Antimatter Annihilation Engine

Closer than ever to reality! Recent reports have indicated that scientists have succeeded in trapping antihydrogen in strong magnetic fields. Although the time of storage was very minimal (mere milliseconds), it's a positive step towards being able to store antimatter for longer periods of time, an important design consideration for a practical antimatter annihilation based engine. In addition to the storage requirement, methods of economical mass production of antimatter need to be developed. But this might simply accomplished by putting more energy into production (ie powering a particle accelerator with solar power transmission). The actual annihilation part is easy...

Protostar CODAC

An interesting project I launched during my first lonely semester at Penn State. http://www.mfbb.net/codac/

Asia's "Wildest Dreams"

4:40 to 5:00 on Asia's "Wildest Dreams:" I love that minor thematic element with the guitar and the synthesizer backing. Awesome!

New Domain

So I'm trying dot.tk's free domain redirect service and I am really liking it. The only catch is that I have to receive at least 25 visitors a month to maintain an active domain otherwise I lose it. So if you are visiting this blog from the blogspot domain or another domain, please redirect your browser to http://www.garryspost.tk. Thanks!

Short Story Starts I

One of my millions of short story starts laying around my desktop. It's bad...seems like I always get writer's block shortly after starting. To paraphrase Stephen Coonts, it's like Tom Clancy ate a bad pizza one night and couldn't sleep. I think I wrote this one a few years ago. This post marks the beginning of an occasional series entitled "Short Story Starts." Feel free to contribute your own addition in the comments. This posting is "open source" in that it may be used freely in any aspect so long as NOT for profit and that the original core (this posting) be credited to me, the author of Garry's Post, with a link to this blog.

Deprived of any temporal context, Johnson knew not where he was in time and space. He only knew of his past and of the near future stretching bleak and static, a testament to loneliness and despair. Regrets were a part of his daily contemplation; wraiths of self loathing and vast regrets of a life that could have been.

Johnson hadn't meant to get caught up in this war. But who really meant to get caught up in any shit like this? Not the people of the ravaged planet he found himself on, for sure. Not the young soldiers who invaded it or defended as the case might be. Johnson knew almost nothing about the current status of the conflict. Not since the spaceliner he had piloted for Interstellar was snatched from the sky by the near invisible hands of advanced weaponry. He wondered, no obsessed about constantly the events that followed the unfortunate incident, events of which he had no knowledge. One minute he was in his Captain's chair plotting an approach to Revolutionary City, the next he was aware of darkness, briefly of voices, but then endless, unknowing darkness. He wondered what became of his passengers, his crew.

He was aware of minor things, like the unyielding, cold floor, the stench of his wastes and filthy body, of the feeding tube in his abdomen, of the cold chains that bound him, of the electric shocks that stimulated his muscles periodically. Obviously his captors cared something about his well being, perhaps for some yet unknown political maneuvering. Or perhaps one day a gas would seep into his cell and without knowing it, he would breathe his last, a unused but worthless pawn in some great international game of which he had no desire to participate in.

Johnson had been in the Army, first an infantryman, later an officer and a transport pilot. The conflict was not necessarily a completely unknown variable to him. It was your run of the mill affair; idealistic intellectual cum wannabe revolutionaries turned ruthless guerrillas versus an entrenched, unscrupulous, lumbering dinosaur of an imperialistic power. The conflict was one that had been repeated so many times in history that if one believed in it, they might think Fate had a bad case of amnesia, or perhaps writer's block. Johnson had allowed himself to laugh bitterly at this analogy all the while wondering if he was losing his mind to the darkness and the despair. The players were not new, indeed they were forces that had clashed many times before.

In the 22nd Century, humans, like so many predicted, spread from their original home on Earth, the result of momentous leaps in technology at the end of the 21st Century. The shifting politics of this turbulent, spontaneous expansion which much resembled American expansion West of the Mississippi in the 19th Century, redefined some nations and emboldened others. The African Union rose as a force to be reckoned with on the force of South Africa's advances in space flight technology. The European Union, rather than strengthening as the post World War II ideal had been, split from within as conservatives in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany questioned the effect of pan nationalism on national sovereignty. China's economic momentum disappeared some time in the middle of the 21st and with it, its Communist party, national unity, and global power.

So I graduated college...

Now what? I guess I'm going to do some flight training, hopefully find a job, maybe start on my Master's degree...

