What are you reading? I'm really bummed.

[TheGreyRonin]

quote: ***********Looks nervously around for torch-waving, pitchfork bearing mobs... Do I need to say more spoiler material?********** Sooner or later they show up, trust me...and decently-priced castles with laboratories are getting to be scarce...quote: So in one way, the Zoo Planet DOES have some advantages over the Ringworld. As a colony, yes. But as a Zoo, no. Creating environments that the exhibits could possibly escape from is counter-productive. Otherwise, why keep them in seperate environments at all? And yes, the Ringworld is unstable, but as originally (in the timeframe) constructed, the attitude jets would hold it stable enough. Dyson Spheres..*grins* Possible. But that opens a whole new can of worms involving who built them, where they went, and why nobody has seen them. And last time I checked my math, you couldn't move a Dyson Sphere in Einsteinian Space. A Dyson hyperdrive? Ringworld is a tinkertoy by comparison. (It's Larry's Universe, though so...*shrugs*) I seem to recall mention being made of Phsspok being nearly dead when he arrived because he had passed his extended lifespan limit even with relativity on his side. Of course, being only a Breeder-analog myself (*grins*) I'm possibly mistaken. Protector immortality hinges on cellular regeneration. Everything wears out eventually; I'd assume even a hungry Protector would as well without using advanced technology to offset the ravages of time. Otherwise one can picture a Protector in a giant hamster wheel, providing power to his breeders in exchange for Tree-Of-Life for eternity. (Story idea, that. Intelligent breeders holding their ancestor captive...) As for Teela's intelligence...I'd hazard that Protector intelligence comes not only from the Breeder genotype, but in some part also from the individual's personal experiences and intelligence. With Teela not being used to actually thinking for herself, or very well/far, she was little more than an child Breeder in an adult body. Bram seemed to be far more capable than Teela, and his Breeder genotype is hardly the most intelligent at their best. And I've read reviews for Rainbow Mars. I misspoke myself, in an attempt to not offend. Finding ANY reading material outside romance or westerns in my area is nearly impossible; and for reasons I do not care to explain in a post, I am unable to purchase anything from the internet, save in very rare cases. (I can't help but picture our fellow posters either scrambling for these books, or scratching their heads wondering what we're talking about...)

[Guest]

quote:Dyson Spheres..*grins* Possible. But that opens a whole new can of worms involving who built them, where they went, and why nobody has seen them. Who's to say that we HAVEN'T seen Dyson Spheres? From outside they're liable to bear a remarkable resemblence to red giant stars. Or some other main sequence type star, if the race that built it prefers a smaller, cooler sun. A smaller version could well resemble a gas giant planet, with an artificially contained fusion mini sun in the center. Or no sun, not every species is going to want one. Come to that, perhaps some brown and black dwarfs are really small Dyson Spheres and the heat we detect from them is waste heat from the civilization living inside. We may well be looking at a sky full of Spheres in assorted sizes and not realize it yet. As far as moving a Dyson Sphere, why would you need to? If your shell is opaque to radiation then you wouldn't CARE if the core exploded and a shockwave of lethal radiation was headed your way. As far as protector aging goes, tree of life virus provides the templates for continued cellular regeneration, and since the virus is being constantly provided from an outside source, then you don't have to worry too much about mutations within the cells themselves, as the virus template should tend to overwrite the changes. Now, if anything happens to your tree of life supply, you're in trouble.Yes, Protector intelligence is in part derived from the intelligence and experience of the individual. But, the Protector brain is enlarged, and Protectors think much faster than ordinary breeders. See the Brennan-monster for comparison. He's demonstrably more intelligent than Teela in Protector form, and was likely more intelligent as a breeder than Teela was. However, Teela was NOT stupid, she was far from it. She was just used to relying on her luck, and not thinking things thru BEFOREHAND. As a Protector, she doesn't have a choice but to think things through. quote: (I can't help but picture our fellow posters either scrambling for these books, or scratching their heads wondering what we're talking about...) LOL more likely they've just started avoiding this thread, we've sort of taken it over. *looks mildly sheepish*

[Guest]

Add me to those who don't know what you're talking about, LOL, but that's OK.I've just started reading Thoreau's Walden. Since it's supposed to be a classic I wanted to get it under my belt, so to speak. So far I'm finding it a little tedious, but I'm only in the first chapter. I hope it improves. I just finished re-reading The Call Of The Wild, which I haven't read since I was a kid. It's still good but not as great as it seems when you're 9.