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 Quote: Bob Schroeck wrote: For novelty's sake, at least. Opals don't have much industrial use, as far as I can tell, and they've been synthesized successfully. Ebony the Black Dragon http://ebony14.livejournal.com "Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
Genuine Martian Opals... My mother would love that.
Yeah, it's really going to be that kind of appeal that will make them a good export. The combination of the source plus the relatively small volume of
transport from Mars will probably give them an artificially-inflated value, such as diamonds have thanks to deBoer's. (And of course, look for scam artists to sell Daneside opals as "genuine Martian", too...) -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Hrm... There'd have to be a way of authenticating them, though. I'd imagine that there would be some sort of subtle difference that a competent jewler
can spot.
Or maybe not. There could be a story idea in tracking down scam artists selling bogus "Martial opals".
Or we could go all H. Beam Piper and say they have some odd polarization or what not that makes them opalesce differently from earth opals. Or glow. Or something. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
The latter actually sounds plausible. Besides, if there really is no difference, then that sort of fraud can go on an awful long time before someone gets wise
to it. Anybody got a friend at NASA or something that can say anything about what differences there may be between Earth opals and Martian ones?
http://ukpress.google.com...nio78MYmhWnWQRnIW5pF1P7bA
They have found a fungus in the Patagonia rain forest that, apparently, secretes diesel fuel. Looks like life is already catching up with us. -- Sucrose Octanitrate. Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode. 
Not so long ago we had a bit of discussion about US politics in Fenspace, and how they've diverged from real-world politics. Since in Fenspace Rudy Giuliani won the election on Tuesday, I guess the question is "what do we do with Obama?"
Well, it's a bit silly, but... Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information "I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Did you know that, apparently, the EPU crew had a stint as consultants to the TSAB?
There are Wedge Rats in the Air Force now. http://www.usafa.edu/scri.../ffnPopUp.cfm?newsid=2650 -- Sucrose Octanitrate. Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.  Quote:%[link=http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jjnnio78MYmhWnWQRnIW5pF1P7bA]http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM ... IW5pF1P7bA]Same story, different teller: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/quirks_20081108_9016.mp3]Quirks & Quarks (CBC radio) podcast (Link should be valid for about a month.) -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
The Hubble space telescope has taken the first visible-light photos of a planet around another star -- a superJovian shepherding a dust disk around Formalhaut.
Register story here. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/19 ... pace_test/]NASA space tests 'interplanetary internet' protocol
Edit: And coverage of the same event on http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/ ... ernet-tips]The Inquirer -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Article
here. This would make terraforming Mars a whole lot easier, I would think. Ebony the Black Dragon http://ebony14.livejournal.com "Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
Here's http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/21 ... _glaciers/]The Register's article on the Martian glaciers, while we're at it.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Ya know, scientists have said that as humanity spread out accross the solar system, water is going to become the one greatest comodity, even more precious than
any other precious metal out there. I'm starting to think that this is not the case and that water-ice exists in abundance in our system.
Reminds me a little of Asimov's "The Martian Way", even...
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Alarmists, the lot of them. Hydrogen and Oxygen are two of the most plentiful elements out there. Only makes sense that a good deal of it exists as water.
Hmm... Thoughts on reaction mass and why the Magnificent Midnight and her 'children' aren't 'gas guzzlers' - later though.
"Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards."
-- Fred Hoyle ___________________________ "I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin
And that should be the motto of Fenspace.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
another quote:
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson ___________________________ "I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin
Which is why the Roughriders are going to be very much like the Confederate Freespacers of UF-verse. ^_^
The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/04/xcor_deal/]US space outfit promises The Right Stuff experience
Yes, it's another company offering sub-orbital flights sometime in the future. But note their first customer: an investment banker who recently made the first tandem skydive over Mt. Everest, and wants to plant his country's flag on the Moon. He'd fit in wonderfully in Fenspace, right? Thing is, he's a Dane. No, not a 'Dane, a Dane... -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
A http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Sc ... de=WON-ART]poster and a http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Sc ... de=WON-ART]T-shirt, which I suspect would appeal to two different iterfactional subgroups of Fenspace. I know Noah would put the poster in the waiting room outside his office...
(Spotted via http://moeticae.typepad.com/weblog_licentiae_moeticae/]Moe Lane's blog.) -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
A few other T-shirts that would likely appeal to various Fen
http://www.offworlddesign...m/p-32-geek-orthodox.aspx http://www.offworlddesign...m/p-262-not-cheating.aspx http://www.offworlddesign...-zz-fandom-is-random.aspx ___________________________ "I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin |
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