Reality Askew

I was surfing the internet and found a quote (sorry couldn’t find it again) about space just being atoms and free space. At first I agreed and then thought about it a while and decided I disagreed with that statement. Open or free space isn’t just nothing, everything is something. What I mean to say is that even though we don’t understand it, how to measure it, or see it, everything is something. Space isn’t a nothing, every minuscule part of space is something.

So had this idea of a substance that could run between the layers of say armor on a tank.  It would remain in a gelatinous state until exposed to oxygen and then immediately harden.  So if a tank or armored vehicle were attacked, the holes would automatically fill in and become solid again.  To keep the system ready, you could simply refill the glue/gel reservoir.

This same system could be used on aircraft wings to repair damage to wings and control surfaces.  There could even be a laser matrix projected grid over the surface that the glue/gel would use as a guide for the repair.

Of course the implications for space would be great except for that whole oxygen catalyst thing.  Maybe the stuff for space would trigger on lack of oxygen or cold?

I watched the Space X explosion today and was sad that so much money, time and effort had been put into the launch only to have it end in a giant fireball.  It got me to thinking, why is it so expensive to launch a rocket into space?  I’ve hypothesized in the past about the possibility of using a magnetic rail (love magnets and lasers :)) to help accelerate a ship into orbit, but my idea this time is on the actual ship construction itself.  Why does it have to be so expensive if it’s just send supplies and why the torture of creating a reusable rocket that so far has yet to land where it’s supposed to?

My idea is simple, however it’s not new.  Why not make something like the model rockets I used to play around with in grade school?  Okay stop laughing and consider it for a second.  Why couldn’t you build the main rocket structure from some super condensed cardboard (paper) type material.  I would imagine layers of paper wrapped thousands of times to create a very solid structure.  As for the rockets, why not make giant solid fuel rockets, again like the ones model rockets use?  Combine these two and you could build a simple, cheap, disposable supply rocket.  As a note, it would be very disposable because it would simply burn up on reentry.

Quite simply round is the secret of the universe. Everything is round at one level or another, molecules, planets, universes, etc.  The circle of life is a prime example.  Even our concepts of social behavior are based on round; do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Everything has a beginning and an end, but they are actually one and the same.

Once you embrace this concept then anything you endeavor can benefit by applying it.

Maybe a billion years from now astronomers will realize that space is just a giant ball of space and time combined.

Introduction:  I originally wrote this back in 2006 and have since learned they are in fact developing something along these lines to propel ships into orbit using some form of magnetism.

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I’m not sure what or how and I will likely update this idea as time goes by, but I’m convinced that we are still in the dark ages with the propulsion systems we use today for space travel.  Take for instance the space shuttle.  I was watching some random Discovery channel show the other day and they showed the space shuttle being rocketed into space.  Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful site to see, but honestly I was stuck by the sudden impression that it was as barbaric as a cave man rubbing two sticks together to make fire.  Sure his friends think it’s great, but today it’s considered basic.

There has to be more!  Blasting people into space using a controlled explosion in flames is not progress.  I’ve tried to wrap my mind around what an alternative would be, but don’t really have the education to reach a reasonable hypothesis.  Of course that hasn’t stopped me in the past, so here goes.

Idea #1 – Magnets.  Honestly I think magnetism is so under rated.  Yes I said UNDER rated.  I still find it amazing that we don’t use the hell out of magnets in transportation.  Take a magnet and put two plus sides together and you have magical levitation.  Put these under a vehicle and it would have almost no friction, other than air holding it back.  Right?  So what happens if we learn how this works and have it apply to some sort of propulsion system for launch things into space.  Take a cylinder and put magnets all along it’s sides.  The magnets would have to be the kind that are energized and de-energized by electricity, so that they could be switched on and off.  Now lower a rocket into the cylinder.  On the cylinder you have the same sort of magnetic film or metal covering.  Now you should be able to basically turn on the magnets in such a way that you shoot the rocket out at decent speeds.

Ok after writing this I now see several problems with it.  One, is the velocity needed to escape orbit would tear the rocket apart after it left the launch cylinder.  Second, is how the heck do you maintain the required speed over the vast distance between earth and space?

Maybe the answer is a projected magnetic field that sort of pushes the rocket even after it has left the launch cylinder.  Like say, a particle beam accelerator thing.

Idea #2 – Giant rubber bands.  Ok, this one is a joke, but it’s almost as pathetic as the solid fuel rockets we use today.

Idea #3 – anti gravity?  I know this one is even crazier than the rubber bands, but honestly I think this will happen.