Excerpt From Arthur C. Clarke's Last Work

Ubuntukitten writes "The Telegraph is running an excerpt from Arthur C. Clarke's last work, called 'The Last Theorem.' Fellow writer Frederik Pohl helped out. It's a reassuring chunk of old-fashioned sci-fi, describing an Olympics that's set on the moon. Typically for Clarkian sci-fi, is very much about the practicalities of mounting a Lunar Olympics, rather than any wild fantasy." The excerpt's centerpiece is a trip to the moon that begins with a space elevator ride. The book will be published on Aug. 1.

Comments

Oblig.

[consonant]

That man is scary-stunning-awesome. If you haven't already done so, go read "The Nine Billion Names of God".

Re:Oblig.

[tristian_was_here]

Why isn't none of this in Wikipedia?

Re:Oblig.

[slider2800]

I stumbled into it a couple of weeks ago. Its a fantastic novel. gotta love it. I might sound redundant, so strike/mod me down, yet i encourage everyone to read it.

Re:Oblig.

[hal9000(jr)]

The first book I ever read was "Childhoods End.", I think I was 8. a truly memorable read.

Re:Oblig.

[jacquesm]

because someone is pulling your leg. take a bunch of random facts, string them together with a halfway plausible story line.

Re:Oblig.

[ElectricRook]

I got tired when Clarke discovered ctl-C ctl-V

Re:Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

At his best, he was good, but he did also manage to write quite a bit of nonsense.

The last book of the 2001 series (I think it was 3001 or something like that) in particular was pretty bad...they used some sort of universal computer virus (which is a ridiculous concept to begin with) to disable the monolith, and had some remote, secure facility to store dangerous inventions... That's just so obviously fundamentally flawed as a concept, I have no idea how anyone remotely versed in science could come up with it.

Re:Oblig.

[kalirion]

8? How much did you actually understand?

Re:Oblig.

[strelitsa]

Damn. And the idea of a universal computer virus worked so well in the critically-acclaimed Independence Day too.

Re:Oblig.

[Zukix]

Snowcrash too.

To quote wiki:

"Asherah is portrayed as a deadly biological and verbal virus that was stopped in Ancient Sumer by the God Enki."

Deja Vu

[drmofe]

I'm sure that Arthur Clarke has written in other short stories about Lunar-based sports events...this story seems weirdly familiar.

Re:Deja Vu

[MichaelSmith]

Sky biking on the moon was mentioned in Rendezvous with Rama. I always wondered if Jimmy Pak, the sky bike rider in that book was intended to be from Sri Lanka.

Re:Deja Vu

[adamwright]

The main character in "Hammer of God" was originally a moon athlete, and the book mentions the eventual establishment of a Lunar Olympics.

Re:Deja Vu

[ezzthetic]

I'm sure you writen other posts describing stories as weirdly familiar.

You post seems weirdly familiar.

Re:Deja Vu

[laejoh]

That's why it's called "The Last Theorem" and a seperate book! Arthur Clarcke had a truly marvellous short story about this Lunar-based sport event which the margin was too narrow to contain.

Re:Deja Vu

[Prune]

Clever. Too bad most /.ers won't get the reference.

Re:Deja Vu

[aussie_a]

Like other science fiction writers of his time, he often rewrote the same story (or reused the same ideas) in multiple novels. Nowadays that would be considered milking the cow for all its worth, but it was acceptable for his generation.

Re:Deja Vu

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be new here.

Cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi. Hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet.

Re:Deja Vu

[Anonymous Coward]

You sir, are underestimating us. Of course we know about Fermat, we've all studied our biology.

Re:Deja Vu

[Lodragandraoidh]

Nowadays that would be considered milking the cow for all its worth, but it was acceptable for his generation.

Many writers (even many contemporary writers) create consistent back stories for a given selection of novels. Some focus on one exclusively (e.g. J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth), while others have various contexts (e.g. Robert A. Heinlein's Future History, Lazarus Long, and World as Myth series).

