5 ms·
Neal Stephenson imagined these in The Diamond Age: After we developed the technology to grow pure diamond in any shape, we used it to create ultra-thin rigid sh
by dreamcompiler 4y ago
Neal Stephenson imagined these in The Diamond Age: After we developed the technology to grow pure diamond in any shape, we used it to create ultra-thin rigid shells for giant airships, pulled a slight vacuum inside, and they floated.
The book is about much more than that though.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- dcminter 4y agoOne also crops up in Banks' "Feersum Endjinn" which I think pre-dates it by a couple of years?
- h2odragon 4y agoSee also Fred Saberhagen's "Empire of the East," which pre-dates Banks. His characters are non-tech but have a "Djinn of Technology" who can conjure things for them, but they haven't the understanding to ask for the right things or use them, at first. He has fun with it. Once they get a balloon in the air they ask for a rudder to steer it; and get the wrong kind.
- pixl97 4y agoDjinn of technology, I expect we'll see that next when someone hooks a LLM to a 3d printer.
- messe 4y agoNot just Endjinn, I think vacuum dirigibles are mentioned in a few of the Culture novels.
- throwaway68979 4y agoThere are airships and dirigibles, but not vacuum ones (or at least, it's not mentioned they are) IIRC.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- euroderf 4y agoAnd will busted-off pieces float forever, presenting obstacles to navigation ? They will need to degrade in wavelengths found at altitude.
- dreamcompiler 4y agoA diamond vacuum balloon (or pieces thereof) would fall to the ground very quickly if it lost vacuum. If we ever developed this technology, regulators would probably object to such construction because of the potential danger of falling diamonds hitting somebody on the head.
- hgsgm 4y agoThe surface of earth is almost entirely empty of people. We've blown up space shuttles and they don't hit anyone.
- krisoft 4y agoThis is also a thing in the diamond age! The book mentions that they have laws to regulate that packaging material has to be heavier than air to prevent floating garbage.
- darknavi 4y agoIt's funny that you mentioned Neal Stephenson because when I read "vacuum balloons" I thought about the Luk (onion) space suites from Seveneves.
- raylad 4y agoThe idea is much older: First proposed by Italian Jesuit priest Francesco Lana de Terzi in 1670... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship
- water-data-dude 4y agoAlastair Reynolds (one of my favorite hard sci-fi authors) used the idea a few times as well. Mostly as a minor detail, but “A Spy In Europa” had cities supported by hyperdiamond vacuum balloons, which is a pretty great image.