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From: okamoto@ucbvax.ARPA (Doctor Who)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: The Ringworld Polar Projection Maps
Message-ID: <10610@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 10-Oct-85 11:06:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.10610
Posted: Thu Oct 10 11:06:34 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 17:52:53 EDT
References: <3944@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 51

In article <3944@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>, JWHITE%MAINE.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA writes:
> From: JWHITE%MAINE.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA  (Jim White)
> 
> The time line isn't right for it to be any other way. I suspect,
> and I'd have to reread the timeline in Known Space, that about the time
> Phssthpok was entering the Sol system, the Puppeteers were greedily seeding
> Ringworld with the superconductor pathogen, (give or take a thousand years).

The Puppetteers seeded the Ringworld around 1732 AD. [1]

> An important fact to remember here is that the Ringworld is mobile. The
> Ringworlds sun could be flared by manipuating the magnetic effects of portions
> of the Ringworld 'scrith'. The sun would move and the Ringworld's attitude
> jets would chug furiously to keep up.

Sorry, but the Ringworld will be "tethered" to its sun by gravity.  The
attittude jets need only be used for lateral movement of the Ringworld.

> Someone will probably be delighted to
> calculate what it's maximum speed and acceleration might be, but I suggest that
> both would be sufficient to be able to escape the core explosion.

The acceleration is EXTREMELEY small, but the sun has a lot of fuel to use.
And, when the sun has expended all its material, the scrith can generate a
ramscoop field and thus propel itself and provide light for the surface.
(Granted that the color will be off, by quite a bit....)

> I advance the theory that the Ringworld is some giantic Noah's Ark. It was
> built near the core world of Pak by breederless Protectors who had staved
> off death by starvation by generalizing their protective instincts to generic
> Pak and, yes, even non-Pak species.

The problem there is if this is so, why did they build it so near Earth where
the exploratory Pak are?  Seems to me that if they wanted to stay well away
from them, they would explore in the OPPOSITE direction that the first Pak
went in.

> I believe that the Ringworld has been traveling hither and yon thourghout the
> galaxy for quite some time. During that time the Pak have collected species
> and built replicas of the species home planets.

Hmm, interesting theory.  But it makes no sense.  First of all, the Known
Space planets are by no means on a straight line.  They would need interstellar
craft to reach all the myriad planets.  Second, the puppetteers would have
noticed the Ringworld long before they claim they did.  Same goes for the
Kzinti.

[1]  Cf, Chaosium's Role-Playing game "Ringworld" (Check out the credits :-)

The New Number Who,		okamoto@BERKELEY.EDU
Jeff Okamoto			..!ucbvax!okamoto