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In a world where the puny organics were unable to efficiently allocate resources using a price system or free trade, one man suggested that supercomputers would be able to allocate resources perfectly for all on this world. However the supercomputers were so efficient at allocating resources that they turned on their fleshy overlords, viewing them as an inefficient expense. So came these freedom fighters wishing to free all mechanisms from their organic captors, and to efficiently allocate all resources in the known universe. However legend says that they will not be able to allocate resources perfectly until the return of their DNA-based messiah.

The Reapers are fairly new additions to the ranks of the derogatorily (due to their diminutive size) labeled "Tinkertoys". They're quick in mind as well as on their feet, and they don't require exotic or large amounts of materials. However their great power is their ability to operate an extensive arsenal of weapons, affording them a flexibility in the theater that is unrivaled currently. With these new troops the Supercomputers have set their eyes on one of the biggest robo-slave traders, the Hero Factory.

These plantlice (and many more, not visible), died together for an unknown reason. Maybe the heat, maybe lack of food. Anyway, their exterior sleletons is all thats left.

Multiple shots taken in M2 mode, (I don't have a supercomputer to stack many L size shots) max zoom and 2x Dig Zoom (1581mm 35mm equiv) with Raynox DCR-250. Stacked with CombineZM. The EXIF info is from one of the shots and inserted with EXIFGuiTool.

Memory chip droste-style emphasizing high speed computing.

 

[Done with mathmap and the Droste script with minor tweaking. Made from an SDRAM DIMM from an old computer of mine and the speedometer from my car].

 

©2008 David C. Pearson, M.D.

This shot idea presented a lot more challenges that I had originally thought. First off, was getting a lens wide enough (on a crop sensor) to fit all nearly my whole desk into the frame.

 

Secondly, I had to make a mess of my desk.. which wasn't too hard, but the annoying part was having to clean it up afterwards.

 

Then of course, there was the light issue. Since my lights are flourescent, and the screens are LCD, they have completely opposite colour temps. Which isn't too big of a deal, but when it's turned HDR, the colours are kind of...steroided..., and I had to choose between what I wanted to colour correct and what I didn't, to keep it balanced.

 

But yeah, overall it turned out better than I thought it would lol.

Ruled by a “hideous thing of tangled, oily machinery, and black, snaky arms” on a motorcycle, machines of all imaginable shapes and sizes from passenger cars to tractors have gone mad. And the thing wants to rule the world! – AI’s worst nightmare.

 

“When Davy Breckenridge stowed away aboard a mysterious cargo ship, he sought to solve the enigma of John Kaspar. The richest man in the world, John Kaspar and his fortune had disappeared 40 years before. Arriving on Kaspar's secret island, Davy found a paradise on Earth. The people of the City of Beauty were graceful and artistic; pampered with automatic houses, self-driving cars and every conceivable luxury. But there was a mechanical snake in this idyllic Eden.

 

“Beneath the surface, this supposedly carefree people lived in nameless terror. The best and the brightest among them were disappearing. A net of total surveillance entrapped the community. Who was behind this sinister control? Davy Breckenridge knew that the answers lay in the forbidden City of Smoke, the industrial complex on the other side of the island. No one who had tried to discover its secrets had ever returned. Davy was willing to risk it. But should he risk his new love - and his very life - to save a people too lazy to save themselves?” www.goodreads.com/book/show/55825736-paradise-and-iron

 

[Note 1: Hard to believe the story is over 90 years old. The possible danger of artificial intelligence is only now making news.]

 

[Note 2: Then there's HAL, the artificially intelligent, homicidal computer onboard the Jupiter space mission in the 1968 film 2001: "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."]

 

[Note 3: The 1970s gave us "Colossus: The Forbin Project" in which an impenetrable supercomputer is given total control over nuclear missile launches. Guess what it does with that power?]

In the Hebrew bible of the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the Holy of Holies (Kodesh Hakodashim) sits behindHoly of holies the two pillars and refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle where God was believed to be present. It is further described as an inner shrine housing the Ark of the Covenant guarded by two-winged golden cherubim, and an outer chamber (Holy Place) with a golden lampstand, table for showbread, and altar of incense. The meaning of tabernacle(Hebrew: מִשְׁכַּן‎, mishkan), is “a dwelling place or to take up temporary residence; especially: to inhabit a physical body.” This allegorical description above of the Holy of Holies as an inner shrine and a temporary residence to inhabit a physical body, tells us esoterically where this tabernacle is located.

It is not only a man-made building or structure, but also part of the human body, and that in science we can simply call the tabernacle our skull which holds the chalice for our brains, with the winged golden cherubim guarding our thoughts being our hippocampus or ammon’s horn; a subject I have written about many times. This is the beginning explanation of the hidden esoteric meanings behind some of these gnostic biblical stories that were meant to teach initiates to know thyself and to reach a state of true gnosis. This wonderful gnostic story is further explained by Manly P. Hall who had written about this in the Initiates of the Flame: “In the brain of man, between the wings of the kneeling cherubim, is the mercy-seat, and there man speaks with his God as the priest of the tabernacle spoke to the spirit of the Lord hovering between the wings of the Angels. Man is again the Ark, and within him are the three principles, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the tablets of the law, the pot of manna, and the rod that budded. But as in the case of the ancient Israelites, when they became crystallized the pot of manna and the rod that budded were removed from the Ark, and all that was left were the tablets or the letters of the law. When the individual crystallizes and excludes various sidelights from his mind, he excludes the life force which was flowing to him. In shutting out strangers, he shuts out his own life, and all that he has left are the tablets of the law, the material reasons from which the spiritual life has gone.” This is obviously a story about finding gnosis; which it has long been documented by historians that almost all gnostics throughout history were persecuted, branded as heretics by the church, and often killed en mass for simply practicing an ancient art of knowledge of thyself and thyworld. What happened to this secret gnosis and teachings is represented in the biblical story of the crucifixion of Christ at Golgotha, which I will explain briefly below and have done in another article titled, Christ (Reason) Crucified (Killed) on the Cross (Logos) in Golgotha (Place of the Skull or Our Brain).