If the concepts are bigger than can be contained in a single novel, then it is certainly acceptable and desirable to continue the broader story in succeeding volumes. This mode of writing is very common in science fiction and fantasy - and most fans seem to enjoy the continuity from one book to the next (look at the success of the Harry Potter series).

I think your characterization doesn't encompass the whole story - much like a novel that is a slice of a given world without any reprise - the readers are left wanting more.

Re:Deja Vu

[Prune]

At the time I posted that reply, his score was only 2...

Re:Deja Vu

[laejoh]

That's what SHE said!

about Pohl

[jacquesm]

F. Pohl is one of the great masters of SF, if you haven't heard of him go read 'the space merchants', then check when it was written...

Re:about Pohl

[Anonymous Coward]

Another tip...

Read Starmaker (Olaf Stapledon) first and THEN check the publishing year, you will be astounded!! :-)

Re:about Pohl

[kalirion]

F. Pohl is one of the great masters of SF, if you haven't heard of him go read 'the space merchants', then check when it was written...

Hey, I have that one! It's one of the hundred or so books I picked up at various library sales and have yet to read. I guess I'll read it next then :)

Re:about Pohl

[sm62704]

Agreed. I never really cared for Clarke, but Pohl was a really good one.

Asimov and Heinlein, however, were the top two on my reading list.

Re:about Pohl

[Henry V .009]

Pohl was good, but the person whom he wrote "The Space Merchants" with was masterly. Cyril Kornbluth was one of most underrated science fiction authors of his time.

Re:about Pohl

[jacquesm]

cool ! I hope you like it.

Can we stage it for 2008?

[Lewisham]

The IOC should take this seriously. The air quality on the moon is probably better than at Beijing.

*buh-dum-tish*

I'm here all night, please tip your waitress on the way out.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Archtech]

The IOC should take this seriously. The air quality on the moon is probably better than at Beijing.

Well, there is certainly less air pollution...

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

I lived in Beijing until last month for several years. The reports of poor air quality are vastly exaggerated. It does get bad occasionally usually due to sand storms (they're bad), but it's not often, IMO.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[aussie_a]

I lived in Beijing until last month for several years. The reports of poor air quality are completely true.

Isn't it fun being an anonymous internet poster?

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[z0idberg]

And the facilities would probably be ready before the London ones are finished.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[itsdapead]

Well, there is certainly less air pollution...

Dunno. It depends how much of the Moon's negligible atmosphere consists of exhaust fumes from Apollo...

What's the Selenites' record on human rights like? I'm pretty sure they imprisoned Prof. Cavour and his crew without trial.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[OneSmartFellow]

I've never been to Beijing; and don't plan to go until they clean up their air !

It's just as fun being onymous

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[BitterOldGUy]

I lived in Beijing until last month for several years. The reports of poor air quality are vastly exaggerated. It does get bad occasionally usually due to sand storms (they're bad), but it's not often, IMO.

You smoke, don't you?

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[jamesh]

Well, there is certainly less air pollution...

... but there is also less air.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

For a start, I wasn't anonymous.

Second, I don't see how I can be any more authentic than giving my own experience. I didn't measure the air quality everywhere I went.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

> You smoke, don't you?

No, I don't. Well, only second hand (ie, I don't get the benefit of the filter). ...but, yes, a *lot* of people there smoke, and it was horrible in some restaurants at times; but they've segregated them now. I was told the authorities wanted to ban smoking completely 'inside' (ala California), but there was too much resistance, so segregation has to be enough. This leads to the same old problems of there being no 'gap' between the 'smoking' and 'no smoking' areas in many places, but it's a step in the right direction, IMO.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Guppy06]

"The reports of poor air quality are vastly exaggerated."

We've all seen pictures of the Beijing "sky." It's not bad compared to what, Dehli?