Hydrogen-Electric to Orbit

Some unedited thoughts:

I'm not an expert on fuel cells, but it seems that they would be a likely candidate for increasing hydrogen utilization in spacecraft. Seems like one could use fuel cells to generate electricity for expansionary hydrogen gas propulsion instead of using the complex, somewhat messy engineering of external power sources. Expansionary hydrogen propulsion increases the specific impulse of hydrogen from 250 seconds to approximately 1000 seconds (not my figure, so I haven't double checked the math). Using approximate energy conversion rates and some fuzzy math that I won't go into here, it would take around 12,000 imperial tons of liquid hydrogen (plus ultra efficient fuel cell technology) to generate electrical output sufficient for obtaining Low Earth Orbit...excluding the hydrogen required for the expansionary propellant. It can get hairy lifting those kind of tonnages (not even considering airframe and payload weight), but airship technology could act at as a first stage of a multistage system. Such a system would be a concentrated use of solar energy (using renewable resources to split hydrogen from water) in a form practical for high performance flight applications. One could probably reduce the fuel load requirement by instituting a lower atmosphere air breathing stage of some sort. I'm probably way off here, but it's an interesting idea.

Payload and Airframe Weight: 2000 tons
Liquid Hydrogen for Electrical Generation: 4500 tons (based off of 7.9 KwHr per pound to reach GEO and 15.1 KwHr per pound of liquid hydrogen)
Hydrogen for Expansionary propellent: 5400 tons (based off of specific impusle of expansionary hydrogen of around 1000 seconds)
Total Craft Takeoff Weight to GEO: 12900 tons

One of the issues I see is accounting for the weight of the hydrogen for electrical generation in crunching these numbers. I used the value of 1200 tons and came up with needing 4500 tons. How do I account for the weight of hydrogen used for expendable purposes for electrical generation?

Also, is the figure quoted in the reference applicable to these type of vehicles and not just tethers? (http://www.kestsgeo.com/pages/workenergy.html) I need a more concrete source.

I feel like a failure sometimes when it comes to communicating in an LDR. Especially when it comes to trying to comfort my partner when she is down. :-(

Screaming Maniacs Everywhere

...so shrill, so binary, so simplistic in theoretical thinking that I find myself questioning your viewpoints regardless of my true feelings about them. Wake up! Open your eyes! The world is not black and white, it is shades of gray!!!!

The Welfare State and Anti-Capitalist Libertarianism (ACL)

ACLs recognize the role that inherent social stratification and capitalism plays in inequality to resources. The ideal ACL system is the moneyless, CODAC, and/or CPO supported system (described in previous entries) in which social justice is ensured through the elimination of the modern capitalist system and the overbearing government. To the end, ACLs such as myself advocate governmental libertarianism and a non-capitalist productive system. But as long as modern capitalism exists and CPOs, CODAC organizations, or what have you do not have sufficient resources to exist as a counterpoint to capitalistic and governmental institutions, should the welfare state and/or government social programs exist as a counterpoint to capitalism? Yet government is inherently flawed when it comes to reinforcing the negative social patterns prevalent in today's socioeconomic system. This is the fundamental dilemma of ACLs in the present day. Perhaps this dilemma is solved by focusing all of efforts on the achievement of the ideal ACL system, for if we use government as a crutch, we become what we seek to defeat. But what about those denied by the socioeconomic system who need support? What should they do before the achievement of the ideal ACL system? I suppose it must come down to the lesser of two evils. At least government systems do not exist for the most part for profit but to provide services although they do extract a cost in social stratification by reinforcing the prevailing patterns of class restriction...

American Libertarian Socialist Party (ALSP)

Although the ideology closest to my heart is a brand of libertarian communism driven by Cooperative Productive Organizations (see previous entry), perhaps a transitory system that could be implemented in the United States could be a modified form of libertarian socialism (a socialist state with a libertarian government, definitions will vary). This system could be advanced by a political party (ALSP) that would compete with the two established parties. It could advocate personal libertarianism including personal choice, drug legalization, gun rights, property rights, and other planks associated with social libertarian platforms but recognize the role that capitalism plays in inequality and injustice. Because of this, it could regulate corporations heavily (but stay largely out of non-corporate businesses provided they do not infringe upon the rights of others) and create independent, nationalized nonprofit entities to act as counterpoint against capitalism. For instance, it could provide a national healthcare service and a national university system. It could also offer other productive services to its citizens. The workers of each unit could democratically control their unit. Discuss... (sorry for the poor writing quality).