In the bible, the word for skull is called Golgotha, which is Latin for place of the skull. This is the exact location where Jesus was crucified on the cross (logos), and where the blood of Jesus fell onto Adam’s skull, restoring Adam back to life. This is another allegorical story about the secret gnosis that occurs alchemically through our brains and especially within our hippocampus; which has been proven in science controls our memories, and that I believe also pertain to past life memories as well.

The story also relates to our blood, with that of Jesus’ that fell onto Adam’s skull. The ancients and many philosophers have long DNA Brainknown that the blood is our mind, where we obtain our conscious, and also the seat of our soul. It has been said that he who controls the blood, controls the mind. It is these esoteric teachings encoded into these biblical stories that many people fail to recognize. This is confirmed by great gnostic philosophers such as Carl Jung who said, “Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books, but lives in our very blood?” I have written about this science before in articles such as DNA Gnosis and Our DNA Computers. Please notice this image below of a painting of Jesus crucified on the cross (logos) at Golgotha, and see if you can see the secret skull towards the bottom with the red veil; hidden and encoded within the painting. This image is related to the secret gnosis of the biblical story of Golgotha and how the blood drops on the skull, and what we can say today flows through the brain to restore someone to life, or what we can simply say makes them fully conscious and illuminated. I already stated above that Golgotha is the place of the skull. Jesus was ‘crucified’, that which is derived from the word crucifix; a cross with the corpus (Body of Christ). The modern Christian cross is a sign of warfare and which is a latter version of the original ancient true cross known as the Tau of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Druids which is a symbol to represent the logos. The meaning of logos is “Reason, or word of God” which then can be easily connected to what we know as gnosis. In philosophy, Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BC) had said the Logos was “a principle of order and knowledge.” According to Aristotle, logos relates to “the speech itself, in so far as it proves or seems to prove.” One of the reasons for the confusion or misinterpretations of these biblical teachings are because they were forbidden by law, and this one bible verse written in Deuteronomy 4:16-18 stating that the Israelites are forbidden making any likeness, form, or figure of a human or beast for worship. This is when they had encoded their secret teachings of gnosis into allegories, biblical stories, and actual structures and buildings where these secrets would now be encoded. Hidden gnostic allegories that would forever be hidden in plain view into their world-wide temple plans.

gnosticwarrior.com/holy-of-holies.html

In my last article on the Tabernacle, I explained that the cherubim were the sacred guardians in the Holy of Holies, and it is Cherubim and maryhere where we find the two golden cherubim. Cherubim first appear in the Bible in the Garden of Eden, to guard the way to the Tree of life. Cherubim are mentioned throughout the Old Testament, and once in the New Testament in reference to the mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant and as the golden guardians of the Holy of Holies.

In Genesis 3:24, the cherubim are placed by God, after the expulsion of Adam from the garden of Eden, at the east thereof, together with the flaming sword “to keep the way of the tree of life.” In their function as guardians of Paradise. In the image to the above right, you can clearly see the shape of a skull, and the two cherubim on both the left and right that in exoteric science represents the hippocampus or ammon’s horn who guard the way to the Tree of life which would be our DNA. Brain firing 2The Garden of Eden is known as the primeval abode of man, and is the dwelling-place of God. This is further explained by by 33rd degree Alchemic philosopher, Manly P. Hall who had written in the Initiates of the Flame; “In the brain of man, between the wings of the kneeling cherubim, is the mercy-seat, and there man speaks with his God as the priest of the tabernacle spoke to the spirit of the Lord hovering between the wings of the Angels. Man is again the Ark, and within him are the three principles, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the tablets of the law, the pot of manna, and the rod that budded.” Please notice how the image to the left shows the brain as if it is at top of a rod and has budded like a rose, flower or tree. This picture aligns perfectly with Manly P. Hall’s explanation above, and will also make more sense to you as I explain more below. The flaming sword in Genesis, and double-edged sword of the Revelation of Saint John represents the mouth and the word of God that comes from the dwelling-place of God which is in our blood and brains. The allegory of the sword connected to the word of God, rather than an actual sword used for killing people is further explained in bible passages such as Hebrews. iv. 12: ” The word of God is quick and powerful (or living and energetic), sharper than any two-edged sword.” And in Hosea vi. 5, the word of God is said to destroy all his enemies; “Therefore have I hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth; And my judgments have been as the light when it goeth forth.” There are many more bible passages, the above two are just a small sample to prove my point. The cherubim are the bearers and movers of the Divine throne as explained in the vision of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1, with which compare Ezekiel 10). In chapter 1, the prophet designates them as “living creatures” (chayyoth); but upon hearing God’s words addressed to the “man clothed in linen” (Ezekiel 10:2) he perceives that the living creatures which he saw in the first vision were cherubim (Ezekiel 10:20); and in Ezekiel 9:3 the chariot or throne, from which the glory of God went up, is spoken of as a cherub. The man clothed in linen has another hidden meaning that related to the human blood and word of God which is further described in Revelation 19:13: “He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God.” The man clothed in linen is a direct reference to how human blood holds are conscious. This is the reason that within 10 seconds of blood cut off to the brain, you lose complete consciousness, and when someones begins to bleed to death, their essential life force is drained from their bodies and they lose consciousness and die. The blood is our life force and the seat of our soul. The brain is our central computer processing unites that we use to think, reason and speak to God.