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

Well, there are overcast days anywhere, pretty much. Anything to show that it was pollution you were looking at rather than just cloud?

I'm sure there *is* pollution, but I can't believe it's worse than, say, LA, or even SF bay area on occasion.

At least, that is *my* impression having lived there for several years.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Anonymous Coward]

First, nobody knows who "dwater" is - so while you're not an anonymous coward it'd be a challenge to verify that you've actually lived in Beijing... a pseudonym is still anonymous in most cases.

Second, a single anecdote from someone who claims to have lived in Beijing at some point is completely worthless. Authentic? Maybe. Useful? No. The general consensus, *including* people who have actually been to beijing is that the air quality is horrible. Especially since you can get used to anything - maybe what you who have lived in this environment for years would call "not that bad" someone who lived in a mountain retreat all their life would call "*cough* *hack* *gasp* OH GOD I CAN'T BREATH *gasp* *hack* *cough*."

Objective studies and the vast majority of personal reports agree that the air quality in Beijing is about the worst on earth. You post a contrary anecdote as if everyone is going to change their mind after reading your experience... "oh, everyone I've ever met who's been to Beijing, every report I've read on the matter, and all the media crap about the effect of the horrible air on the olympics be dammed, dwater says the air isn't bad so it must not be."

And finally, other then the fact that he's obviously lying while you may or may not be lying, what make's aussie's post less valid then yours?

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Guppy06]

"Anything to show that it was pollution you were looking at rather than just cloud?"

Clouds tend not to be brown.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Sockatume]

When it comes to air, sometimes I'll take quantity over quality.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[strelitsa]

"Clouds tend not to be brown."

You've obviously never been over to my house on Enchilada Night.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Zukix]

I have visited Beijing but also some remote Northern Chinese cities as well as Mongolia.

The haze in sky is significantly made from dust blowing in from the Gobi. The sky is hazy even in remote non-industrial areas. The truth is that Beijing is being swallowed by the desert.

Personally I consider the air better than Tokyo, Bangkok or London but this judgement may be more about sewers and transport fumes than harmful chemicals from industry.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Anonymous Coward]

so much less air that you can't even hear the WHOOOSH!

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Anonymous Coward]

My brother was in Beijing about a year ago. He said that the air quality wasn't that bad, but he talked to several other long-time ex-pats who said that the air in Beijing was much better than it was usually, which was attributed to the increased rainfall due to cloud seeding, which the Chinese government was doing to water all the new plants for the Olympics. (Along with all the polution controls for the olympics.)

Expect the air quality to take a nose dive come September.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[rhyder128k]

Bah! The moon-dwellers won't be as easy to convince of the supposed economic benefits as the powers that be are in the UK. You've read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, right?

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[Aku Head]

I don't mind the sand storms so much, but I hate it when a sand worm swallows my car. And don't get me started about the fremen.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

> a pseudonym is still anonymous in most cases.

I disagree. If I use my full name, how do you know it is real? Am I supposed to show you my passport or what? How do you know *that* isn't fake. How do you know anyone's name on here is real? Do you consider everyone here to be anonymous? I think you have a very strange definition of anonymous.

> Second, a single anecdote from someone who claims to have lived in Beijing at some point is completely worthless

I hear this a lot. Anecdotes aren't worthless. Quite the contrary.

I don't care that much whether people change their minds. I just want to give people a data point that might have them at least wonder if it's as bad as people make out.

Of course it is better in other places. So what? It's better in Helsinki, most of the time; but there is some overlap. I've seen worse 'clouds' here in Helsinki than I ever saw in Beijing - due to the shipping I think. It wasn't nice.

I've noticed that on TV news they often show video of Beijing and it looks much worse than when I was there. I suspect they only show it when it's bad since it's not news-worthy otherwise. It was only two months ago when I was there, and I was there for several years.

To me, my experience is worth much more than all that other evidence, objective or not.