Productive Service Organizations

Cooperative Productive Organizations (CPO) are similar to my previous concept of CODAC based organizations, however they are more subtle in operation. First and foremost, CPOs exist solely to provide services for the greater good and to all people in equality. They seek to eliminate some of the most pressing issues created by the evils of modern government, capitalism, and ingrained social injustice through the cooperative, altruistic efforts of volunteers. CPOs do not necessarily openly advocate a new order for society and government (or the lack thereof), but rather seek to gradually change the systems through the provision of services. For instance a CPO might provide the essential service of medical care by operating clinics and even medical schools all for the greater good of the People. Another CPO might organize independent farmers to provide a sustainable food source and distribution system. Still another CPO might run multiple divisions or service providers. In short, the CPO seeks to be a non capitalist alternative to corporatism and government. It is hoped that people would no longer become reliant on the latter institutions by use of CPO services.

• CPOs are run entirely by their contributors. CPOs are formed by like minded individuals and governed by elected, immediately recallable councils of contributors and when possible, direct vote by all of the contributors.
  
• CPOs never engage in capitalist concepts including trade; they exist solely for the good of the People. As such, one of their unwritten goals is to forward the concept of the moneyless, gift based economy.
  
• CPOs embrace principles of nonviolence and anti-authoritarianism. They will not exist to have government like powers.
• CPOs provide for all of the People in equality. They shall never discriminate or engage in unfair, unjust, or unethical action.
• CPOs will protect the rights of all the People.
  

Microwave over laser

Magnetrons are simpler and have been proven to transmit more energy more efficiently. Several studies have shown that with proper diffusion, there are no long term health or environmental effects from such a system. In fact, we already live in a world propagated by high intensity, man made electromagnetic transmitted energy; from TV to radio to cell phone towers, even microwave ovens, it's already there.

1. Winged MPS Craft
2. Ground Based MPS
3. Mine LEO MPS materials in space
4. LEO MPS
5. Power receiving stations, saucer craft
   

LEO Microwave Power Generation for SSTO

Need to create about a 2,000 kW producing magnetron, BDB it to LEO (for smaller rectenna size on Earth/spacecraft) along with solar panels and enough magnetron systems to create a "spaceway" for electric crafts to ascent to LEO. Input? Engineers? Experts? I'd like your input on this idea! Sorry for the stilted writing, I just wanted to get this down...

Libertarian Communism Through Service Organizations

Libertarian Communism Through Service Organizations


Government has repeatedly failed the proletariat as a buffer against the bourgeois capitalists and power hungry fascists. Furthermore, it has failed as a vanguard, instead succumbing to the siren song of power and corruption. The capitalists and the resource hungry continue to exploit us. It is time for a new paradigm beyond government. Maybe government has the function of providing law and order, but even that should be questioned. All individuals must be able to do as they please provided it does not infringe upon the rights of others.

On power: even now as I type this, I feel the drive of power that those who feel impotent in the face of events feel. Yet this must be resisted as must violent revolution. How would violent revolution be any better for the People as a whole than the violence foisted upon us now? In the past, violence by revolutionaries has been justified by being for the cause of a people. But if we seek to bring about a better future for all of the People, how is violence against some of the People going to help? Violence begets a whole slew of human rights abuses and crimes. And again I ask how would our violence be any better?

The cohesion and collective adrenaline for a cause of revolutionary forces is quite tempting for those who desire change. It is for me. But it must be resisted. Change must come about through service and example not death and destruction. To do the latter makes our cause no more worthy than so many violent causes before us. We must be above violence, we must not succumb to its seductive call.

Again, I feel service and activism is the future for the cause of the libertarian communists. Through service, we can make the future better for the People. Through activism, we can advance our ideals.

We can give and advance through service by the creation of goods and services communistic organizations through which the producers govern. All the People shall benefit from these organizations in equality.

We can advocate our position through participation in the current political system in an attempt to change, reduce, and perhaps eliminate it. We can advocate our ideals through grassroots campaigns among the People. We can advocate our cause through public demonstration. And I have just run of compositional steam, that didn’t last long…

NOTE: I apologize for the poor quality of this journal entry. I threw it together at “the speed of thought” meaning that it is largely “thinking aloud” and thus not necessarily confined by proper style.