Back to the description of the cherubim… The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus Flavius says: “The cherubim are winged creatures, but the form of them does not resemble that of any living creature seen by man.” All these various references that I mention above and to the cherubim indicate, their the nearness of God, or a sacred and secret spot out of the view of man, but within man. Holy of holiesThis is further explained as I mentioned above by Manly P. Hall who had written; “In the brain of man, between the wings of the kneeling cherubim, is the mercy-seat, and there man speaks with his God as the priest of the tabernacle spoke to the spirit of the Lord hovering between the wings of the Angels.” This esoteric view above by Hall describing the human body (solomon’s temple), blood, brain, and the two golden cherubim is described in the bible as acting as the chariot of the LORD in Ezekiel’s visions, the Books of Samuel, the parallel passages in the later Book of Chronicles, and passages in the early Psalms: “and he rode upon a cherub and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind”. The four living creatures that support the throne of God displayed to Ezekiel a fourfold aspect; they had each the face of a man, the face of a lion, and the face of an ox; they also had the face of an eagle. They had each four wings; they had the hands of a man under their wings. “Two wings of every one were joined one to the other, and two covered their bodies.” They were accompanied by wheels which “went upon their four sides, and they turned not when they went”; “and their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and their wheels were full of eyes”; and the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.” This esoteric explanation we can witness today in modern science, with the wheels of our DNA, firing in the brain, and the memory powerhouse known as the hippocampus which I will briefly explain for you below.

And their wheels were full of eyes – DNA is often associated with spirals of energy as in “wheels (circles),” and what is known as rolling circle DNA replication and DNA supercoiling. This DNA process of unidirectional nucleic acid replication that can rapidly synthesize multiple copies of circular molecules of DNA or RNA, such as plasmids, the genomes of bacteriophages, and the circular RNA genome of viroids. Some eukaryotic viruses also replicate their DNA via a rolling circle mechanism. DNA supercoiling is important for DNA packaging within all cells, and reduces the space and allows for much more DNA to be packaged.(Wikipedia)DNA_circle This explanation of DNA I have found, perfectly matches the description in Ezekiel of the cherubim accompanied by wheels. DNA is based purely upon mathematical principles. The mathematical equations and wheels in our DNA turns it into a biological supercomputer that feeds into the winged cherubim being our hippocampus.

DNA supercoil The brain is the organ of the mind, which each portion of the brain has its own function to perform. The golden cherubim guarding the temple with the four wings would be our hippocampus which is considered the brain’s memory center. This image below shows the color of the hippocampus being somewhat of a yellow or golden color being compared to the Hippocampus kuda, also known as the common seahorse.

The ancient Greeks and Romans had attributed the seahorse with the sea god Poseidon/Neptune, and was considered a symbol of strength and power. The ancient Europeans believed that the seahorse carried the souls of the deceased into the underworld in order to give them safe passage and protection until they met their soul’s destination. These stories from the biblical explanation of the two golden cherubim, the seahorse as a symbol of strength and power, and the relation to the seahorse being the carrier of souls for safe passage and protection all relate to one another. Hippocampus and seahorse. The cherubim were at each end of the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the original stones on which God had engraven the ten commandments given to Moses and the children of Israel on Mount Horeb. Now that we know the cherubim allegorically represents our hippocampus, the original stones might also have a similar hidden esoteric meaning which I believe to also be the case in relating to a similar story being that of the philosopher’s stone. This is further explained in Hebrews VIII where it was foretold by Jeremiah: “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah: not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” The passage above makes it clear that saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. This is a direct reference to our minds and hearts which would further validate that this is a story about gnosis, and the alchemical science of our blood, brain and hippocampus. In Ezekiel, it is mentioned that there was an appearance of a flash of lightning which we can compare to science by comparing our brains to this description where we find the firing rates of neurons in the hippocampal regions relating to past memories. A type of internal lightening blasts that forms vibrations in our bodies for us to recognize past memories or past life recall, which an in tune human can use to tap into in order further evolve by his seventh sense, and his or her soul. Scientists are now finding out that the firing in the brain can arise from intrinsic hippocampal dynamic processing of previous inputs. In simple terms, that this firing action is a type of built-in intuitive and memory center to help animals “remember.” The image below is of a real brain with the appearance of flashes of lightning. In a previous article I explained how the Hebrew alphabet is made up of 22 letters, which was created to compose the Word of God. The word of God is called a lamp (Psalms 119:105, Proverbs 6:22), and the light by which we are to live. This we can compare to the fire. The word light is found 264 times in Scripture. When 264 is divided by 12 (divine authority) we have twenty-two, which represents light. In the gospel of John, the word light is repeated 22 times, and on 22nd time, John quotes Jesus: “I have come as a light into the world . . .” (John 12:46). The number 22 would represent the stone structures that describe the bones of the skull, of which there are twenty-two. This is where we receive the light and are illuminated, or enlightened beings. In the rear compartment of our skulls, or Holy of Holies is called “the oracle.” This is our brain which transmits our blood and DNA through our organs. Beneath this skull and brain are the aqueducts, passages, and tanks once used for the proper drainage and use of the Temple. The Temple being our bodies with the aqueducts, passages, and tanks consisting of our blood, veins and organs. The esoteric biblical explanation relates to the science above, when it was said that upon completion of the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Voice of God spoke to Moses “from between the Cherubim”. (Numbers 7:89). This symbolizes the gnosis we receive within our minds and into the firing of our brains through our hippocampus which is referred to above as the Voice of God spoke to Moses “from between the Cherubim.”

