Re: Nefertiti's lovely elongated head

On Oct 8, 4:55 am, rick_so...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Oct 8, 3:05 am, "rick_so...@xxxxxxxxxxx" <m...@xxxxxx> wrote:



See for yourself. Here is a lttle bit more... written in 1937 Star Maker.

"Stapledon imagines alien biologies, minds and civilizations radically
different from human ones. But unlike Stanislaw Lem's Solaris, all these are
supposed to be fundamentally similar in the long run, since all are governed
by
the same Darwinian and Marxist laws of development. These views, rooted in the
late 19th and early 20th century, may appear dated to some modern readers. The
eclectic mix of popular science, socialism and religious mysticism is
Stapledon's own.

Some of Stapledon's ideas for alien minds, such as collective intelligence,
seem far ahead of their time, anticipating recent ideas about swarm
intelligence and the general fascination with networks. He also mentions the
idea of virtual reality in the first alien world visited, in the form of an
apparatus that directly affects sense centers in the brain. The idea of entire
worlds as spacecraft is used several times."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Maker

And thanks to the amazing world of the Internet, you can even read the bool
on-line.http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601841.txt

And in the preface, wouldn't you know it, he atrtributes certain
things regarding artificial planets to this man!
J.D. Bernal
"He is also famous for having firstly proposed in 1929 the so-called
Bernal sphere, a type of space habitat intended as a long-term home
for permanent residents."

Wrote this book,
The World, the Flesh & the Devil
An Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul
J. D. Bernal
1929

And there was movie made in the 50's with that name, and it was not at
all based on that book. Or so they say.

So if you like to read, you might find out more information there as
well.

here is the man...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Bernal

here is his book.http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Bernal/

(we are going to be back chipping flint soon and someone will still be
saying it was all their idea)

("The ship is all" From a book Universe by Robert Heinlein and
featured in the pages of galaxy! And in the old time radio series. In
that story people live inside a ship, like the moon, and they think it
is the universe. Ring the change bell, is an expression from that
story. Here then is an excerpt from J.D. Benal on his Benal Sphere...
from Chapter 2, The World )

"Imagine a spherical shell ten miles or so in diameter, made of the
lightest materials and mostly hollow; for this purpose the new
molecular materials would be admirably suited. Owing to the absence of
gravitation its construction would not be an engineering feat of any
magnitude. The source of the material out of which this would be made
would only be in small part drawn from the earth; for the great bulk
of the structure would be made out of the substance of one or more
smaller asteroids, rings of Saturn or other planetary detritus. The
initial stages of construction are the most difficult to imagine. They
will probably consist of attaching an asteroid of some hundred years
or so diameter to a space vessel, hollowing it out and using the
removed material to build the first protective shell. Afterwards the
shell could be re-worked, bit by bit, using elaborated and more
suitable substances and at the same time increasing its size by
diminishing its thickness. The globe would fulfil all the functions by
which our earth manages to support life. In default of a gravitational
field it has, perforce, to keep its atmosphere and the greater portion
of its life inside; but as all its nourishment comes in the form of
energy through its outer surface it would be forced to resemble on the
whole an enormously complicated single-celled plant.

The outermost layer would have a protective and assimilative
character. The presence of meteoric matter in the solar system moving
at high speeds in eccentric orbits would be the most formidable danger
in space travelling and space inhabitation. Certain meteorite swarms
could be avoided altogether by keeping out of their tracks; larger
meteorites could be detected at a distance by visual observation or by
the effect of their gravitational fields. These might be avoided by
changing the course of the globe or deflecting the meteorites by
firing high-speed projectiles into them. Smaller meteorites would be
impossible to avoid. The shell of the globe would have to be made
strong enough not to be penetrated or cracked by them, and would have
to possess regenerative mechanisms for repairing superficial damage.
Possibly the function which our atmosphere performs for the earth
could be imitated by jets of high-speed gas or electrons which,
projected at meteorites, would vaporize them and thus prevent them
doing any damage. At the same time meteoric matter might be the chief
source of the material required for the growth or propulsion of the
globe if a method of assimilating it could be found.

The outer shell would be hard, transparent and thin. Its chief
function would be to prevent the escape of gases from the interior, to
preserve the rigidity of the structure, and to allow the free access
of radiant energy. Immediately underneath this epidermis would be the
apparatus for utilizing this energy either in the form of a network
carrying a chlorophyll-like fluid capable of re-synthesizing
carbohydrate bodies from carbon dioxide,. or some purely electrical
contrivance for the absorption of radiant energy. In the latter case
the globe would almost certainly be supplied with vast, tenuous,
membranous wings which would increase its area of utilization of
sunlight. The subcutaneous circulation would also have the necessary
function of dissipating superfluous heat, in as low temperature
radiation as possible. Underneath this layer would probably lie the
main stores of the globe in the form of layers of solid oxygen, ice
and carbon or hydro-carbons. Inside these layers, which might be a
quarter of a mile in thickness, would lie the controlling mechanisms
of the globe. These mechanisms would primarily maintain the general
metabolism, that is, they would regulate the atmosphere and climate
both as to composition and movements. They would elaborate the
necessary food products and distribute mechanical energy where it was
required. They would also deal with all waste matters, reconverting
them with the use of energy into a consumable form; for it must be
remembered that the globe takes the place of the whole earth and not
of any part of it, and in the earth nothing can afford to be
permanently wasted. In this layer, too, would be the workshops and
laboratories concerned with the improvement of the globe and
arrangements for its growth.

Inside the mechanical layer would be the living region and here
imagination has a more difficult task. It would, of course, not be
necessary to have either houses or rooms in the same sense in which we
have them on the earth. The absence of bad weather and of gravitation
makes most of the uses that we have for houses superfluous. Perhaps we
can safely assume that a certain number of cells closed by thin, but
sound-proof, partitions would be necessary for work requiring special
isolation, but the major part of the lives of the inhabitants of the
globe would be spent in the free space which would occupy the greater
portion of the center of the globe. "


.

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