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This same tech was on the cover of a 1971 IEEE Spectrum magazine. I don’t see any advancement since then.
by wrycoder 4y ago
This same tech was on the cover of a 1971 IEEE Spectrum magazine. I don’t see any advancement since then.
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y agoRoland Emmerich's first from 1984! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Noah%27s_Ark_Principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Noah%27s_Ark_Principle
- MichaelZuo 4y ago100 km of atmosphere in the way of any 'beaming' makes the economics unviable even with recent drops in launch prices. It will likely have to be assembled in space from materials mined in space to ever work out.
- avmich 4y agoMicrowaves pass through atmosphere with negligible losses.
- MichaelZuo 4y agoThe losses certainly are not negligible, they're >> 10%.
- fnordpiglet 4y agoThat’s why Bruce banner was experimenting with gamma rays. It’s a shame what happened to him.
- e12e 4y agoInfrared laser in wavelengths between 8 and 13 micrometers? The inverse of radiative cooling? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15176721 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15176721
- guyzero 4y agoClearly the answer is to run high tension cables
- wrycoder 4y agoElectrify the space elevators.
- zabzonk 4y agomining things in space is something we could concievably do in the next 100 years or so. constructing things, like for example a 3-core electrical cable? don't hold your breath.
- ZeroGravitas 4y agoThere's been all sorts of improvements since then, reusable rockets, better PV, the list goes on and on. Still doesn't make any sense because alternatives, like ground based solar and wind have also advanced considerably. In fact, if you use the best available alternative source of electricity as the benchmark, it's regressed noticeably since the 1970s.