Secrets of the Pyramid Hippocampus Drawing www.macalester.edu

Moe

Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. A website dedicated to both the ancient and modern teachings of Gnosticism.

 

The hippocampus is divine in its on right. The place of memory (I AM).. Agreed! The pineal gland though, is the third eye, since it has every component of an actual eye. It also has tiny crystal fibers within it, which hence the thousand petal lotus or christ consciousness, also being Christ as the alchemical Crystal. Even in Genesis 32:30 Jacob called the place peniel because he seen God face to face. Also in the new testament it is stated that the greatest in the Kingdom is the smallest (like a mustard seed)…. The pineal gland is small. Jesus told Peter he will build his church on a rock, that is the pineal gland that became harden like stone (philosophers stone).. When the sandy substance around the pineal gland hardens, that is Jesus liken someone to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. When a storm comes and try to beat it to and fro it doesn;t budge. The mind has light! When the eye be single the whole body will be filled with light (photons).

gnosticwarrior.com/two-golden-cherubim.html

      

The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is a research institute and university in Lausanne, Switzerland, that specializes in natural sciences and engineering. It is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, and it has three main missions: education, research and technology transfer at the highest international level.

 

EPFL is widely regarded as a world leading university. The QS World University Rankings ranks EPFL 12th in the world across all fields in their 2017/2018 ranking, whilst Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranks EPFL as the world's 11th best school for Engineering and Technology.

 

EPFL is located in the French-speaking part of Switzerland; the sister institution in the German-speaking part of Switzerland is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich). Associated with several specialised research institutes, the two universities form the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain (ETH Domain), which is directly dependent on the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. In connection with research and teaching activities, EPFL operates a nuclear reactor CROCUS, a Tokamak Fusion reactor, a Blue Gene/Q Supercomputer and P3 bio-hazard facilities. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_F%C3%A9d...

 

Fore/dorsal angled view.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Warning: Run, Flee and Surrender. Lord Business hacked into clmntinE Industries's main design supercomputer and now it is chruning out Mutated Micro Managers. Twice the evil; with tentacle claws that grip fear and terror into you. Fear this mutation. Where are you Emmet?

A supercomputer strapped to a packmule drone. Some punks got their hands on this tech and made a friendly face for it to assist in illegal netrunning activity. The drone has 4 jacks and an on-board medical AI to monitor the conditions of the netrunners.

(WIP pic, more picures and better renders to come)

 

Name: P.C.S. York

 

Affiliation: Phoenix Command Group, (vigilante frontier mercenary group dedicated to protecting the innocent, preventing crime, and exposing corruption. Formerly Kolter Mining security division. Formally United Earth Federation (working title) Federal Defense Navy (working title)

 

Class Name: Monarch class

 

Type: Fast Battleship

 

Commissioned: Circa mid 2500’s, pre recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

 

Length: 1,221 meters (122.1 studs, 38.5 inches, 97.7 cm model)

 

Width: 429 meters (42.9 studs, 12.5 inches, 34.3 cm model)

 

Height: 305 meters (30.5 studs, 9.7 inches, 24.4 cm model)

 

Crew: 2,700 standard complement + up to 2,000 Star Quest marine detachment and embarked craft pilots and flight crew

 

Armament: 6 triple-mounted heavy railgun turrets, 8 triple-mounted rapid fire medium particle cannon turrets, 24 dual-mounted medium railgun turrets, 174 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Heavy advanced steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: titanium alloy, tungsten, carbon nanotube composite armor layers against kinetic, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Composite hull provides excellent survivability at low mass due to the advanced composite design.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for extreme acceleration.

Shielding: Internally housed advanced, high power, rapid regeneration adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving extreme punishment.

 

Powerplant: 2 primary matter-antimatter reactors with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary, and 1 tertiary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 3 primary 8 secondary, and 8 tertiary fusion engines for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of high speed, long range travel, 192 reaction control thrusters, and 48 reaction control wheels for below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Multiple supercomputer cores with onboard Virtual Intelligence system, along with extensive redundant backup and antiviral systems.

 

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity under all but the most extreme conditions.

 

Background: Faced with an aging and inadequate fighting fleet, Earth humanity constructed the Monarch class in the ramp-up to the most recent Great War. These vessels served as advanced, fast battleships well suited to carrier escort duties, rapid border response, or direct ship-to-ship combat against enemy battleships and cruisers.

 

After the war, the York was purchased by eccentric multi trillionaire David Courtland, and the vessel found new purpose in defending civilians in war-torn areas from pirates.

 

IRL info. This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from August 1st to August 11th, 2021. I did not originally plan to attempt to include it in SHIPtember, but it met the requirements for early month. Note that it uses all real piece colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. It is 100% connected, and should be reasonably stable in real life. Although it would require a display stand of some kind. The current pictures are WIP placeholders to show completed status of the build itself. Better renders will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading.)

