Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mmintl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: What an advanced race would come far to get....
Message-ID: <525@mmintl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Jul-85 13:17:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: mmintl.525
Posted: Tue Jul 23 13:17:20 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 25-Jul-85 21:12:31 EDT
References: <2763@topaz.ARPA> <91@rtp47.UUCP>
Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT
Lines: 37
Summary: You can never get enough living space


In article <91@rtp47.UUCP> throopw@rtp47.UUCP (Wayne Throop) writes:
>
>Living space might be a reason, [for alien invasion] 
>but would require an unreasonably
>advanced transport technology to make it feasible and at the same time
>have the technology level low enough to preclude easier solutions to
>population pressure (such as Ringworlds).  (The exception is when cost
>is no object, eg, the aliens need to escape from a supernova or the
>like.)

First of all, I doubt that Ringworlds are an easier solution to population
pressure.  It takes a lot of energy for interstellar travel, but it takes
a lot more to build a ringworld.

Besides, there is an underlying fallacy here: the idea that there is such
a thing as enough living space.  Exponential growth will use up whatever
space is available, in relatively short order.  So we have a ringworld.
In a thousand years we will want another (or ten thousand, or a million).
In thirty to a hundred years, we will want a third.  In fifteen to forty,
we want a fourth.  After that, we start wanting them frequently.

By the way, interstellar travel (at sub-light speeds) is not as bad as most
of us have been led to believe (generation ships and such).  Forseeable
technology will get us about one-tenth the speed of light.  This will get
us to the nearest star in about forty years.  A long time, but many of
those who set out will get there.

A somewhat more problematical technology, the anti-matter drive, will get
us there at one g if we are willing to expend reaction mass comparable to
the delivered mass.  That gets us there in about seven years (a bit less
for the travelers.)  Right now it looks like the biggest problem with this
drive is producing anti-matter economically (it can already be produced,
using particle accelerators, it's just fantastically expensive).  There
are other possibilities, such as lasers, not to mention ideas that haven't
been thought of yet.

In short, our children *can* go to the stars; and even come back.