astropolitics.org Blog » Sci Fi

Top Ten Space Weapons

dolman — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:09:01 +0000

The Christian Science Monitor offered a link to”the Worst Space Weapons Concepts Ever.”

The link connets to Space.com’s “Top Ten” pages, which has the “Top Ten Space Weapons.”

Sounds liek a bit of false advertising on CSM’s part, but the Space.com writer’s do try to titillate:

Weapons in space may seem like science fiction, but they’ve been creeping ever closer toward science fact. The U.S. may have proposed a space weapon ban, but others are actively researching military strength in the high frontier. Here’s a look at 10 nasty ways warfare may reach space.

Nanobrains for nanowarriors?

Esotericon — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:48:46 +0000

Having been accused of being a nanobrain myself, I initially took offense… Seriously, this article suggests some very interesting developments—one could use this concept to control a MEMS device that could interact with molecules chemically, but could be controlled both in terms of movement and chemical interactivity, sort of like Fantastic Voyage without Raquel Welch…

A Panama Canal Going Up?

Eros Pace — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 18:35:28 +0000

Here’s an emerging sci-fi technology that’s beginning to shed some of its giggle factor — enough so that a year ago last fall, Arthur C. Clarke felt comfortable saying the following in a London Times column:

The space elevator was the central theme in my 1978 science-fiction novel The Fountains of Paradise (soon to be a Hollywood movie). When I wrote it, I considered it little more than a fascinating thought experiment. At that time, the only material from which it could be built — diamond — was not readily available in sufficient megaton quantities. This situation has now changed, with the discovery of the third form of carbon, C60, and its relatives, the Buckminsterfullerenes.

…As its most enthusiastic promoter, I am often asked when I think the first space elevator might be built. My answer has always been: about 50 years after everyone has stopped laughing. Maybe I should now revise it to 25 years.

Nova aired this story last month (Jan 9th) reporting some of the latest developments in the field. IEEE Spectrum published a feature article on it here. Actually building a space elevator today remains a feat for the fanciful, perhaps. But if this thing even remotely starts to materialize, watch out. The nation that moves first on such a lifting system could accrue enormous security and economic advantages, advantages that may well be insurmountable for those that choose to stand to the side. As such, how this story unfolds — if it does — has significant geo- and astrostrategic implications. Is it too early to begin considering some of them? Probably not.