Chapter 17 Chapter 12 The Flying Cosmic City

Cosmic cities, like giant space stations, will be dotted around the fixed orbits of the solar system.Residents of the cosmic city can engage in farming and develop more advanced space technology. Before I went to the Princeton Advanced Research Laboratory to visit Professor Deason, I imagined the appearance of this great man, but when I saw him, I found it completely wrong.In my imagination, the person who broke up the planets, reorganized the entire galaxy, and made great contributions to all mankind should be a man with a burly figure, a man with an iron fist, and a voice as loud as thunder.I was dead wrong about every single point.He was a man of letters, soft-spoken and timid.He is highly intelligent.He often thinks about the human beings in the future universe, so people regard him as a madman.But the scientists who followed him didn't think so.Diessen has an epoch-making and lofty status in the scientific community.He is a fellow of the Royal Society, past president of the Federation of American Scientists, and scientific advisor to many federal government bodies.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded him the precious Lawrence Medal.He was awarded the Max Blanc Medal by the German Physical Society.The Center for Theoretical Studies in Miami has elected him as the recipient of the Oppenheimer Memorial Prize.

The possibility of his cosmic engineering project came slowly, and he was inspired by watching his colleagues work on a project to detect the intelligence of advanced civilizations by detecting radio signals emanating from galaxies similar to our solar system.Some astronomers, for the next fifty years, would hold that the Milky Way is full of planets, and that in fact they cannot communicate with each other, and that this splendor is radio communication.Durek was the first famous scholar to hold this theory.In 1960, he wanted to know whether it was possible to detect artificial signals from two adjacent planets with similar age and mass to the sun, the two planets are Tian Cang V and Tian Yuan IV.Durek and his colleagues have been watching for weeks on the Green Bank of West Virginia with a huge radio telescope.They called this project the Omega Experiment Project.They use frequencies as high as 1420 megahertz, because at this frequency the starry hydrogen layer emits waves of radio energy.They suspect that this frequency is similar to that in the galaxy, which is the method used by the universe to communicate regularly.A few weeks later, Elidani discovered that she was receiving an unartificial signal.Astronomy became very agitated, and it was suggested that Washington must be rushed.The opposite climax is quickly reached when man-made wireless power leaks from some hidden place.This whole experiment drew fierce criticism.Here's what Struff, one of the program's participants, had to say:

The project has attracted more vitriol and praise than any recent astronomical inference.As a result of this incident, astronomers were divided into two factions; those who admired it, and those who hated it.I accepted so much public sympathy for us, and I also accepted those malicious criticisms. Diessen was the leading scientist who refuted this principle.But he's not keen on whether Green Bank's astronomers are looking for a public debate.However, he put forward a refutation of the hypothesis of the existence of Martian civilization; if there is a Martian civilization, it will transmit continuous radio waves in all directions, then we will eventually find out that it exists, just as we receive radio waves emitted by foreign countries. Electric waves are as conceivable.But there is a possibility that all signs of our existence are hidden due to the interstellar distance from each other, or that all emitted radio waves are absorbed by the sun's halo.If this is the case above, the existing Martian civilization will doubt: (A) Does the Earth exist? (B) Is there rational life hiding on Earth? (C) Did their way of life benefit from missionary teaching? (D) What if we are too naive to appreciate that this kind of education is dangerous for educators, and send radio waves to the earth?They still can't get the people on Earth who are getting ready to receive their message!After all, our radio astronomy research is only 25 years old!But if the foreign lands are zealous communicators, why do they only pay attention to the earth?There are more than a dozen planets similar to the earth around this foreign land.Given the chance they can come into contact with thousands of different directions.They will not know when their subjects will become civilized and they will continue this sending for millions of years.When we propose to transmit radio wave information to interstellar space, we will wonder how much energy is needed?It's hard not to accept Dyson's conclusion that the exotics would invest their wealth in more profitable ways.Diessen suggested that they should concentrate on developing their own science and technology in small quantities.He therefore urged the astronomers to say that the Martian civilization did not expect to receive their messages, but rather to receive signs of their science and technology.As he wrote in a memorable 1959 essay:

