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[RT][HF] The Maker's Ark, Chapter 27: Skybreaker's Spear
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Author: u/DocFuture *
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URL: http://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/149063152906/the-makers-ark-chapter-27
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Score: 16
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Created: 2016-08-17T04:25:11
Post:
Comments:
u/DocFuture [+4] (a minute later)
A more purely rational chapter than usual, and a weapon worthy of Flicker.
I've been planning the section with Doc for a long time--it shows just what it means to be the smartest man in the world, talking to someone he knows well who is also smart. There are subtleties to his conversation that reward careful reading--see if you can spot them.
u/Empiricist_or_not [+1] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (22 hours later)
Not sure if I should be crowing "Called it!" or if I should accuse myself of shotgunning. I will honestly say Black hole was my main theory, but I did not express that very well, because I didn't think Flicker would keep one, and I still don't know how she'll keep one small enough to use from evaporating, or how it is useful possible spoiler
So I'm now going to hand-wave that there's no life on Europa for my head-cannon, because there won't be after Flicker condenses it into a black hole.
ooh I just. . . realized/remembered from HSF
u/DocFuture [+3] (23 hours later)
Yes, you were right about it being a black hole, and you make some further interesting speculations 8-).
A few notes: A black hole with a mass of 10^8 kg has a lifetime of 2.67 years, and 10^11 kg gives 2.67 billion years (life goes up with the cube of mass). A 4 * 10^12 kg black hole would have a lifetime in the trillions of years, give off about 10 Megawatts of Hawking radiation, and have an event horizon about the size of an atomic nucleus (event horizon radius is linear in mass). Europa has a mass of 4.8 * 10^22 kg.
u/PeridexisErrant [+4] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (a day later)
I think I'm turning into a conservationist from Accelerando.
That moon is a nature reserve! You can't unilaterally disassemble celestial bodies, especially not to build weapons of mass destruction!
^(geddit? Weapon of mass destruction)
u/DocFuture [+1] (a day later)
The matter will be be brought up 8-)
u/Empiricist_or_not [+1] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (a day later)
I had to go back and find it but the discussion of homewells in Chapter 16 compared to our universe seems clear, from a trope perspective at least, but you've done the math so I'm going to need to go back and sanity check myself and see if I can think up any other environment that fits.
u/DocFuture [+2] (2 days later)
There are some clues in chapter 27 of Fall, 'Skybreaker', and another hint later in Fall. I've known what sort of being Explorer/Skybreaker was since then. Note that different physical constants can affect the stability and variety of astrophysical objects.
u/Chronophilia [+1] sci-fi ≠ futurology (an hour later)
Ohhh, Europa. Well that makes more sense.
u/SvalbardCaretaker [+1] Mouse Army (6 hours later)
Huh. The BH comes out of the left field for me, not at all what I was thinking when I read spear.
I am excited to see flicker try to manufacture a BH. And what Journeyman is going to do against Hawking radiation...
u/DocFuture [+2] (7 hours later)
Journeyman's vulnerability to Hawking radiation indeed sets a lower limit on the mass of 'completed' spear--and its formation is going to be so energetic that any short normal-space path to Journeyman is something he will most certainly need to avoid.
u/SvalbardCaretaker [+1] Mouse Army (7 hours later)
I am super happy about the prospect of it. Also poor Europe.