Choosing Planets
Let's turn our imagination to the edge and do something different today. We can call it a thought experiment, a childish game, a daydream, science fiction, pure fantasy, or whatever we want, but let's move the boundaries far away from Earth, far away from our solar system, even farther from our galaxy, and do something wild.
Let's choose a planet.
Or, to be more precise, let's select one in the vastness of the cosmos and move away from this Earth and start new life. Of course, in daydreams we are allowed to do this just because the imagination is what our species differs from others on Earth.
Ok, to begin this little endeavor, we need a little astronomy to start with. What we know for sure is that our galaxy alone contains more than 200 billion stars, the majority of them not so different from our Sun, and by using a basic statistical study based on the planet finder's microlensing technique, there are approximately 100 billion planets orbiting them. Perhaps more. Multiply that by a factor of billions of galaxies in our universe, and you'll get that there are far more Earth twins out there than living people on Earth. There are planets for everybody's taste. So let's start with the planet's basic properties.
It has to be huge, much bigger than Earth, maybe twice as big in size or even more, to harbor as many people as Earth today and still have plenty of room for many more. To be something like in Canada's distant regions today with only up to a thousand people per square kilometer. However, its composition must be radically different than Earth's, as, in my imagination, it has to maintain gravity more or less like the third rock from the Sun. After all, I don't like to move there and look ridiculously dysfunctional when it comes to, say, simple walking. So fewer heavy elements inside, please, and let it be around the famous, well-known number of 9.81. More or less. So no radical changes when gravity is in question, but I would choose the one with radically fewer water layers than we are familiar with within here. Don't get me wrong, I do like water, and I would like to have plenty of it all over the place, but with no oceans or large seas. Rivers are ok in any variety, lakes too, and small seas are also fine, but please no oceans. Nobody needs that. Hey, it's my planet; if you like oceans, find your own, or don't move anywhere; there are lots of oceans here.
Basically, there must be one giant continent in Norway's style with lots of rivers and lakes and small seas with large bays and calm weather. One rotation cycle could be a little longer than Earth's, but not so much over 30 hours. You can't get rid of old habits that easily. Like Earth, it needs to have a slightly tilted rotation axis to provide longer seasons and temperature changes over the year, with a revolution over the main star similar to the one in Mars or approximately twice as long as Earth's. Earth-like atmosphere and its greenhouse effect would provide a temperature range over the year to be a little milder compared to our native planet, maybe no less than -10°C in harsh winters and no higher than +30°C in summers. A tilted axis and position within the habitable zone of the mother star would also provide no big differences between the planet's equator and pole regions. What else? Oh yes, it has to be protected with both a strong magnetic field and a couple of perfectly positioned giant outer planets from both radiation and looney asteroids and comets. It could also be part of a binary star system, where the second star could also provide additional protection when it comes to violent cataclysmic events in the neighborhood. Last and surely not least, it has to be green all over the place. Extremely suitable for cultivation of various kinds of anything possible. The geography of the planet could be variable with both long valleys and mountains, just like in our home yard.
Do you like my paradise so far? In a way, it was not hard to set the basic astronomical properties of the star system and planet itself. However, a bigger challenge comes with defining the demographics of the planet. You might not like it anymore after I continue and say that I would like the planet to be colonized without any domesticated intelligent species. Why? First of all, it wouldn't be right to find a desirable planet along with at least one dominating intelligent species already evolved there. It would be like colonizing the Americas and killing or putting the population into reservations. We've been there. It's just wrong. Secondly, and probably even more important, is that I would like to share it with other intelligent species. Preferably humanoids. Not mandatory, though. That way neither would be in a position to set a flag and say, "This is mine; everybody else is not looking like me; go away". Basically, in my vision, everyone intelligent who would like to come and build a house is welcome at any time as long as they sign some sort of "sharing" agreement. Something similar to the Antarctic Treaty System we are having here on Earth. Basically, the colonization idea would be comparable to the Earth back in dinosaur time, when all the aliens missed the opportunity to colonize it when no domestic intelligent species existed to claim it for itself. Or they didn't miss it at all, and we are actually them and have never been native to this planet.
