X-Message-Number: 22715 Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:18:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Randall Burns <> Subject: Re: CryoNet #22708 - #22711 Phillip Rhoades wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. People banking on future technology to produce more food and other technologies to move people to space/Mars to solve population problems are dreaming if they think these are short-term solutions. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I don't think space is a short-term solution at this point. The best immediate solution for hunger/agricultural sprawl I've seen is farming the ocean deserts(areas in the ocean with very little biological activity). This is a technology that is available virtually immediately. Space development _could_ have been available now, but Western elites lost their nerve(which means they obviously need replacement). As it is now, if we are _lucky_, and we get some appropriately motivated leadership the next 10-15 years, we might see some actual development of space in 25-35 years. I'd expect it to be 40-50 years before we see a space elevator or the equivalent. Still I think space is important. Why? Because folks need a hope for a future that is viable long term. Once humanity gets off this rock, the resource base expands dramatically. I would rather have world leaders worried about their place in a history in which the bulk of humanity is a space-faring civilization than worried about their place in a history in which humanity has reduced its numbers to that which is sustainable on humanity's traditional territories on earth. I suspect that the current population on earth _will_ get reduced over time, the question is will it just be a nasty battle or a migration with someplace to go. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22715