Slashdot Mirror

Nah, I suspect this will be the way to launch payloads. Russian tech as well!

Would you like to know more?

:)

Your point about the fact that some media never seem to return to the strength of their initial heyday is valid, but doesn't really address the point being argued. My original argument was simply that everything has NOT verifiably been done, and so the need to wonder lives on. I have seen no evidence that this is not the case. I have also seen no evidence that SF is waning significantly. True, the Kennedy-era general fervour for space itself is gone, but SF itself seems to be going strong.

Perhaps a lack of vision in the populace is--in part--responsible for a perceived waning of SF's influence in the world. There is no reason to believe that this factor is the only one or even a significant one. For that matter, the fact that a story on Slashdot gets a low comment count could hardly be considered market research. Interesting, perhaps, but certainly not anything upon which to base decisions. In fact, in Europe in 2003:

The following, extracts from the Executive Summary of a Euromonitor Report on 'Books and Publishing in the United Kingdom', provide an example of how Market Size and Trends are researched.

• . . .
• Fiction was the fastest growing category, with a 13.8% rise in volume sales over the period, and an even bigger 24.1% rise in value. Quality fiction, thrillers and science fiction and children's novels are the main market drivers.

And no, I am not dead yet. But I do have the capacity to dream, and I do not need a scientist somewhere to think something up before I can dream about it.

Indeed that was the case. Even more insane was they planned to launch from the surface of the earth. That's right, about 5 thermonuclear explosions per second all the way out of the atmosphere!

overview here

Thankfully, beyond a chemcial powered prototype (which worked) the idea never really got off the ground..

Sorry, I couldn't help it! ;-)

What about the 6-foot human-rabbit hybrids that whisper to us that the world is coming to an end?

(yeah, I know -- but it was the first thing I thought of)