Of course, you can take it or leave it. Seems like you choose the latter. Good for you.

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

> Clouds tend not to be brown.

I never saw a brown cloud the entire time I was there.

Unless you call a sand storm a 'cloud'...they can be pretty bad, no denying that. I wouldn't call it pollution though.

If you see brown clouds, perhaps you need your TV colour adjusted ... or your eyes.

On the other hand, perhaps I need mine adjusted...

Re:Can we stage it for 2008?

[dwater]

I get the reference, and give it the obligatory 'he he'.

However, I *really* didn't like the sand storms when I was there.

After a sand storm, everything would be covered. Even inside our flat there would be dust on everything (not as bad as outside, but still). It's quite amazing how it manages to get in through the smallest gaps.

I suppose it's reasonable to consider 'sand' and 'dust' as pollution, but it's not what I consider to be commonly considered as pollution - which would be traffic exhaust fumes and smoke/etc from factories/etc.

I don't know why they don't 'invent' a cheap Chinese electrical car (or two) and 'force' everyone to use electricity - at least in the big cities. I mean, it's sort of a dictatorship, so why not take advantage of it? IMO, it'd be obviously for the common good and so fit in with their 'communist' ideals. There are many electric bicycles already (my wife was recently 'run over' by one because they're unexpectedly fast, and close to silent - she's had to go to hospital, but she's fine now), so they're used to the concept...and petrol(ium gasoline) isn't getting any/much cheaper/plentiful.

Torch run

[ArsenneLupin]

How did they solve the technical problem of the torch run? Wouldn't the flame go out without access to oxygen?

Well, that way, at least you don't need any protestors in case the moon cast its shadow on Tibet.

Re:Torch run

[oodaloop]

Just use a human femur. Heh heh...get it...femur? Ah, nevermind.

Re:Torch run

[achurch]

How did they solve the technical problem of the torch run? Wouldn't the flame go out without access to oxygen?

Well, I haven't read the story, but given that they've already solved that problem for humans, it can't be too much of an issue.

Re:Torch run

[aussie_a]

I dunno. I wouldn't an open flame inside my spaceship as it reaches the moon.

Re:Torch run

[pjabardo]

Isn't your spaceship basically a huge torch?

Re:Torch run

[fbjon]

Imagining a space suit for a flaming olympic torch... I have to say it is the most ridiculous and awesome thing at the same time.

Re:Torch run

[camperdave]

How did they solve the technical problem of the torch run? Wouldn't the flame go out without access to oxygen?

True, in a gravity well, when you have a flame the heat causes the CO2 and smoke to rise away from the flame, and allows oxygen rich air to flow into the flame to keep it going. In a spacecraft, you don't have gravity, so the hot exhaust gasses from the flame will just sit there, and prevent the oxygen from reaching the flame, choking it out. The solution is very simple: a small fan can be used to gently waft the exhaust fumes away from the flame, and simultaneously blow fresh, oxygen rich air onto it.

As I recall, Arthur C. Clarke already discussed this very problem in Islands in the Sky.

Re:Torch run

[MickLinux]

They just switch to Dell Li-ion battery backup.

All the oxygen you need.

Re:Torch run

[Anonymous Coward]

I imagine an athlete running around in a burning spacesuit. Screaming his head off. In space.

Re:Torch run

[vlm]

Put the flame outside, you know, like a rocket engine? In fact, just use a rocket engine?

Re:Torch run

[aussie_a]

Good luck trying to keep it lighted for the whole trip and still managing to reach the moon. Its theoretically possible. But it'd be some mighty fine flying to manage it. Then once the rockets have finished, good luck keeping the torch lit while you get it inside a room with air.

Trustworthy

[neokushan]

How can anyone trust ANYONE's writings if they have the initials "A.C."?

Re:Trustworthy

[kalirion]

That's AC2 2 U!

