Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Are Black Hole Starships Possible?
Fascinating paper makes fascinating reading, particularly as an adjunct to the early fictional work done by Arthur C. Clarke. (Read
the complete story)
| "Their method for construction seems rather similar to EE 'Doc' Smith's "Negasphere" (from the Lensman novels): An initial massive energy pulse to create it, then feed it waste mass to grow it. The Negasphere had more in common with antimatter (and negative-energy matter) than a blackhole though.
Gunbuster (1988) alsojhad a drive system utilising two spinning black holes. It's name (the Tannhauser Gate) was referenced in Blade Runner." ( 12/5/2009 8:34:39 AM) |
| "Leave Hal in charge and you can feed it the crew." (Peter Jacobs 12/6/2009 2:57:19 PM) |
| "One minor correction. In Joe Hadelman's "Forever War" the humans and Taurans did not use black-hole/singularity powered ships, but Hadelman postulated the galaxy was full of black-holes or "collapsars" black holes with no accretion disk or easily visible signs, with comet or Pluto-like boies orbiting them. A spacecraft hitting one collapsar would instantly appear at another collapsar in the direction it was traveling. (Better hit the first one in exactly the right direction!) " (AJ Dual 12/6/2009 7:53:24 PM) |
| "AJ - on second thought, I think you're right. That novel referred to a 'tachyon drive' without too much explanation, along with collapsars used as gateways." (Bill Christensen 12/7/2009 9:14:14 AM) |
| "Was it me or did you completely forget the movie Event Horizon. I was pretty sure the ship there was powered by a black hole." (Brandon 12/9/2009 8:46:58 AM) |
| "Brandon, I completely forgot. I think you're right though, although I don't remember the exact details of how the black hole is used." (Bill Christensen 12/9/2009 3:18:36 PM) |
| "Peter - great idea for a space horror flick! Sorry it took me so long to comment. Also, that scenario kind of reminds me of a Robert Heinlein story in which there is a hole in a space craft (or moon habitat) and grizzled space veterans take turns sealing the hole - by sitting on it. I guess you could take turns feeding the black hole, too. I think the story was 'Gentlemen, Be Seated'." (Bill Christensen 12/9/2009 3:29:24 PM) |
| "Unfortunately Clarke's black-hole drive suffers from serious issues. Firstly, a 1000 ton black hole would probably detonate in less than a second. Second, black-hole accretion - what powers the A-drive - is Eddington limited to a mere 6.38 W/kg specific power. Hardly spectacular even if it releases ~5.7% of the infalling mass-energy." (Adam Crowl 5/5/2010 2:30:18 AM) |
Get more information on Are Black Hole Starships Possible?
Leave a comment:
Please send your comments to @technovelgy and I'll post them. Thanks!
More Articles
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
Can Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Control The Weather?
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
SETI Suggests Prospecting The Solar System Without Landing
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
Wolfram Alpha Mathematica Predicted by Science Fiction in 1948!
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
Cislunar Space And The Space Lanes of Golden Age Science Fiction
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
NASA Moonbase Update
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
Neuralink Will Allow Humans To Communicate With ... Animals?
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
Special Lights For Driverless Cars!
'That light is actually the Anamorphic Equalizer...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Harrison Bergeron, Illustrated And Practiced
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'Maybe The Woman Of Your Life Is Still Under Production'
'The Dillard people had performed a miracle and put all the works in a girl-modeled case.'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions.'
Living Human Neuron Biological Compute Rack
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry
'...a synthetic which air-friction would erode.'
