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"The first thing that's wrong with being a science-fiction writer today is that the present has caught up with the future and surpassed it."
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![]() A fascinating description of Saturn's rings from the standpoint of a mining geologist.
In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of minerals formed by gravity separation during sedimentary processes. The name comes from the Spanish word placer meaning "alluvial sand".
The part that I find fascinating is that the author implies that in the rings of Saturn there could be a useful separation of minerals or materials caused by gravity over millions of years.
Fans of Mark Twain of course remember the wonderful comparison of placer mining with pocket mining from his excellent 19th century novel Roughing It.
Compare to harvesting Saturn's rings from Alfred Bester's 1978 novel The Computer Connection.
See also asteroid mining from Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898) by Garrett P. Serviss,
asteroid mining (blasting) from Asteroid of Gold (1932) by Clifford Simak, the
meteor miner from Salvage in Space (1933) by Jack Williamson,
asteroid claim law from Jurisdiction (1941) by Nat Schachner, the
asteroid mining robot from Catch That Rabbit (1944) by Isaac Asimov, the
asteroid mine from Love Among the Robots (1946) by Emmett McDowell, and
asteroid metal from The Mechanical Monarch (1958) by E.C. Tubb. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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Science Fiction
Timeline
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'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
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'... with a weird simulation of life, the ten forked ends of each arm commenced a rattling pressing of the buttons.'
Philippines Coast Guard Cuts Chinese Barrier
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'
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