From: Spike Jones (spike66@attglobal.net)
Date: Fri Mar 16 2001 - 00:02:53 MST
Spike Jones wrote:
> Suppose you want to facilitate communication between
> the nodes of an M-brain with a waveguide of sorts, a little
> like wires between the nodes. ...
> Imagine nodes about a meter on a side and a few microns
> thick, a 100 meters apart with a cable the thickness of a
> strand of spider web, loose and floppy, perhaps 500 meters
> in length, over which signals can be sent. spike
I could have explained this idea a little better. The nodes
are still arranged in rings, concentric but not coplanar,
forming an effective shell, Bradbury style. But I realized
the connecting wires need not be a factor of 5 longer
than the distance between the nodes.
Think of the Keplerian law that requires equal areas
to be swept out in equal time. Now imagine a ring of
nodes in a circular orbit around the sun at 1 AU
where each node is one second apart, ~ 30 million
nodes at 5 km separated. Now imagine the same number
of nodes in an elliptical orbit with a perihelion at about
0.7 AU and aphelion at about twice that, 1.4 AU. For
the nodes to stay 1 second apart (which they would,
without external influence) then the nodes at perihelion
would be at twice the distance as the ones out at
aphelion, eh?
You can never get a perfectly exactly circular orbit;
the distance between the nodes will always
vary slightly over the orbit. If they are not allowed
to vary slightly {as if you had a solid ring} then the
orbit is unstable. Solution, connect the individual
nodes with a very slack cable and use that wispy cable
as a communications waveguide.
Nowthen, I realized there is no need to have a
cable 5 times as long as the distance between
nodes, thats waaaay overkill, and unadvisable for
it wastes raw material. If the ratio of
perihelion to aphelion is 1.02, then a the distance
between the nodes will only vary by about 2 percent,
by the previous argument. So having a cable 20
percent longer than the node spacing should be
aaaample slack, providing a quick low-power
communication waveguide without destabilizing
the orbit.
What say ye, Sir Robert? spike
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