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> Star fuel management is a difficult but necessary problem for advanced species to solve. I imagine that's not necessarily true. It may be that advanced civi

by ColanR 7y ago

> Star fuel management is a difficult but necessary problem for advanced species to solve. I imagine that's not necessarily true. It may be that advanced civilizations harvest energy from stars, but live in interstellar space ships (which would also explain why we can't spot evidence of them).

m4rtink 7y ago
Sure, but stars have the majority of mass in a solar system, so you might want to basically deconstruct them to make more ships/habitats. See Orions Arm/deep well industrial zone as an example. :)
anonsivalley652 7y ago
That's assuming it would be worth the investment (because systems in most areas of the observable universe can be few and far between) to go to other systems, when you could invest in preserving your own home system by exploring and colonizing planets, planetoids and such around the home-world. When you commit to interstellar travel, you basically need an entire planet's-worth of supplies, energy and biosphere or you send self-replicating robots. It's not like we can miracle up another Earth or go to another solar system anytime soon. Our best bets are to preserve what we have and have a look at the moon, Mars, etc.
- wongarsu 7y ago
  If we had any reason to go there we could build a starship that can reach Alpha Centauri in 100 years or so travel time [1]. Building a ship of a few hundred meters diameter and stocking it with a supplies for 100 years and a few thousand thermonuclear bombs as fuel would be a giant effort, but very doable. Once you have civilization on both ends of the journey you can probably set up a less energy intensive travel method (maybe a scaled up skyhook [2]) 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propuls... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure)
- ColanR 7y ago
  > worth the investment Actually, it might be. One solution to Fermi's Paradox is the idea that we can't see other alien species because they're hiding from potential predatory alien species. Hiding in the vastness of interstellar space would in that scenario be a very good move.

by ColanR 7y ago

m4rtink 7y ago

Sure, but stars have the majority of mass in a solar system, so you might want to basically deconstruct them to make more ships/habitats. See Orions Arm/deep well industrial zone as an example. :)

anonsivalley652 7y ago

That's assuming it would be worth the investment (because systems in most areas of the observable universe can be few and far between) to go to other systems, when you could invest in preserving your own home system by exploring and colonizing planets, planetoids and such around the home-world. When you commit to interstellar travel, you basically need an entire planet's-worth of supplies, energy and biosphere or you send self-replicating robots. It's not like we can miracle up another Earth or go to another solar system anytime soon. Our best bets are to preserve what we have and have a look at the moon, Mars, etc.

wongarsu 7y ago
If we had any reason to go there we could build a starship that can reach Alpha Centauri in 100 years or so travel time [1]. Building a ship of a few hundred meters diameter and stocking it with a supplies for 100 years and a few thousand thermonuclear bombs as fuel would be a giant effort, but very doable. Once you have civilization on both ends of the journey you can probably set up a less energy intensive travel method (maybe a scaled up skyhook [2]) 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propuls... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_(structure)
ColanR 7y ago
> worth the investment Actually, it might be. One solution to Fermi's Paradox is the idea that we can't see other alien species because they're hiding from potential predatory alien species. Hiding in the vastness of interstellar space would in that scenario be a very good move.