Re:Trustworthy

[RealGrouchy]

He wrote science fiction. What in SF does one need to "trust"?

- RG>

Re:Trustworthy

[neokushan]

One word: Scientology.

Re:Trustworthy

[religious freak]

OOOOOOOOOOh, that's a great idea. Who wants to start a religion? Honestly, let's do it. They'll all be based off of Arthur C. Clarke novels and we /.ers be the seed group. We can make a bundle!

clarke was very good at mystical 'fantasy'!

[Anonymous Coward]

ever heard of 'Childhood's End'? Its inspired by the theology of Teilhard de Chardin!

well

[ramul]

typically for 'clarkian' sci fi, does it reek of shameless self adoration? are the characters bland? im more of a p.k. dick, isaac asimov kinda guy. i admit to liking 2001 book 1 though (A.C.C.)

Re:well

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, there's no such thing as "2001 book 1". There is a novel by Clarke called "2001". Then there were sequels, "2010" and "2061".

If these books smell of shameless self adoration try not putting them next to Hofstadter on your bookshelf. That stink can travel through the complete Oxford English Dictionary.

Dick rules but he's not the same genre as Clarke at all.

Re:well

[Frobisher]

Don't forget 3001...

Re:well

[ramul]

well you started off pedantic, but im pretty sure they are both sci-fi writers.

sure they are not in the same sub-genre but i dont see a problem in comparing authors between genres in the first place.

Re:well

[Sobrique]

No, really. Forget about 3001.

Re:well

[Reality Master 101]

does it reek of shameless self adoration? are the characters bland? im more of a p.k. dick, isaac asimov kinda guy

Oh, the irony of criticizing shameless self-adoration and bland characters, and simultaneous praising Isaac Asimov. :D

Asimov wouldn't know a character if the cardboard hit him in the ass. Though, to be fair, he's better than Niven on that score. (Don't get me wrong -- I love the latter two, but they're better at concept writing than characterization).

And Asimov didn't exactly hide how brilliant he thought he was, and (at least for me), that came through crystal clear in his writing.

To be totally fair, however, much of the Sci Fi genre is guilty of caring more for the concept than the characters.

Re:well

[witherstaff]

Don't forget 3001. Actually you can forget it, for a grand finale it was pretty bland. Not even any meeting of the Europa life forms.

Ummm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this supposed to be a metaphor for the relationship between Obama and the media? I hope so, otherwise you have some serious issues.

Last work?

[sleeponthemic]

Don't be so sure. 2pac is still bangin' them out.

No, I'm New Here

[New Here]

No, I'm New Here

Re:No, I'm New Here

[jacquesm]

hehe, whoever modded you down has no sense of humor.

Re:No, I'm New Here

[Prune]

If I had mod points, I'd mod you up.

Re:No, I'm New Here

[ya really]

it would be funny if he hadnt already used this, say 20+ times

Re:No, I'm New Here

[jacquesm]

hm, yes, that does detract from it somewhat. I hadn't seen those though, so it was new to me :)

What's a skyhook?

[Hal XP]

I'm a "space"-fi nut, so this question's a bit of an embarassment. The Telegraph excerpt mentions a trip aboard a Skyhook. I'm puzzled by its description in one passage:

They knew how the passenger capsules worked, and what it would feel like to be borne skyward at a steady rate of metres per second.

What they had not entirely appreciated, though, was quite how many seconds, even at that speed, it was going to take to get from Sri Lanka to Sinus Iridium. This was not a weekend trip.

In the first half dozen days they had got only as far as the lower Van Allen belt, when the Subramanians - along with other families aboard, namely, the Kais, the Kosbas, and the Norwegians - had to hustle into shelter against the murderous Van Allen radiation.

My understanding is that in terms of speed, a Skyhook would be not that much different from a rocket, that is, you would be traveling at above supersonic speeds. The leisurely trip described in the passage seems to me to be more like the conventional "climber" type of space elevator. Could a better informed /.er please clarify, preferably with some links or better yet a CG/CAD rendering of an Skyhook?