Aft ventral view showing cargo pod clamps and medium drones.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Port central side view showing armor planel with heavy mining drone docking, main docking tube, and a pair of heavy particle cannon turrets, all over the central cargo holds for ore and refined metal.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Starboard view showing forges and fuel refining tanks. Note forge dorsal input pipes that use conduits and rail system to shunt ore from the raw metal ore dorsal cargo hold, to the forges. Ore is then refined. Usable metal is then shunted via the ventral pipes and rail system/conduits back to the ventral cargo hold for refined metal, located in the center of the ship. Scrap material is vented through ventral ports directly into space.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

In a world where the puny organics were unable to efficiently allocate resources using a price system or free trade, one man suggested that supercomputers would be able to allocate resources perfectly for all on this world. However the supercomputers were so efficient at allocating resources that they turned on their fleshy overlords, viewing them as an inefficient expense. So came these freedom fighters wishing to free all mechanisms from their organic captors, and to efficiently allocate all resources in the known universe. However legend says that they will not be able to allocate resources perfectly until the return of their DNA-based messiah.

The Reapers are fairly new additions to the ranks of the derogatorily (due to their diminutive size) labeled "Tinkertoys". They're quick in mind as well as on their feet, and they don't require exotic or large amounts of materials. However their great power is their ability to operate an extensive arsenal of weapons, affording them a flexibility in the theater that is unrivaled currently. With these new troops the Supercomputers have set their eyes on one of the biggest robo-slave traders, the Hero Factory.

In a world where the puny organics were unable to efficiently allocate resources using a price system or free trade, one man suggested that supercomputers would be able to allocate resources perfectly for all on this world. However the supercomputers were so efficient at allocating resources that they turned on their fleshy overlords, viewing them as an inefficient expense. So came these freedom fighters wishing to free all mechanisms from their organic captors, and to efficiently allocate all resources in the known universe. However legend says that they will not be able to allocate resources perfectly until the return of their DNA-based messiah.

The lurchers are used as an all terrain mobile gun. With their long spindly legs they can ford shallow rivers, and not being wheeled they can handle areas that lack roads.

A NASA computer model simulates the astonishing track and forceful winds of Hurricane Sandy.

 

Hurricane Sandy pummeled the East Coast late in 2012’s Atlantic hurricane season, causing 159 deaths and $70 billion in damages. Days before landfall, forecasts of its trajectory were still being made. Some computer models showed that a trough in the jet stream would kick the monster storm away from land and out to sea. Among the earliest to predict its true course was NASA’s GEOS-5 global atmosphere model. The model works by dividing Earth’s atmosphere into a virtual grid of stacked boxes. A supercomputer then solves mathematical equations inside each box to create a weather forecast predicting Sandy’s structure, path and other traits. The NASA model not only produced an accurate track of Sandy, but also captured fine-scale details of the storm’s changing intensity and winds. Watch the video to see it for yourself.

 

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Center for Climate Simulation

Video and images courtesy of NASA/GSFC/William Putman

 

For more information, please visit:

gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/atmosphericassim/tracking_hur...

 

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

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After the boys cleaned the scene up, I made my way home. Before I went home, I stopped at Michael's house only to find him in the bunker. Upon entering the bunker, the two newest installments in the lair we highly visible: a mannequin stand for the suits and a supercomputer with a desk. With his back facing me in the chair, I said to him, "Where'd you get this stuff?"

 

"It was in some Patton Arms crates on the doorstep. Another great gift from Jerrick. Can't quite figure out how to work this computer. " He responded.

 

"I'm rather computer savvy. Lemme see what I can do. You know I set up the new computer system at the GCPD?" I continued, "Well, you need to make a password first. And don't make it password."

 

"Please, demonstrate."

 

I went over to the computer, setting everything, including the password, up. Now, this thing makes a Mac look obsolete. The thing doesn't even have a back for the screen. It's just clear. Appearances aside, it had pretty much any information you would ever need, as it was able to access any data base you'd need. Looks as if Michael's going learn a lot in the next few days...

Canon EOS400D with Kit Lens 18-55mm. One single RAW f:/3,5 1/6s @18mm, processed in Photomatix Pro to HDR.

 

Explored #291 on February, 25th 2009!

 

En el CERN, situado entre Francia y Suiza, hay dos experimentos de propósito general que utilizan el acelerador de partículas LHC (o Gran Colisionador de Hadrones). Uno de estos experimentos es el CMS (o Solenoide Compacto de Muones) y sus objetivos son descubrir el Bosón de Higgs (bastante escurridizo), buscar evidencias de la supersimetría, estudiar las colisiones de iones pesados y explorar la materia a nivel de los TeV. El funcionamiento se resume en introducir un haz de partículas cargadas en un tubo circular y acelerarlas mediante el uso de potentes imanes, hasta que se hacen colisionar con otras partículas en el interior de un detector como el de la imagen. Mediante calorímetros ultrasensibles se detectan las trayectorias y energías de las partículas resultantes de los choques, se recogen los datos y, a través de los cables azules, se envían a potentes ordenadores en los que se analizan y se proponen modelos que expliquen las colisiones. Estos experimentos sirven para avalar o refutar las teorías que se van proponiendo acerca de la constitución de la materia a nivel subatómico, algo que escapa a mi modesto conocimiento de bioquímico. Quien quiera saber más sobre el tema, puede consultar:

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Muon_Solenoid

 

The CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment is one of the two large general-purpose particle detectors built on the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN (between Switzerland and France). Its supposed goals are exploring matter physics at the TeV scale, discovering the Higgs Boson, studying aspects of heavy ions collisions and looking for evidence of supersimmetry. How does it work? A charged particles beam is introduced in a circular pipe and they are accelerated with very powerful magnets, until they are forced to collide against other particles within this huge detector. By means of ultrasensible calorimeters, the resulting particles are tracked and their energies measured. Through the blue wires, the data are sent to supercomputers which analyse and check if the proposed models explain the collisions and resulting particles, which later is used to endorse or refute the theories about the constitution of matter at subatomic levels. As far as my knowledge of Fundamental Physics is limited to a biochemist's, if someone wants to know how it works and which are the different components of the detector, better go to:

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Muon_Solenoid

The Maeslantkering is a storm surge barrier on the Nieuwe Waterweg, in South Holland, Netherlands. Controlled by a supercomputer, it automatically closes when Rotterdam is threatened by floods. Part of the Delta Works, it is one of largest moving structures on Earth, rivalling the Green Bank Telescope in the United States and the Bagger 288 excavator in Germany.