It seems to be expected that the pressure of Malthusian population theory will eventually drive people to adopt a rational provenance to explore more available resources.People can expect that by the time of thousands of years, this kind of rational provenance will be produced by industrialization, and they will live on the original sphere with the earth as the mother body and surrounding the earth. This paper led to the birth of the concept of Diessen sphere, which is a huge project.The Martians will carefully break apart their largest planet, about the size of Jupiter.The Martians would use radiant energy from their home sphere to arrange these fragments in convenient orbits around Mars.The Martians will use this new world for purposes such as living or mining.These spheres would not be rigid structures, since they would not be able to exist dynamically, but they would probably be a mass of tens of thousands of loose flying objects, held together in the same orbit, as Saturn's moons are.Saturn's orbit is formed of millions of hard boulders of ice and dust, so that from Earth's telescopes Saturn appears to be a solid ring.The Diessen sphere would be at a similar distance to this solid ring, but at a wider and deeper ratio to the Sun.

Such a sphere would not be monolithic, since the objects forming it would fly in the same direction to avoid collisions.The sun in the center will provide a clear view of orbiting objects.A bystander observer will find that the sun's rays are obscured by the obscuration of these spheres.According to the age and mass of the sun, it should emit white light or yellow light, but instead it emits infrared light, which is interstellar radiation.In other words, most of the sun's energy has already been used by life living nearby, leaving only infrared rays escaping into space.However, according to more complex optical analysis, if white light or yellow light is emitted from a long distance, it will be mistaken for infrared spectrum due to the loss of energy.Diessen therefore advised astronomers not to hold out too much hope in their quest for information about the Martians.People may turn to doubt whether there is an infrared source in the Milky Way, but this is absolutely against the natural explanation.

Let's wrap up the Martian for a while!Anyway, with our current scientific civilization, there is no hope of observing them or contacting them.Let me go on and describe how Diessen and his Russian colleague Kardashiv accomplished the concept of a Diessen sphere, or what Kardashev called a Type 2 civilization.Let's go back to Diessen's original idea that people can expect that after thousands of years, this kind of rational provenance will be produced by industrialization, and they will live in a sphere around the earth with the earth as its mother superior.This definition clearly explains everything.If we don't argue whether there is a limit to the development of this kind of science and technology, then we will be forced to dismantle the giant planet Jupiter to build a Dyson sphere to surround the sun.We have good reasons why we must do this in order to expand our living space and obtain more raw materials to keep our industry going.

What would a society with such technological capabilities look like?I imagine knowledge, wealth, power (drive) will be nothing like the present or the Middle Ages.How is this society different from the current society?I think it must not be as horrible as the economists' rhetoric describes.I would like to describe the general situation of technological activities in this society from the perspective of energy.Energy is generally measured in ergs.We can understand the situation of social activities from the energy consumed by this society every year.The first example illustrated below is the simple mathematics of an ergometer.

The so-called energy of one erg is the work required to move one gram of matter by one centimeter.For a beetle of normal size, it costs one erg of energy per step to climb a staircase.It takes 100 million ergs of energy for a person to take an elevator for each step up.These actions consume very little energy. In order to measure larger energies, I propose to use units of ten to the 12th power or ten to the eighteenth power, but these units are not enough for astronomy.Let's take the order of ten, which is used in scientific journals for any number.The so-called order of magnitude is the notation that 10<9 is represented by ten to the ninth power.That is, the first power of ten is ten, the second power of ten is one hundred, the third power of ten is one thousand, and the fourth power of ten is ten thousand.