Re:What's a skyhook?

[margam_rhino]

Mmmmm..... Fried Chicken

Re:What's a skyhook?

[sm62704]

My understanding is that in terms of speed, a Skyhook would be not that much different from a rocket

It took almost a week to get to the moon, and that was on a Saturn V rocket, a huge monster of a vehicle. Launched on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on July 20, when Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above. That's a five day trip, without stopping for gas or potty breaks.

The moon's a long way off. Here is more info about the Van Allen belts.

Re:What's a skyhook?

[CrimsonAvenger]

It took almost a week to get to the moon [wikipedia.org], and that was on a Saturn V rocket, a huge monster of a vehicle. Launched on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on July 20, when Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above. That's a five day trip, without stopping for gas or potty breaks.

It took 76 hours from launch to lunar orbit.

24 hours later, the LM disconnected from the CM for the trip down (most of the 24 hours were system checks on the LM - ~19 hours).

About 2.5 hours later, Armstrong and Aldrin were down on the moon.

So, no, it wasn't a five day trip, just a trifle over four, including the day-long delay in lunar orbit before descent.

Ode to AC

[Tetsujin]

How can anyone trust ANYONE's writings if they have the initials "A.C."?

You're thinking, no doubt, of Anonymous Coward - but let's not forget the other great ACs of the world!

There's Armored Core, with its warring corporations and mercenaries in their robots
There's A.C. Moore, when you need to buy some craft stuff
There's Art Carney, of "Honeymooners" fame
There's Alternating Current, which makes it easier to transmit electricity over long distances or change its voltage level
There's Air Conditioning, which is great on a hot day
There's AC/DC, who at one point were away but later were back in black...
There's Adam Corolla, who was funny on "The Man Show"
There's Ann Coulter, who is an obnoxious asshat (I guess your comment is valid with respect to her)
And don't forget good old "After Colony", the era of "Gundam Wing"!

So let's remember the good ACs of the world, too, shall we?

Re:Ode to AC

[neokushan]

They all seem different and complicated, I don't trust any of those things!

Re:Ode to AC

[Tetsujin]

They all seem different and complicated, I don't trust any of those things!

:D

Re:Ode to AC

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot Aleister Crowley.

Re:Ode to AC

[niktemadur]

Hey, that sounds like fun, I'll give it a shot! Here's a few others you missed:

* Anton Chigurh, a man who needs no introduction, and you probably wouldn't wanna meet him anyway.
* Alex Cox, director of punk/geek cult classic Repo Man, as well as Sid & Nancy.
* Al Campanis, GM for the Dodgers, got in hot water for making some very iffy comments about African-Americans.
* Anthony (Tony) Curtis, film star and the Tom Cruise of his era (long suspected of being in the closet).
* Albert Camus, Nobel Prize-winning French existentialist writer of novels such as The Plague and The Stranger.
* Asia Carrera, for a while there, hotness itself, extra points for being Wayne's squeeze in Wayne's World.
* Arthur of Camelot, first English king and pals with Merlin, also possessor of the knowledge of the average air speed of an unladen European swallow.
* Agri-Culture, putting food in people's mouths for the last several millennia, catalyst for the sedentary lifestyle since prehistoric times.
* Ammonium Chloride, sold at fine hardware stores near you.
* Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle, geographic boundaries to the ends of the world.

That's about as far as I can take it.

Re:Ode to AC

[Anynomous Coward]

And then, there's me.

Olympics on the Moon

[grahamsz]

At least it'll be a little easier to breathe than in Beijing

Spell check on aisle 7

[Anonymous Coward]

That'd be "Clarke", not "Clark". But, you know, w/e.

Tales from the White Hart

[Anonymous Coward]

was one of the earliest books I read. It is a collection of short stories by Clarke, and a superb example of his brilliant imagination. If you can find a copy, please give it a chance.