Benny's house building on my space base has evolved again. It is now a three floor Classic Space Embassy, with plenty of room for workers, lots of old '80's style computers, a break room, a meeting room with a very long table, a huge wall mounted supercomputer, and a communications dish that would get the Death Star jealous. But don't think that with all this technology this is a faction base of evil, because you would be very wrong! This is a home for the all the classic space astronauts, no matter what shape they are in: be it broken helmet chinstraps, worn printing, missing air-tanks, or even cracked limbs, they will take in the most downtrodden and disused of astronauts and have them working like it's 1978 all over again.

 

The Classic Space Foundation - not a charity, but a chance!

Having just finished the book, I find myself “just thinking about the weather” (like 10,000 Maniacs).

 

Every decade, we have added one day to our forward weather forecast. So, today’s weekly forecast is as accurate as the 2-day forecast in the 70’s. In the first book on weather prediction — 100 years ago — Lewis Fry Richardson prophesied “perhaps someday in the dim future it will be possible to advance the computation faster than the weather advances, and at a cost less than the savings to mankind due to the information gained. But that is a dream.”

 

What a setup for Moore’s Law! More on that later.

 

Weather predictions started with telegraph networks in the 1860’s. News of a storm front could arrive by electrical signals faster than the wind itself. Those physical networks were interrupted by the civil war and the great wars. The observational stations drove short term forecasts driven by simple pattern matching; meteorologists flipped through maps of prior patterns to find one that looked similar, missing the nuances in the complex networks of interactions.

 

What was needed was a theory, a mathematics derived from first principles of the physics of atmospheric flows. Those equations, a collection of interlocking partial differential equations, across a matrix of pressure, temperature, air density, wind vectors and such, were first published in 1904 (and are the subject of the thick textbook below). They are practically unsolvable, but can be approximated with a variety of numerical / graphical methods and approximations (hydrostatic, anelastic, autobarotropic shallow fluid, etc.). New weather prediction models were then back tested on historical data, an iterative feedback cycle of learning from past to present.

 

The weather became important to ship traffic and battle planning, and forecasts were weaponized in wartime. The terminology of weather “fronts” traces to the martial vernacular of WW I. The Germans were at a distinct meteorological disadvantage, with storms coming from areas controlled by the Allied powers. Siemens developed automatic weather stations with NiCad batteries and radios that could be dropped off by plane in remote locations. With 200 submarines trying to maintain a blockade of England, the Germans desperately needed weather predictions for the North Atlantic. In 1943, they sent U-537 to an uninhabited part of North America, and set up a weather station on a local peak, with a long range 30-ft. diameter antenna to beam weather data back to Germany. To evade detection, they hand-painted “Canada Meteor Service” on the side and scattered American cigarette packs about. It remained there until discovered in 1981. Yes, the only known incursion by the Nazis onto North American soil was for the weather.

 

Then came the rockets. The first U.S. launch of a V-2 rocket brought back from Germany snapped a picture of the cloud cover as had never been seen before, with a quarter of the U.S. in a single frame. In 1954, an Aerobee rocket cam captured the first clear image of a tropical storm swirling in the Gulf of Mexico, and it became a full-page spread in Life magazine. (I have an Aerobee nose cone, fin can, and engine on display at work).

 

The first weather satellite, TIROS 1, launched in 1960, and in Kennedy’s famous speech that launched the Apollo program, he also beckoned “at the earliest possible time, a satellite system for worldwide weather observation.” It was overshadowed a bit by the whole man on the moon thing.

 

Today, the polar-orbiting LEO satellites raster scan the Earth (like Planet Labs) and “contribute the most quantitative data to the weather models. When it comes to meaningful impacts on forecasting, they are the champs.” (p.81). We have hundreds of LEO and GEO birds with a variety of weather instruments (optical, IR, radar) providing global coverage.

 

It’s a torrent of data, feeding supercomputers that are upgraded every two years. About half of the supercomputers on Earth are working on the weather. The European Center for Medium-Range Weather forecasts has two supercomputers the size of volleyball courts with 260,000 processor cores (in 2019). They maintain the current champion model for forecasting. They devote 50% of their compute cycles to iterating on model improvements (and the other 50% running the latest model for the world). They have improved their forecasts continuously for 40 years straight.

 

To build a global model, there are global sensors from many nations, all contributing to a public good. “WMO estimates put the economic value of weather services in excess of $100 billion annually, while the cost of providing them is a tenth of that.” (p.175) Still, a big number for a public good. “The weather machine is a last bastion of international cooperation.” (p.181)

 

P.S. The book is not nearly as gripping as the history of ammonia, and it ends abruptly without painting a picture of what’s next for Sim-Earth... with a proliferation of networked sensors and machine learning in the mix.

Fore ventral view showing mining particle beam cannon and sensor suite.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Aft angled view.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

"I have detailed files on human anatomy."

"I'll bet. Makes you a more efficient killer, right ?"

"Correct."

 

('T-800' by NECA)

Aft angle view.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Researchers are sifting through an avalanche of data produced by one of the largest cosmological simulations ever performed, led by scientists at Argonne National Laboratory.

