Ha! Sometimes I Amuse Even Myself
Not today, however. Okay, we'll get to the Delft in due course. Patience. Lest you become some.
Anyway, you recall yesteryon, where Conrad was blathering on about an amateur astronomer's suggested bundle of speculative technology, which when constituted as a starship, would allow humans to reach Alpha Centauri within 20 years? Solar One, he called it. Lasers were a big part of the onboard systems, being used to both clear a path through space, and provide additional boost behind. Art!
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| This is not helpful, Art. |
Conrad suspects that the overall acceleration imparted by lasers in the kilowatt range is not very large, so they have to fire for years and years.
There is an alternative, given that Solar One is supposed to have a solar sail one mile square. Nominally, this would pick up the charged particles of the solar wind, which provide a tiny yet ceaseless acceleration (for FREE!) that becomes significant thanks to the sheer surface area of the sails. Art!
That above is Lightsail 2, which was able to change the orbit of a small satellite using the solar wind alone as a power source. It was only 30 yards square, so since Solar One's sail is over one thousand times bigger, you can see the potential for (did I mention FREE?) acceleration.
There is a problem, which I'm sure you've already spotted; the further you get from the Sun, the more attenuated the solar wind becomes <sad face>. One solution is to put an array of lasers into orbit, which can then illuminate the sail and provide acceleration that way. This would, of course - obviously! - be incredibly complex and expensive and time-consuming. Already I know your fervid imagination is casting around for a solution, and coming up with ground-based lasers instead, which would be a heck of a lot cheaper to build and operate.
Ah yes. But. Atmosphere. This, don't you know, is not good news for the 100 million laser propulsion system postulated by some Australian boffins. Except they propose to combat atmospheric distortion by pre-distorting their laser battery, which will then be un-distorted by the atmosphere. How canny! Art!
Their proposed starship design is a lot flimsier than Solar One, being unmanned to boot, but would still get there in approximately the same time - 20 years. Wouldn't it be fun to have both try and get there and see who wins*!
Motley! Spread this tin-foil across your rump and we'll see how far we can project you with this industrial cutting laser. O don't whine, here's a crash helmet.
The Second Taiwan Straits Crisis
Your Humble Scribe alluded to this yesteryon, it being a crisis I'd never heard of before. So a little Wiki-ing later I discovered that it was a clash at sea and in the air, between the Populous Dictatorship and Taiwan (I don't have a witty nickname for them yet), principally over - er - Dongding Island. I'm not making this up! Art!
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| The Populous Dictatorship and Taiwan |
The thing is, Dongding island is only 8 miles from the Pops shoreline, and three times that far from Taiwan. This has led the Pops to grind their teeth in hatred and frustration, until in 1958 we got the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis. The Taiwanese were prevented from sending reinforcements to the island, but the Pop's small landing force was beaten off decisively. Aerial combat then began, with Taiwanese fighter pilots having a distinct edge over their rivals thanks to some S<coughcough>ian air-to-air missiles that appeared as if from nowhere. Art!
Counsel in South Canada then began to ponder what to do if the Pops decided to mount an amphibious invasion of Taiwan, and their immediate and eagleish (which is like hawkish but more so) response was to wheel on the nukes straight away. No messing about, tactical nuclear strikes on the Pops airbases and ports from the get-go, and if that didn't stop them, then it was the big nukes all along the eastern seaboard -
Fortunately Ike, the POTUS at the time, had experience of what total war leads to - it was called World War Two, you may have heard of it - and politely demurred. It took a couple of month until things cooled down.
Mind you, that was over sixty years ago now. One wonders what the Pops are planning now that they have an aircraft carrier ...
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| "O a life on the ocean wave, Can lead to a watery grave -" |
From Grim To Whim
Let us now revert to some light and airy nonsense, as a welcome relief from the heavy hands of horrid history. To wit, a bit of Heath Robinson. Art!
I've not seen this one before. I nicked it from an article in "Engineering & Technology", where they wonder if this would work in real life. Conrad suspects only if everyone sat down and got up simultaneously, or you risk transmitting energy through what seems to be a giant spring waiting to be sprung. And you'd have to move extremely slowly to get your food, or risk it leaping off the table into Aunt Gertrude's lap.
Mojito Jo
That's me. Your Humble Scribe remembers having a deliciously sharp and refreshing mojito or two when on cruises a good few years ago. So this afternoon I dug out the recipe, the only element of which The Mansion lacks is fresh mint. Since this evening was the weekly shop I remedied this deficiency, but will have to wait until Friday evening to conjure one up - no booze on a school night, don't you know. The fridge might be redolent of Moroccan mint by then, which is fine by me.
Three days and counting of no shrieking expostulations about Codewords. I'm doing so well. How long can I last?
Finally -
Your Humble Scribe has conceived an interest in the Signals Corps of Perfidious Albion during the Second Unpleasantness, and enquired if anyone within the Society had works they could recommend on this subject?
Hmmm not really, try the IWM was a suggestion.
Bah! I thought. I shall dig around myself. And I did. Art!
Hmmmm it looked to be what I was after, but at £62 for the sole edition on Abebooks, that also required a chiselling £53 p & p from South Canada (when it ought to cost £10 at most) - Conrad can wait.
And with that we are done!
* Hey, astronomers would find it interesting.
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