Seasteading

[Fife]

No time travel paradoxes or pressure suits required. Still not for the pussies among us.

[Speaker to Animals]

I will give it a listen when I am at the computer, but preemptively.. have these people ever actually been out in the ocean? The weather and monster waves seem like a small little detail that sinks the idea of seasteading unless the whole town can submerge for a time.

[Speaker to Animals]

If I we're going to try something like this and had the resources..

I might try to build a very large oil platform and drill a well at the ocean bottom. Use the profit from oil extraction to run the town. The platform would have to be huge with hydropinic farms, desalination system, and some kind of power generator.

The more I think on it the less practical this idea becomes.

It's actually probably easier to build habitats in LEO.

[Fife]

I will give it a listen when I am at the computer, but preemptively.. have these people ever actually been out in the ocean? The weather and monster waves seem like a small little detail that sinks the idea of seasteading unless the whole town can submerge for a time.

That's the major logistical question, obviously. The interviewee at least gives an attempt at an honest answer, IMNSHO. These dudes are talking about a being within a relatively safe sea, and not just (literally) out in the middle of nowhere.

What did the Okies have to offer as an answer, regarding a homesteading attempt into the central California valley back in the day?

These guys are worth our attention, at least. Is this idea more feasible than going to the moon in our lifetimes?

[Speaker to Animals]

These guys are worth our attention, at least. Is this idea more feasible than going to the moon in our lifetimes?

This is where I think the concept of sea colonization is deceptive. It's certainly easier to just get out into the ocean. You need only a boat. It's easier to get material out there. Again, you need a boat that can carry cargo.

But when you factor in the engineering problems of building a sea habitat for humans.. I think it's actually easier to build a habitat in LEO. It's more difficult to get material up there, sure. It's more difficult to get people up there, yep. But once you build the fucking thing, it's pretty stable. Nothing is going to just happen to knock it away. There also is more industry possible up there. Example: cleaning up and recycling space junk for profit and to expand upon the habitat. You can create perfect growing conditions up there for food. Meat's going to be a problem. I guess we are talking vegan paradise here. But I can realistically imagine designing and building a modular habitat system that is safe and stable, no different than the ISS is for a few astronauts and cosmonauts (but much bigger).

Now take that idea into the ocean. Tidal waves in the small seas you are talking about are a problem. Waves can get worse in there during typhoons and hurricanes as well. You have to engineer something that is under constant mechanical stress by waves. The elements are constantly trying to erode it. The amount of shit that engineers have to address is legion compared to a space habitat. I know that sounds crazy, but seriously try to consider all the shit you have to mitigate with a floating city.

A city in LEO is perfectly stable. It's still in the magnetosphere, so no space radiation. It's got access to plenty of light. You can possibly use satellites with mirrors to direct light to it all the time, even when the sun occluded by the Earth. The big difference, aside from the cost of getting material to the city (though, not the other direction), is the probability of fatalities when something catastrophic happens. In SeaCity, the city sinks and people go to the lifeboats. In LEOCity, people are hopefully getting to something like Soyuz capsules and finding a reentry point in time. That's where shit gets difficult.

[Speaker to Animals]

An underwater city is doable as well. I can see building something like that.

[Fife]

These guys are worth our attention, at least. Is this idea more feasible than going to the moon in our lifetimes?

This is where I think the concept of sea colonization is deceptive. It's certainly easier to just get out into the ocean. You need only a boat. It's easier to get material out there. Again, you need a boat that can carry cargo.

But when you factor in the engineering problems of building a sea habitat for humans.. I think it's actually easier to build a habitat in LEO. It's more difficult to get material up there, sure. It's more difficult to get people up there, yep. But once you build the fucking thing, it's pretty stable. Nothing is going to just happen to knock it away. There also is more industry possible up there. Example: cleaning up and recycling space junk for profit and to expand upon the habitat. You can create perfect growing conditions up there for food. Meat's going to be a problem. I guess we are talking vegan paradise here. But I can realistically imagine designing and building a modular habitat system that is safe and stable, no different than the ISS is for a few astronauts and cosmonauts (but much bigger).

Now take that idea into the ocean. Tidal waves in the small seas you are talking about are a problem. Waves can get worse in there during typhoons and hurricanes as well. You have to engineer something that is under constant mechanical stress by waves. The elements are constantly trying to erode it. The amount of shit that engineers have to address is legion compared to a space habitat. I know that sounds crazy, but seriously try to consider all the shit you have to mitigate with a floating city.

A city in LEO is perfectly stable. It's still in the magnetosphere, so no space radiation. It's got access to plenty of light. You can possibly use satellites with mirrors to direct light to it all the time, even when the sun occluded by the Earth. The big difference, aside from the cost of getting material to the city (though, not the other direction), is the probability of fatalities when something catastrophic happens. In SeaCity, the city sinks and people go to the lifeboats. In LEOCity, people are hopefully getting to something like Soyuz capsules and finding a reentry point in time. That's where shit gets difficult.

Good points, and some of which are raised in that podcast episode.

Keeping your ass alive isn't a friendly proposition anywhere, is it?

[Okeefenokee]

An underwater city is doable as well. I can see building something like that.

That's what I think would be more feasible. The ocean is lot more calm below the surface than when you're trying to float on top of it.

[Fife]

An underwater city is doable as well. I can see building something like that.

That's what I think would be more feasible. The ocean is lot more calm below the surface than when you're trying to float on top of it.

I can agree with that, to the extent that we know (a small bit) about how weather patterns we all have to deal with on the surface don't necessarily apply under sea pressure.

Calm? Maybe. You just might find yourself begging for the un-calm of the surface. But who knows?

[Okeefenokee]