So how would all that sharing look like, and what kind of civilization am I talking about? There are so-called Kardashev scales defining possible civilizations out there, dividing them into Types I, II, and III, and it, by definition, represents a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of usable energy they have at their disposal. All three types are far away from the civilization of humans as we know it today, and all three are suitable as potential residents for my planet. By the way, let's call it in further text "M." Accidentally, although I first thought of my first name's initial, it is titled more accurately according to the planet's classification seen in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Anyway, the point of using high-end civilization in my story is that young civilizations like ours are simply not suitable. Why? Several reasons, actually. First, it seems that a big amount of mutual tolerance is needed for the sharing principle I have in mind. All desirable intelligent species have to be evolutionary mature and unburdened by racial, religious, and any other interspecies differences. Additionally, the population must be technologically advanced. The system on the planet would be as simple as possible; there would be no countries nor any kind of political organization, no governments of any kind, nothing like on the third rock of our solar system. There will be just one institution, planetary-based, with just one treaty where all colonists have to sign, and it should be pretty simple. If you want to live there, you would have to choose the land that is free and yet unoccupied, claim it yours, and the only condition to keep it is to produce zero waste outside of its boundaries. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want with it—create your dream house, build a school, trade market, entertainment facility, anything at all—as long as you play fair in relation to others.
There will be no cities, as the technology at everybody's disposal would provide transportation to the most distant part of the planet easily, safely, and fast. I see smaller settlements, though, based on their mutual benefits and relations. There will be no sports, at least not in the form of the ones we know on Earth. It would be extremely unfair to play, for example, basketball involving multiple species with different masculine properties. However, the technology sports would survive, like races or any kind of recreational activities. Advanced technology in everybody's home would provide planetary and interplanetary networks of various communications; there would be no need for many supporting factories except for basic ingredients, as home computers would be equipped with state-of-the-art 3D printers capable of producing both simple tools and complex machines. The same home computer would also be able to use food replicators for creating food and food supplements. I don't like the existing concept of killing other species and using them for food. Cultivation and planting are perfectly ok, and each household would possess its own greenhouse for growing appropriate food, but I expect high-end civilizations in evolutionary terms would solve "the meat" problem, and I am not talking about a vegetarian diet.
Of course, the main star system would be well explored, with several outposts built for several purposes, along with mining outer moons, other planets, and asteroids in search of all necessary ingredients for planetary life, along with a variety of orbital activities for planetary residents, including entertainment.
Unfortunately, choosing a world to move is still just a dream. Reality still resides far in the future. Nevertheless, I wonder if such a world already exists out there in a far, far... You know.
Image ref:
https://3dprint.com/32269/made-in-space-emails-wrench/
Refs:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2012/07/full/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_Measuring_Gravity_With_Grace.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_M_planet
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734472/
Let's choose a planet.
Or, to be more precise, let's select one in the vastness of the cosmos and move away from this Earth and start new life. Of course, in daydreams we are allowed to do this just because the imagination is what our species differs from others on Earth.
Ok, to begin this little endeavor, we need a little astronomy to start with. What we know for sure is that our galaxy alone contains more than 200 billion stars, the majority of them not so different from our Sun, and by using a basic statistical study based on the planet finder's microlensing technique, there are approximately 100 billion planets orbiting them. Perhaps more. Multiply that by a factor of billions of galaxies in our universe, and you'll get that there are far more Earth twins out there than living people on Earth. There are planets for everybody's taste. So let's start with the planet's basic properties.
Choosing the World
It has to be huge, much bigger than Earth, maybe twice as big in size or even more, to harbor as many people as Earth today and still have plenty of room for many more. To be something like in Canada's distant regions today with only up to a thousand people per square kilometer. However, its composition must be radically different than Earth's, as, in my imagination, it has to maintain gravity more or less like the third rock from the Sun. After all, I don't like to move there and look ridiculously dysfunctional when it comes to, say, simple walking. So fewer heavy elements inside, please, and let it be around the famous, well-known number of 9.81. More or less. So no radical changes when gravity is in question, but I would choose the one with radically fewer water layers than we are familiar with within here. Don't get me wrong, I do like water, and I would like to have plenty of it all over the place, but with no oceans or large seas. Rivers are ok in any variety, lakes too, and small seas are also fine, but please no oceans. Nobody needs that. Hey, it's my planet; if you like oceans, find your own, or don't move anywhere; there are lots of oceans here.