Pedarest

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, the last work from the inventor of satellite communications, and an alleged pedarest.

I'm perplexed what is more important.
Abusing little kids or inventing technology?

Re:Pedarest

[Anonymous Coward]

Abusing little kids or inventing technology?

Or making up bizarre allegations without basis?

Or deciding that if the allegations are true, that we must immediately shoot down all of our satellites in order to protect the children.

Not a wild fantasy?

[Catbeller]

Not a wild fantasy? That's why we call it science fiction, or SF, instead of "stuff we just make up". Welcome to SF as it was before the mass market publishers and anime came along. It used to be a bit more rigorous.

"Rendezvous with Rama" is being adapted to film

[Snufalufagus Prime]

Sorry for the threadjack, jsut thought his fans might be interested David Fincher (Se7en, Alien 3, Fight Club, Panic Room) is directing and Morgan Freeman is starring. http://www.revelationsent.com/site/projects/in_development/rama.html

Re:"Rendezvous with Rama" is being adapted to film

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad. Freeman is such a sanctimonious asshole - or at least plays one on the big screen.

First Singularity Story

[StefanJ]

I hope Pohl gets to see "Wall-E." It's the kind of satirical SF that he and Cyril Kornbluth wrote in the 1950s.

Pohl wrote what is possibly the first story about "transhumans," and which also hinted at the Singularity: "Day Million."

The last paragraph of the last book

[nytes]

"Here may be found the last words of Arthur C. Clarke. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaauuuggghhh..."

Allegation != Proof

[spaceyhackerlady]

Allegation is not proof. The allegations in question were made by an irresponsible journalist, investigated by the Sri Lankan authorities, and found to be totally without merit. The newspaper in question apologized.

...laura

Not nearly as inspirational

[Anonymous Coward]

Not nearly as inspirational as "The Last Lecture."

And he died after writing it, right?

People need to stop naming their things "The Last" whatever and then dying over it.

I mean, come on.

Of course the Space Elevator was invented..

[Anonymous Coward]

By four Americans, in 1966. Isaacs, Vine, Bradner and Bachus.

We should charge the world copyright fees for using all of our ideas...

space elevator health effects

[Anonymous Coward]

The space elevator may not be practical, since experts are unsure if its riders could stand the music long enough to reach the top.

Re:space elevator health effects

[Falconhell]

Funny , mod up

Nude Olympics on the Moon

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Great time to be an IOC member. Prospective host countries always sponsor boozy sex romps to their homes for the decision makers.

I think that the Moon folks have been planning this for a while. Just look at one of their "Teaser" advertisements for the Moon as the optimal location for the Olympics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_on_the_Moon

Hey, a free trip to the Moon for the IOC!

I am surprised A.C. Clarke got this one wrong...

[cpotoso]

He's was a very very very bright person, and very knowledgeable about science but he got the idea of the balloonist very wrong. Yes, on the moon you weight about 6 times less than on earth, but the buoyancy force on the balloon which keeps you afloat is exactly equal to the weight of the displaced air. This means this force is also 6 times less (for a given volume), hence you cannot get away with using a small balloon. In fact, in the article he mentions that the air pressure on the tubes was 1/2 of that at sea level on earth (at a higher concentration of O2 vs. N2, but these two molecules have similar weights). All in all, you'd probably need a balloon with a volume about 2x bigger on the moon than on earth. Sorry, I do not have the time to properly scale the weight of the skin of the balloon given its different size, but I will assume they can also use the "advanced C60 nanotubes" (whatever that might be) to make it really light. Overall a nice and interesting story, even more so to find that even a genius like ACC can make mistakes!

News Just In

[jaminJay]

"The results of the Triple Jump are finally available and the medals will finally be distributed tomorrow, just two weeks after the closing ceremony. None of the bodies of the pole-vaulting entrants have yet been recovered."