The order of magnitude notation has many conveniences for multiplication and division; for example, to multiply two numbers, you only need to add the powers, and to divide two numbers, you only need to subtract the powers. For example, one billion times one hundred thousand equals ten to the ninth power Ten to the fifth power gives ten to the fourteenth power, and one billion divided by one hundred thousand equals ten to the fourth power. From the point of view of energy consumption, the Roman Empire in its heyday, including road construction, public facilities (such as theaters, arenas, churches, dams), fleet activities, military activities, etc., only consumed 10 to 24 square ergs per year. energy.However, the current scientific civilization of our earth is extremely developed, including roads, railways, air transportation, space vehicles, etc., which consume ten to twenty-nine square ergs each year (ten times more than the five powers of the Roman Empire).It can also be seen from other examples, such as the explosion of a ton of dynamite, which releases about ten sixteenth ergs.The Saturn V lunar rocket required a thrust of ten to twenty-two square ergs to ascend into space.The energy released by the hydrogen bomb explosion (10 million tons) is about ten twenty-three square ergs, which is enough for the Romans to use for a month.The largest volcanic explosion occurred in Krakatau in 1883, which killed 36,000 people. The sound of the explosion could be heard from 3,000 miles away. A hundred times the energy of a 10 million-ton hydrogen bomb.The flashes of light emitted from the surface of the sun can trigger a magnetic storm on the earth, which is an explosion of almost ten thirty-one square ergs of energy.And the sun itself produces about two times ten thirty-nine ergs of energy per year.

What is the growth of technology?What it really means is a rise in the level of technology, and many people don't understand its true nature; if they did, they might not rant.Technology is seldom directly related to pollution, or to the rate of construction activity, or the number of scientists, engineers, or flying growth.The growth of technology is not very stable, but one big step at a time.If someone develops energy that is cheaper than before, technology will take a big step forward.There is a lot of energy in the universe, but sometimes it develops very slowly because people cannot make it generate electricity.The same scientific and technological breakthroughs are unlikely to be repeated. The first wheel-shaped vehicles appeared thousands of years before BC, and had a major impact on the time, changing the entire structure of population and commerce.But the second round vehicle (although better than the first round vehicle) is not enough to say that it is an improvement. Although it has led us to the extreme civilization we have today, the important thing is the great technological breakthrough for the emergence of the first round vehicle .