Basically, there must be one giant continent in Norway's style with lots of rivers and lakes and small seas with large bays and calm weather. One rotation cycle could be a little longer than Earth's, but not so much over 30 hours. You can't get rid of old habits that easily. Like Earth, it needs to have a slightly tilted rotation axis to provide longer seasons and temperature changes over the year, with a revolution over the main star similar to the one in Mars or approximately twice as long as Earth's. Earth-like atmosphere and its greenhouse effect would provide a temperature range over the year to be a little milder compared to our native planet, maybe no less than -10°C in harsh winters and no higher than +30°C in summers. A tilted axis and position within the habitable zone of the mother star would also provide no big differences between the planet's equator and pole regions. What else? Oh yes, it has to be protected with both a strong magnetic field and a couple of perfectly positioned giant outer planets from both radiation and looney asteroids and comets. It could also be part of a binary star system, where the second star could also provide additional protection when it comes to violent cataclysmic events in the neighborhood. Last and surely not least, it has to be green all over the place. Extremely suitable for cultivation of various kinds of anything possible. The geography of the planet could be variable with both long valleys and mountains, just like in our home yard.
Humanoids by Star Trek "design"
Do you like my paradise so far? In a way, it was not hard to set the basic astronomical properties of the star system and planet itself. However, a bigger challenge comes with defining the demographics of the planet. You might not like it anymore after I continue and say that I would like the planet to be colonized without any domesticated intelligent species. Why? First of all, it wouldn't be right to find a desirable planet along with at least one dominating intelligent species already evolved there. It would be like colonizing the Americas and killing or putting the population into reservations. We've been there. It's just wrong. Secondly, and probably even more important, is that I would like to share it with other intelligent species. Preferably humanoids. Not mandatory, though. That way neither would be in a position to set a flag and say, "This is mine; everybody else is not looking like me; go away". Basically, in my vision, everyone intelligent who would like to come and build a house is welcome at any time as long as they sign some sort of "sharing" agreement. Something similar to the Antarctic Treaty System we are having here on Earth. Basically, the colonization idea would be comparable to the Earth back in dinosaur time, when all the aliens missed the opportunity to colonize it when no domestic intelligent species existed to claim it for itself. Or they didn't miss it at all, and we are actually them and have never been native to this planet.
So how would all that sharing look like, and what kind of civilization am I talking about? There are so-called Kardashev scales defining possible civilizations out there, dividing them into Types I, II, and III, and it, by definition, represents a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of usable energy they have at their disposal. All three types are far away from the civilization of humans as we know it today, and all three are suitable as potential residents for my planet. By the way, let's call it in further text "M." Accidentally, although I first thought of my first name's initial, it is titled more accurately according to the planet's classification seen in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Anyway, the point of using high-end civilization in my story is that young civilizations like ours are simply not suitable. Why? Several reasons, actually. First, it seems that a big amount of mutual tolerance is needed for the sharing principle I have in mind. All desirable intelligent species have to be evolutionary mature and unburdened by racial, religious, and any other interspecies differences. Additionally, the population must be technologically advanced. The system on the planet would be as simple as possible; there would be no countries nor any kind of political organization, no governments of any kind, nothing like on the third rock of our solar system. There will be just one institution, planetary-based, with just one treaty where all colonists have to sign, and it should be pretty simple. If you want to live there, you would have to choose the land that is free and yet unoccupied, claim it yours, and the only condition to keep it is to produce zero waste outside of its boundaries. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want with it—create your dream house, build a school, trade market, entertainment facility, anything at all—as long as you play fair in relation to others.
ISS 3D Printer and first 'emailed' socket wrench
There will be no cities, as the technology at everybody's disposal would provide transportation to the most distant part of the planet easily, safely, and fast. I see smaller settlements, though, based on their mutual benefits and relations. There will be no sports, at least not in the form of the ones we know on Earth. It would be extremely unfair to play, for example, basketball involving multiple species with different masculine properties. However, the technology sports would survive, like races or any kind of recreational activities. Advanced technology in everybody's home would provide planetary and interplanetary networks of various communications; there would be no need for many supporting factories except for basic ingredients, as home computers would be equipped with state-of-the-art 3D printers capable of producing both simple tools and complex machines. The same home computer would also be able to use food replicators for creating food and food supplements. I don't like the existing concept of killing other species and using them for food. Cultivation and planting are perfectly ok, and each household would possess its own greenhouse for growing appropriate food, but I expect high-end civilizations in evolutionary terms would solve "the meat" problem, and I am not talking about a vegetarian diet.
Of course, the main star system would be well explored, with several outposts built for several purposes, along with mining outer moons, other planets, and asteroids in search of all necessary ingredients for planetary life, along with a variety of orbital activities for planetary residents, including entertainment.
Unfortunately, choosing a world to move is still just a dream. Reality still resides far in the future. Nevertheless, I wonder if such a world already exists out there in a far, far... You know.
Image ref:
https://3dprint.com/32269/made-in-space-emails-wrench/
Refs:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2012/07/full/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_Measuring_Gravity_With_Grace.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_M_planet
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734472/
