air remains breathable outwards to the 10 hour orbit and inwards to the 2 hour orbit. Beyond these extremes the air will no longer support terrestrial life. The Smokering presents us with a free-fall breathable-air environment which has many times the VOLUME of the Earth! There is life here, most of which is able to move back towards the densest part of the ring - "In the Smokering even the fish can fly".
Quote:
I was vague because someone who knows the books will pick up on the allusion and find it pleasing.
I did. Thankyou.
Quote:
Someone who has not read the book will not know what I'm talking about but may find the article interesting anyway.
If anybody reading this hasn't read either "Ringworld" or "The Integral Trees" by Larry Niven (or "Excession!" by Iain M. Banks for that matter) do yourselves a favour and beg, steal or borrow these books. They are well worth the effort. (BTW - for a clue to how much I like these stories take a look at my email address).
Larry introduced the Kzintii to the STAR TREK universe in a story called "The Slaver Weapon" (ST:TCS). This was an adaptation of his short story "The Soft Weapon", set in the same furure history as "the Ringworld".
Taldren had to call them the "Mirak" for legal reasons.
Post by: Stormbringer on May 07, 2004, 03:08:36 pm
But still it is an interesting comparison, no? They found and environment like that in the novel. No reason it could not be breathable gases, etc...mere accident that it is not.