(urth) the prime calcula/his citadel and other quotes

[Jack Smith]

Let's make the green man work!

On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 4:31 AM, David Duffy <davidD at qimr.edu.au> wrote:

> On Wed, 19 Jan 2011, Gerry Quinn wrote:
>
>
>> From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <danldo at gmail.com>
>> Gerry Quinn wrote:
>>
>>  > I think the more obscure clues can often be pointers to the ideas Wolfe
>>> > is
>>> > getting at, but I also think that in his SF it's the concrete events
>>> and
>>> > details - the stuff that actually happens - that holds the key to
>>> > understanding. It's not the Mystical Kabbalah - it's a science fiction
>>> > story, guys!
>>>
>>> No it isn't. It's science fantasy.
>>>
>>
>> Maybe.  I think Wolfe would probably call it science fiction - that's what
>> he
>>
>
> I'm pretty sure there was an interview where he described it as science
> fantasy, which I found interesting because of the statement by many writers
> at that time that there is no such thing.  That is, either it is fantasy
> because the science is too soft or absent, or it is proper science fiction,
> with one allowed impossibility.  BotNS has lots of deliciously wrong
> science, such as the useful properties of contraterrene matter mentioned
> earlier.
>
>
> However, the solar powered green man can be made to work: bumping up the
> photosynthetic efficiency of the algae, changing his metabolism to something
> closer to the poikilotherms, or allowing him to visit a high intensity
> solarium every day:
>
> tropical insolation 6-7 kWh/m2/day, equivalent 5100-6000 kcal daily;
> body surface area 1.65 m2;
> exposure ratios for standing man 0.14-0.39 from site to site (I use 0.2);
> (for a supine sunbather 0.35 say);
>
> Unfortunately, the theoretical maximum for current (two pigment)
> photosynthesis 9%, so he must use tweaked algae and cyanobacteria containing
> quantum dots to get 60% efficiency (he can use IR, for instance).
>
> This gives him 1200 kcal/day.
>
> Ectotherms have basal metabolic rates 3-4 lower than a endotherm, partly by
> doing very little between meals.  A 65 kg individual with the same
> metabolism as a Komodo dragon (Nagy et al Ann Rev Nutr 1999; 19:247) would
> have a field metabolic rate of 810 kcal/day. Energy use for walking and
> running is supposed to be same for endo and ectotherms eg 50 kcal/km human
> walking, so he would be able to walk 8 km before tiring.
>
> Obviously on Urth in prison, he lies fully outstretched in the sunbeam for
> as long as possible, but insolation is perhaps close to that in Scotland
> (say 1/3 of tropics), so reducing his intake to only 700 kcal.  At 6000
> kcal/kg fat, he loses 500 g of weight a month in captivity.
>
> Cheers, David Duffy.
>
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-- 
Best wishes,
Jack
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