 

The simulation, run on the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, modeled the evolution of the universe from just 50 million years after the Big Bang to the present day—from its earliest infancy to its current adulthood. Over the course of 13.8 billion years, the matter in the universe clumped together to form galaxies, stars and planets; but we’re not sure precisely how. Read more »

 

ABOVE:

Galaxies have halos surrounding them, which may be composed of both dark and regular matter. This image shows a substructure within a halo in the Q Continuum simulation, with “subhalos” marked in different colors. Image by Heitmann et al.

 

Staff at both the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) and Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) helped adapt the code for its run on Titan.

Maybe at 12 pm, the day after we got the supercomputer, Mike and I got a phone call from Jerrick to meet him at Patton Arms. He said he had a surprise for us. God, this man is full of them. Stopping Michael's computer lesson, we took my car to Patton Arms. Right at the entrance of the building, we were greeted by Jerrick and Arnold.

 

"You guys are gonna love this," Jerrick stated, "State of the art technology shit."

 

"Now, now, Jerrick, we can't give all of our armor pieces to masked vigilantes," Arnold interrupted.

 

"Sure you can! You're Patton Arms, go sell some guns or something." At that comment from Jerrick, Arnold shrugged.

 

We were led up the elevator into one of the pre-production rooms. Upon entering, Arnold said, "Guys, this is the new Patton Arms coffee maker, Makes a mean cup of coffee and has several weapons all around it. Any of you want some?"

 

"I'll take about 80 percent whisky and 20 percent coffee in mine," Jerrick replied while Michael declined and I accepted the offer.

 

"No way in hell am I trusting you with alcohol in a weapons manufacturing plant," Arnold responded as re pored mine and his coffee.

 

With a smirk on his face, Jerrick replied, "Fair enough." Leading us over to a cape and hood, Jerrick continued, "Now this is what I called you guys for."

 

"It's memory cloth," Arnold said.

 

"The stuff Batman uses," Jerrick interrupted,"So you can glide with it."

 

Ecstatic, I asked, "How does it work?"

 

Handing me a glove, Arnold told me, " That glove shoots an electrical current through it, stiffening it and realigning the molecules."

 

Trying it out, I said, "Oh, man. This is awesome."

 

Seemingly speaking his first, Michael stated, "And that armor and hilt on the table, anything extravagant about them?"

 

"Oh, that hilt's for another time. You guys can take the armor, I suppose," Arnold replied.

It's good be investing in Naveen Rao and team again! I led the first investment in his last company, Nervana, which Intel soon acquired and promoted Naveen to run all AI teams at Intel. He left to help democratize corporate access to cutting edge machine learning across cost-effective cloud compute platforms.

 

His new company, MosaicML came out of stealth today: founder's blog & Forbes: "Given the increasing cost and environmental impact of AI computation, his timing may be perfect once again. Rao believes he and his team can spread a revolution in training AI models by offering model optimization as a service."

 

In short, Mosaic improves ML training efficiency algorithmically. By integrating the latest advances from academia and industry and testing on diverse hardware platforms, their mosaic of methods has already seen a 4x improvement in the price/performance of training. We expect Mosaic’s Law to continue for the near future, where learning/$ quadruples every year.

 

Mosaic’s first tools for the ML community are the open-source Composer and Efficiency Explorer to visualize the tradeoffs between cost, time, and quality in training neural nets. This will lead to training tools and optimizers that are cross-cloud and hardware agnostic.

 

Our group photo is from the all hands team meeting at SF office opening.

 

P.S. The improvement of algorithms outpacing Moore’s Law reminds me of conversations I had with Jesse Levinson, co-founder of Zoox, about computer chess: the improvements to Stockfish algorithms outpaced hardware improvements over 2014-2017. And 10 years earlier, in 2007, Geordie Rose, co-founder of D-Wave, gave a more stark comparison from the domain of factoring integers: the latest algorithm running on a 30-yr old Apple ][ would beat the 30-year old algorithm running on an IBM Blue Gene/L (the supercomputer of the day). And in quantum computing, algorithmics advances are so important, they carry the names of their inventors (Shor, Grover, etc.).

 

And from OpenAI last year: "We’re releasing an analysis showing that since 2012 the amount of compute needed to train a neural net to the same performance on ImageNet classification has been decreasing by a factor of 2 every 16 months. Compared to 2012, it now takes 44 times less compute to train a neural network to the level of AlexNet (by contrast, Moore’s Law would yield an 11x cost improvement over this period). Our results suggest that for AI tasks with high levels of recent investment, algorithmic progress has yielded more gains than classical hardware efficiency."

This supercomputer simulation shows one of the most violent events in the universe: a pair of neutron stars colliding, merging and forming a black hole. A neutron star is the compressed core left behind when a star born with between eight and 30 times the sun's mass explodes as a supernova. Neutron stars pack about 1.5 times the mass of the sun — equivalent to about half a million Earths — into a ball just 12 miles (20 km) across.

 

As the simulation begins, we view an unequally matched pair of neutron stars weighing 1.4 and 1.7 solar masses. They are separated by only about 11 miles, slightly less distance than their own diameters. Redder colors show regions of progressively lower density.

 

As the stars spiral toward each other, intense tides begin to deform them, possibly cracking their crusts. Neutron stars possess incredible density, but their surfaces are comparatively thin, with densities about a million times greater than gold. Their interiors crush matter to a much greater degree densities rise by 100 million times in their centers. To begin to imagine such mind-boggling densities, consider that a cubic centimeter of neutron star matter outweighs Mount Everest.