At present, we are still looking forward to the research and development of two important science and technology. The first is the space shuttle, which can reduce the energy consumption of personnel and materials landing in space by 80%; the second is hydrogen fusion, which can eliminate all energy shortages and The problem of radioactive waste.The development of these two technologies will greatly increase our annual energy consumption.The space shuttle is expected to be officially operational in 1978. At that time, it is confirmed that hydrogen fusion energy can provide the energy we need. By the year 2000 or 2100, all commercial electricity will be provided by hydrogen fusion energy. .These two major technological breakthroughs will increase our annual energy consumption by a factor of one hundred to one thousand (1031 or 1032 ergs).At that time, we will not only solve the problems of energy shortage and environmental pollution, but also enable us to have a billion times the energy potential of the Roman Empire.As Mr. How Li recorded: I would like to serve the government, entrepreneurs, and economists of this time, who believe that the current technology has reached the end of the road.The road that took our ancestors from the primitive wilderness life to today's civilization will not have a big breakthrough.But I believe it will be quite the opposite.The gap between our present and future civilizations will be as much as one hundred and nine.This road to civilization is just beginning!Almost all the good stuff is gone! Wisdom, wealth, and energy are the three elements of human progress.The three influence each other, complement each other, and bring out the best in each other.The current industrial growth rate is about 5% per year, and the industrial growth rate is expected to double every fourteen years (assuming a constant growth rate).By the end of the twenty-first century, training flights between Mars and Venus will become as common as transatlantic flights. Some people may ask, why do we land on Venus and Mars?Why should it be necessary to land on any other planet?Who has an absolute reason to insist that people must live permanently on planets, and oppose space cities?I have described the inevitability of our society to colonize the Moon and Venus due to environmental factors.Overcrowding, competition for survival, nuclear war, and most importantly, the commercial needs of space manufacturing factories in the orbit of the sun, it is expected that the first flying city will be established by 1990. Its diameter will be It is several miles wide and can provide permanent residence for tens of thousands of people. I have already mentioned about the space laboratory on the space station, where spaceflight scientists occupy a quarter of the space, and they live here almost as comfortably as we do here on earth.I say: Almost comfortable.It is because they have adapted to being weightless.The Skylab is so small that it cannot rotate about an axis, and artificial gravity must be provided for the people who live there, but we can imagine replacing it with two Skylabs of similar mass; The rods are connected.Every space station needs gravity so they can walk like they do on Earth.It's easy to fix this; just sail the station in the opposite direction and simultaneously fire the directional rockets; that's when the whole system will start spinning and creating gravity.Assuming that the navigation station ignited the rocket in the wrong direction for too short a time and the gravity is not suitable, then we can re-ignite it until it can generate enough gravity, isn't that all right?If the time of the rocket ignited is too long, and people feel that the weight is too large, how will it be solved?Then we'll fire the rocket in the opposite direction until the station's gravity is comfortably straight.The gravity of the whole system can be maintained endlessly. I'm talking about three hundred yards of connecting rod.Just to make it easier to express the concept that weightlessness traveling in spaceflight is not a problem.It is easy to move a space system and make it rotate.If the residents are to live more comfortably, the original rotational force needs to be supplied by a larger space station.macdonald.The Douglas Aircraft Company is scheduled to complete research on the third-generation commercial space station in 1990, which can accommodate 400 people.A space station of this size does not need connecting rods.The entire system will be large enough to rotate on its own axis except at the absolute center to generate gravity.Even if gravity had adapted to the space system, there would be no reason to limit its size to four hundred people.Its size can be expanded infinitely.They will become veritable space cities, stretching for miles and accommodating more than 10,000 people.But for industrial purposes, although habitable on the periphery of the gravity system, the weightlessness of the absolute center of the city is unavoidable.There are more spectacular and comfortable ones that will be introduced to you.If the city is shaped like a flying saucer, they are double or more complicated rotations so that it always has one side facing the sun for 24 hours, just like the earth has day and night.The bright side (the side facing the sun) of the flying saucer will automatically turn to the side facing away from the sun every twelve hours. Gravity on the surface of the moon is only one-sixth that of the earth's surface, which will provide us with some new industrial processes of partial weightlessness.But weak gravity does not mean zero gravity. When we discuss the moon with the most advanced real technology and astronomy, it is just a part of the center of the weightless environment of the entire space factory and space city (these space factories and space cities can complete more complex Weightless manufacturing.) Such manufacturing would include pure crystals for almost unimaginable electronic applications, extremely high-strength light metals, dangerous nuclear engineering on Earth and even on the inhabited Moon, extremely high gravity Ridiculous metallurgical development.These conditions can be used to produce an industrial satellite that rotates at a very high speed, and the inner surface of the satellite has a very strong centrifugal force.All this technology will be distributed throughout the solar system and make our existence seem like magic. The inhabitants of the Flying City can reproduce almost everything they need.Some of their outer structures do not rotate but will always face the sun.Under the transparent dome house, there are vast farming areas and water planting land.Imagine a sequence of such cities, shaped like giant wheels, each twenty miles or more in diameter.Each city has huge mooring depressions for commercial and inter-city transportation.Every city has smaller satellites orbiting it.These include