In the book Jurassic Park, and in the movies based on it, one concern
was the dinosaurs escaping, eating tourists, getting off the island to
wreck the ecosystem, etc. This would be a realistic concern, assuming
of course that you could "lazurogene" dinosaurs in the first place. It
would also be a legitimate concern if you were building Pliocene Park or
Experimental Mutant Creature Park or anything like that.
gigantolopes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lot7D_cbt-0#tm45s) on a
large habitat. A Bishop ring would be large enough, but even an O'Neill
cylinder 20 Km wide by 100 Km long, an Island Four or Five perhaps,
should be enough for most creatures.
Well, obviously this is for when you've been building these things for a
while, and not something you'd do right at first. Still, when you've
got enough resources to build the equivalent of thousands of Earths,
then why not dedicate an "Earth" or two (or fifty) to this sort of
thing?
And what the Fibonacci happened to my "Rich-Text Editor?"
Cambrian Park would fit in a rather small habitat - perhaps a Stanford
Torus filled with tanks. O_O
On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 3:45 PM, sailor.barsoom wrote:
Yes, I've had the same thought. The Earth had a wonderfully rich
ecosystem in the dinosaur age, and I've love to see it recreated. A
space habitat is a sensible place to do that. I'd prefer to have it as
a conservation park, rather than a tourist habitat, but I suppose you
could do a bit of both if it helps pay the bills.
wealth around that a few trillion here or there is chump change.
Since we're thinking on that time scale, I've also thought that
conservation would be a sensible use of terraforming. I see no need for
humans to live at the bottom of steep gravity wells, but if we could
make Mars or Venus habitable for dinosaurs -- well, why not? We could
turn back the evolutionary clock, kick it off again, wait a few million
years (perhaps providing a small nudge now and then), and see if
dinosauroids ever develop civilization. THAT would be a long-term
project worth doing!
(When people tell me they wouldn't want to live forever because they'd
get too bored, I smile and nod... and can't relate at all.)
Cheers,
- Joe
Actually once you're in a habitat your zoos don't have to be restricted to extant species. So you could have a zoo on one habitat with cambrian, dinosaurs, or prehistoric mammals like mammoths, giant sloths and giant armadillo's the size of vw beetles, etc. Personally I'd want a little more space than a zoo as those quarters are a little tight but closer to a preserve.
--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "sailor.barsoom" wrote:
Amazing. I also had the same thought and included it in a book I'm working on. Its nothing central to the plot and two characters only mention 'The Jurassics' during a conversation they have.
Jeff
--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, Joe Strout wrote:
--- In spacesettlers, Joe Strout wrote:
> rich ecosystem in the dinosaur age, and I've love to see it
> recreated. A space habitat is a sensible place to do that.
> I'd prefer to have it as a conservation park, rather than a
> tourist habitat, but I suppose you could do a bit of both if
> it helps pay the bills.
Absolutely. Maybe two habs for conservation for each one for tourists.
> But as you say, this is a far-future project, when there is
> so much wealth around that a few trillion here or there is
> chump change.
I feel another story coming on. This one probably won't even have any naked high school girls, but hey, dinosaurs are good too.
> Since we're thinking on that time scale, I've also thought
> that conservation would be a sensible use of terraforming.
> I see no need for humans to live at the bottom of steep
> gravity wells, but if we could make Mars or Venus habitable
> for dinosaurs -- well, why not? We could turn back the
> evolutionary clock, kick it off again, wait a few million
> years (perhaps providing a small nudge now and then), and
> see if dinosauroids ever develop civilization. THAT would
> be a long-term project worth doing!
Here's one nudge right off the bat: the lower gravity.
> (When people tell me they wouldn't want to live forever
> because they'd get too bored, I smile and nod... and can't
> relate at all.)
Me neither. And I don't really have all that exciting a life, but enough is in it that it's well worth living.
My thought is that a visit there would be more like a safari than a visit to the local zoo. A habitat can be similar in size to a small country, or using carbon nanotubes, maybe similar in size to a large country. It can even be a cylinder longer than it is wide, because all you need is another one counter-rotating.
I find it interesting that Jeff also came up with this idea. Good luck with it, Jeff. You are more likely to do something with it than I am, judging by my track record. And if I ever do manage, maybe I can plug your book in a Forward or something.