Space elevator

[Abegweit]

Perhaps people should investigate issues before ranting about them The Space Elevator is not the stuff of science fiction. It is a very serious concept which is close to being feasible using today's technology. Theoretical calculations indicate that carbon nanotubes have the required strength. The only technological problem remaining is that we have not yet figured out how to make a cable out of them. This will probably be resolved with 5 years or so. Once it is worked out, and I have no doubt that it will be, the possible applications of "CNT rope" obviously go far beyond that of a cable to the sky. No question that the sky cable is by far the sexiest though

Liftport is a company which proposes finishing the project by 2018. howstuffworks explains the technology, which most definitely is not pie in the sky.

Oh. And there are several competing technologies which are being seriously considered to replace the gubermint-sponsored strap-yourself-to-a-bomb-and-go-go-go! technique. The most promising rival is a railroad up a mountain in the Andes. The basic idea is that an object gets continuously accelerated up the track until finally it is moving fast enough to achieve orbital velocity. And, yes, there are companies putting their money behind this concept too.


Edit: More on the sky cable: current calculations indicate that it will have the width of a piece of paper. That really is the stuff of science fiction!

 

[Coase]

Seriously, why get bent out of shape about this? Alpha Centauri had the Human Genome Project as a futuristic pie-in-the-sky "project," apparently something that wouldn't be completed until we mastered the art of interstellar colonization. Today it's here. If Firaxis wants to put a Space Elevator or a Supercollider or a Reverse Malaysian Transmorgifier, more power to them. If it bothers you, don't build it, and you can claim a "moral victory" while the Persians scrape your charred remains from the palace and use it to fuel their jet pack to the moon.

 

[Tiresias]

Indeed if we were to build a spaceship to go to alpha centauri the only feasible way to do it would be to construct in space, and the best way to do that would be a space elevator, saving us using incredible amounts of fuel

 

[Fabius]

The game is mostly about history, but if it ends in 2050 what do you want to do, have the game stop you in 2005 and make you wait a few months before you can play 2006, after which you have to wait 12 more months to play 2007? Maybe it could be like an encyclopedia, with annual updates to allow us to patch in new techs once they become "history" instead of "future tech"? I would love to spend the next 45 years playing one game of Civ IV so I wouldn't violate the "history only" rule.

And if I remember correctly Civilization was 6000 years from the founding of your civilization for a "time victory". Which meant if you delayed a turn or two at the beginning you'd end up playing for a very long time in the end. I did that once, had a civilization not going so well and couldn't wait to hit the year 2000 and end the game, but I fooled around looking for a good spot early on (probably why my civilization sucked) and it seemed like the game just would not end! That was back in the day where you won by killing off everyone, or else the 6000 years ran out.

 

[Thalassicus]

One key point about the game "representing history" is that it has always had a Space Race Victory. This is where you build a spacechip to colonize Alpha Centauri! A space elevator isn't nearly as far fetched.

The key problem with a space elevator is funding. All the biggest projects in history have been funded by the military, or strategic politics, and I don't see why the military would need a space elevator.

Both Russia's and the US's space programs were funded because they were worried the other would produce military platforms in space before they could. Most of medicine has advanced due to the military as well, not to mention the invention and miniaturization of computers. What need would the military have for easier access to space?

 

[gibbie99]

Actually the military aspect for medicine isn't really true. Yes, the Defense Dept does sponser some research, (also the Dept of Energy), but most medical research funding comes from the NIH. I guess the military has invested in battlefield applications, like a quick sealing wound patch, coagulants, etc. Not to mention transfusions and ABO blood typing, that was based on WWI. But by and large, no, most medical research is sponsered by the NIH, at least in the past 50 years. Before that, I would guess most research of any kind was sponsered by universities. Anyway I wouldn't get caught up in what is realistic or not in the game; it doesn't correspond 100% to reality nor should it.

 

[slothman]

If civ requires stuff that can be built then we would have to remove the fusion plant.
As well as the cure for cancer, for civ3.
Also any of the spaceship victory.
Just 1 Apollo wonder and who builds that first wins.
SDI, even a weakened and useful one, fallout scrubbing too.

None of those exist but they are theorized and partly done.
The current way has more diversity and is more fun, though not completely historic.
At least those are nearby.

 

[gibbie99]

Fallout can be scrubed, look at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. But it would take decades to do so. A modern ICBM would vaporize a city and all it's inhabitants; the first bombs were only 1 megaton if I recall. Modern ICBMs have yields of approximately 100 megatons. But, yeah, it can be done.

 

[Fabius]

That's right, Civ has always had Space Race victory condition. I forgot about that from the first one. I usually aimed to kill everyone, but that Civ I space race was tough. You never knew quite when to launch it, as once it was launched it couldn't be recalled or added to (obviously) but it wasn't who launched first it was who arrived first. I remember games where I would launch first, but the AI who launched 5 turns after me had a faster ship which beat me to A.C.

That certainly added a new dimension to the end game, not just building 5 of this, 3 of this, and one each of that, that, and that. You could build a behemoth with almost 100% chance of arriving . . . in 20 years. Or one that was lean and mean, with only a 70% chance of making it . . . in 10 years. I wish we had that aspect of the space race back.