manned spaceships to deliver people and materials to other cities and planets.Spaceships will become important means of transportation. Another shape of flying city is being proposed by Princeton physicist O'Neill.He proposed that a huge cylindrical city would be more convenient and practical than a disc city.His concept has attracted the interest of many scientists, and I will briefly introduce it.The largest O'Neil-shaped city will be twenty miles long and five miles wide, capable of accommodating more than ten thousand people.This city has lakes, hillsides, forests, pastures, etc.The city is powered by solar energy, so no pollution occurs.A giant mirror is installed on the pivot outside the cylindrical city, which slowly rises and then falls every day. The image and temperature of the sun will be injected through a solar window, acting like the sun on the earth.As O'Neill himself noted: By 2074, most of humanity will be living in colonies in space, using absolutely clean energy sources, having sufficient supplies of food and materials, traveling freely and completely out of government control. Despite O'Neill's poetic beauty, people cannot bear to live in a flying city forever.In the early days, the living environment of the space station, which could only accommodate 400 people, was very oppressive. Most people were willing to stay there for several months only for travel.When larger cities are built, the size of attached parks and gardens must be limited.All the flowers, plants, trees and trees in this park grow under the huge transparent dome, just like they grow on the earth. In any case, cities on Earth are limited by geographic imperfections.For example, the center of Los Angeles is located in a depression in the mountains. Under certain climatic conditions, the waste discharged from cars will be concentrated to an unbearable level; another example is Manhattan is an island in New York City, so that most of the residents must live. In an oppressive dehumanizing skyscraper apartment.There are so many mountains in Japan that the industrial areas are developed around Tokyo, causing serious air pollution problems, and the traffic police must wear masks when they are on duty.Washington, D.C. is the capital of the Western world (meaning the United States), where the summer humidity is so unbearable that the British government called the embassy there a prison before the invention of the air conditioner.In order to break through geographical restrictions, it seems inappropriate to build larger cities on the earth, so we have to find another way to develop on the planet.Build as many cities as you like in space.You can travel back and forth in space as you like, just as you travel on Earth today.All industrial waste can be thrown into a container somewhere in space, and then swallowed up by the sun into nothingness.The source of electricity in the space city also relies on the supply of solar energy, and there are no clouds here that will affect the sunlight.The greatest misfortune in these cities is the faults of men, and if anything breaks, no one but the mayor is blamed. When such cities become more complex, there is no reason why they need to be satellites of the Earth.In fact, people on Earth will be vehemently debating whether they need to be Earth's satellites anymore.Because they have many that will block the sun's rays.They can have their own orbits around them.Eric summed it up as follows: With their huge factories and food production facilities, the city could sustain spaceflight caravans, with its own raw material collection center, politically completely independent city. The construction of the space city is about to start, maybe in the next twenty centuries, when humans develop the earth orbit truss made of extremely light metal, the technology industry in the next ten years will be able to develop extremely light building materials.But in the 21st and 22nd centuries such cities will become innumerable and magnificent.Unfortunately, the raw material factories located on the moon will not be able to supply so many raw materials and there will be a crisis.If such space cities continue to grow, they will be forced to explore looser matter, which fortunately is readily available throughout the solar system.Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the star-shaped area two hundred miles from the sun is a group of tiny planets called the asteroid belt.All asteroid belts are too small to hold atmospheric pressure.The largest of these, called the Ceres, is not more than four hundred and thirty miles in diameter and has a mass one-hundredth that of the Earth.Since it currently lacks economic value, and scientific interest has waned in it by the middle of the twenty-second century, many of them will be destroyed for use as building materials for new inhabitants.In some cases, they will be blown up, and its hard pieces will be carried by rockets closer to the sun.Some larger ones will be hollowed out directly to become a city.Smaller ones can also be hollowed out for transportation.As the Soviet rocket pioneer Sisokovsky once predicted we would one day be able to navigate the planet as we can ride a horse today. In the 23rd century, the places close to the earth's orbit around the sun will be found to be inhabited by countless people and boundless industrial equipment.From our current perspective, it is boundless, but to people at that time, it was still not satisfying.Their level of civilization will be ten to the thirty-seventh erg, a billion times greater than our civilization today.They will still talk about the raw material shortage crisis.They will resent the ring of factories around the sun and the great gaps between cities.We can imagine hearing them say: look at the empty place.New Chicago lags behind the sun by a week.The city of New London no longer appears after four days.What is it between them?There are villages and places of amusement of no importance, hardly exceeding ten miles in diameter at their greatest extent.All space is wasted.They have to do something for humans.But what can we do?We want to expand but we can't.We have many star-shaped wastes, and we cannot touch the interior of the planet, because it is full of people, people cry for a place to live, entrepreneurs and governments cry for raw materials: we can get from there get it? There is only one place to get it, and the man of the twenty-third century will dream of it.The giant planet Jupiter is only twice as far away from the sun as the star belt; future generations will ask: what economic value does Jupiter have in its orbit?It will have 30,000 times more wealth than the planet that has disappeared.If it is broken down, people will live a carefree life for thousands of years.The people of the 23rd century, the people with the potential of ten to thirty-seven ergs will look down on Jupiter in the eyes of need and greed.