Re: Reasons for interstellar wars.

In article <em3c039p493s5i9rqfa9lqrrg1laubfsnn@xxxxxxx>, david@xxxxxxxxx
says...
On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 23:31:09 -0500, "Paul F. Dietz" <dietz@xxxxxxx>
wrote:

David Johnston wrote:

The cost that makes interstellar warfare impractical is not the cost
of actually fighting, but the cost of actually traveling there. If
interstellar travel is too expensive and slow to be worthwhile, then
interstellar warfare is likewise too expensive and slow.

Oh, I don't know about that. A beam weapon capable of frying
the biosphere of a planet at interstellar distances may be easier
than building a starship. Indeed, it may be a subset of the problem
of building a starship, if the starship is a laser light sail vehicle.

If it could fry a planet from lightyears away, I can't imagine the
vehicle that would survive it at short range.


The problem here is one of control.

The added advantage is it would not matter how advanced a civilization
was it could not detect a beam coming.


--
Magnificent and wondrous.

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/images/e/e5/Earth_Lights_from_Space.jpg

Observations of Bernard - No 111

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Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Reasons for interstellar wars.
    ... interstellar travel is too expensive and slow to be worthwhile, ... interstellar warfare is likewise too expensive and slow. ... of building a starship, if the starship is a laser light sail vehicle. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)
  • Re: Reasons for interstellar wars.
    ... interstellar travel is too expensive and slow to be worthwhile, ... interstellar warfare is likewise too expensive and slow. ... of building a starship, if the starship is a laser light sail vehicle. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)