The ideal government/social system of the future would be a libertarian, democratic council based government that would ban the function of money and markets (but not non-exploitative private property) in the name of it [markets and money] being an infringement on the rights and equality of people (see “The Moneyless Economy”). It would only enforce criminal justice when one person or persons infringes on the rights of others (including of shared resources). Although it would provide some services when necessary, it would mostly rely on NCSOs and non-capitalist contributors to provide goods and services. This overcomes the major drawbacks of state Communist collectivist approaches such as the Soviet Union, which largely became a state corporatist and collectivist/free market hybrid approaches such as China, which largely became a corporate socialist state. By strictly eliminating money, this ideal form of government also eliminates any chance of regression to capitalism or state corporatism.
To eliminate confounds for the time being, I will assume for this model that the People of all the nations of the world will have spoken democratically and elected to unify in a fashion respecting each others’ rights. I will address the feasibility of this unification in another essay.
Once the nations have elected to unify, democratic, immediately recallable councils should be elected every two years for each nation. A similar council will be elected on an international basis. The People shall have the power at all times and may recall or reverse any decision of the councils by a popular vote. There is a problem with this “absolute democracy,” however. What if a popular decision affects a minority in an ethically adverse way? For instance, what if a majority group elected to pursue an ethnic cleansing action against a minority ethic group? What if a majority felt that an absolute dictator must be elected? Surely there must be some sort of mechanism to stop such popular but unwise or unethical decisions. One way might be to remove the system of popular voting on Council issues and instead let the Councils make the decisions. The People would have a voice by electing the council members and/or recalling them. The councils could be governed by a strict set of ethical and operational standards. But by doing this, the People’s power might be diminished and the councils might ascend to a higher power status, much like modern government, in which the concerns of the People are not given much consideration. The councils might even see fit to overturn the recall and popular vote for their seats in the “best interests” of security…What solution do you propose? What “middle road,” if any, is there between absolute democracy and protection of minority voices?

Rather than focusing on abstract theory, hypothesis, and argument, I feel that it is better to take action and establish the means to better the world. As such, I lay out the basic principles of the gift organization. The gift organization based on the demonstrable idea of the gift economy provides all goods and services free to all of the People in equality with the eye towards eliminating various forums of social and economic injustice. It’s operations are administered by volunteers and elected councils of the volunteers.

Non-Capitalist Service Organization (NCSO)

Non-Capitalist Service Organization (NCSO)

An organization dedicated to the peaceful overturn of capitalism and government tyranny through volunteer service and production solely for the benefit of humankind. Not only does this provide for everyone in equality and WITH NO MOTIVE FOR PROFIT, but it serves to make capitalist and governmental institutions obsolete.

Core Modes of the NCSO:

• Nonviolence
• Justice
• Equality
• Representation

Flying Cities

Flying Cities are large airships. They are powered by solar panels and wind turbines and will eventually be powered by the Solar Electric Transmission System (SETS). They exist to provide a sustainable, secure, and spacious home to anyone who desires it with first priority being given to victims of warfare and other human rights abuses as well as to provide bases off of which to provide NCSO services. They fly in order to remain over international waters and thus be separate from any political entity freeing them from the traditional political issues plaguing refugees. Additionally, they fly in order to rapidly move to any position on Earth so as to dispense NCSO services or peacekeeping/war prevention operations.

The Flying Cities are run by a trained corps of officers with specialties in Piloting, Engineering, and Cabin Operations (Flight Attendant, Safety, and Police Officer). Any individual may compete for examinations for open slots. If selected by a superior grade on the examination, these prospective officers are given necessary training to fulfill their specialty. The permanent citizens of each Flying City elect commanding crew on a fixed basis. Each commanding crew candidate must be a trained officer in the specialty needed for the post in order to qualify for election. The commanding crew positions in order of decreasing command precedence as per established aeronautical convention are: Captain, First Officer, Second Officer, Third Officer, Assisting Officers, Chief Flight Engineer, Assisting Flight Engineers, Purser, Assistant Purser, Sectional Flight Attendants (elected by each section).

To become an officer, the candidate must have successfully competed for and the appropriate examination and training but must win a popular election in order to occupy the position. Anybody may attempt the examination and training and thus anybody who chooses to may start the democratic process of becoming an officer thus adhering to the principles of completely representative, fair government.

Each citizen would be politely requested to provide a GSPS service or product, but is necessary not required to (to cause such a requirement would go against principles of limited, fair, highly representative government).

Flying Cities are completely self-sufficient. The ideal design supports up to 12,000,000 people. The Captains of each Flying City shall constitute a unifying congress of all Flying Cities.