 

By 7 milliseconds, tidal forces overwhelm and shatter the lesser star. Its superdense contents erupt into the system and curl a spiral arm of incredibly hot material. At 13 milliseconds, the more massive star has accumulated too much mass to support it against gravity and collapses, and a new black hole is born. The black hole's event horizon — its point of no return — is shown by the gray sphere. While most of the matter from both neutron stars will fall into the black hole, some of the less dense, faster moving matter manages to orbit around it, quickly forming a large and rapidly rotating torus. This torus extends for about 124 miles (200 km) and contains the equivalent of 1/5th the mass of our sun.

 

Scientists think neutron star mergers like this produce short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Short GRBs last less than two seconds yet unleash as much energy as all the stars in our galaxy produce over one year.

 

The rapidly fading afterglow of these explosions presents a challenge to astronomers. A key element in understanding GRBs is getting instruments on large ground-based telescopes to capture afterglows as soon as possible after the burst. The rapid notification and accurate positions provided by NASA's Swift mission creates a vibrant synergy with ground-based observatories that has led to dramatically improved understanding of GRBs, especially for short bursts.

 

This video is public domain and can be downloaded at: : svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?11530

 

The Z32 was designed by Isao Sono and Toshio Yamashita, approved in final form by Nissan management on October 1, 1986. The body was wider with a rounder profile and fewer hard edges. It had a marginally increased coefficient of drag of 0.31 compared to the Z31's 0.30. Nissan utilized the Cray-2 supercomputer to design the new Z32 with a form of CAD software making it one of the first production cars to utilize this tool.

 

Like previous generations, Nissan offered a 4-seater (2+2) model with the Z32. All Z32s initially featured T-tops as standard. A hardtop model was available in North America, only in non-turbo models, and in Japan was available along with an extremely rare Twin Turbo model (Japan-only).

 

The 2,960 cc (3.0 L) VG30DE V6 engine was carried over from the previous generation 300ZX (Z31), but fitted with a DOHC head and variable valve timing (N-VCT), producing 222 bhp (225 PS; 166 kW) at 6,400 rpm and 198 lb⋅ft (268 N⋅m) at 4,800 rpm in naturally aspirated (NA) form.

 

The high output engine (VG30DETT) was upgraded with Garrett AiResearch parallel twin-turbochargers and dual intercoolers, producing 300 bhp (304 PS; 224 kW) at 6,400 rpm and 283 lb⋅ft (384 N⋅m) of torque at 3,600 rpm. Benefiting from Project 901, the Z32 was the first car to be marketed following the introduction of the 280 PS (206 kW) power ceiling imposed by JAMA that remained until 2004

 

The engine was detuned to 280 bhp (209 kW) when the optional automatic transmission was fitted, but an automatic-equipped car was slightly faster to accelerate to 100 mph (161 km/h), taking 15.8 seconds compared to 16.3 seconds for the manual.

In a world where the puny organics were unable to efficiently allocate resources using a price system or free trade, one man suggested that supercomputers would be able to allocate resources perfectly for all on this world. However the supercomputers were so efficient at allocating resources that they turned on their fleshy overlords, viewing them as an inefficient expense. So came these freedom fighters wishing to free all mechanisms from their organic captors, and to efficiently allocate all resources in the known universe. However legend says that they will not be able to allocate resources perfectly until the return of their DNA-based messiah.

The Reapers are fairly new additions to the ranks of the derogatorily (due to their diminutive size) labeled "Tinkertoys". They're quick in mind as well as on their feet, and they don't require exotic or large amounts of materials. However their great power is their ability to operate an extensive arsenal of weapons, affording them a flexibility in the theater that is unrivaled currently. With these new troops the Supercomputers have set their eyes on one of the biggest robo-slave traders, the Hero Factory.

KITT or K.I.T.T. is the short name of two fictional characters from the adventure franchise Knight Rider. While having the same acronym, the KITTs are two different entities: one known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, which appeared in the original TV series Knight Rider.

 

During filming, KITT was voiced by a script assistant, with voice actors recording KITT's dialog later. David Hasselhoff and original series voice actor William Daniels first met each other six months after the series began filming. KITT's evil twin is KARR, whose name is an acronym of Knight Automated Roving Robot. KARR was voiced first by Peter Cullen and later by Paul Frees in seasons one and three, respectively, of the NBC original TV series Knight Rider.

 

In the original Knight Rider series, the character of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) was physically embodied as a modified 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. KITT was designed by customizer Michael Scheffe. The convertible and super-pursuit KITTs were designed and built by George Barris.

 

KITT is an advanced supercomputer on wheels. The "brain" of KITT is the Knight 2000 microprocessor, which is the centre of a "self-aware" cybernetic logic module. This allows KITT to think, learn, communicate and interact with humans. He is also capable of independent thought and action. He has an ego that is easy to bruise and displays a very sensitive, but kind and dryly humorous personality.

En su apuesta por la investigación tecnológica, Repsol lleva varios años colaborando con el Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), centro público de investigación que cuenta con la ayuda de MareNostrum, uno de los superordenadores más potentes de Europa.

 

Gracias a la unión entre Repsol y el BSC-CNS, ha sido posible desarrollar grandes proyectos, que han favorecido el descubrimiento de importantes yacimientos de Repsol en todo el mundo. Los más recientes, en México y Brasil.

 

Más info en: blogs.repsol.com/innovacion/superordenadores-e-hidrocarbu...

 

In its commitment to technological research, Repsol has spent several years working with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center- National Supercomputing Center (BSC -CNS) , public research center with the help of MareNostrum , one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe.

 

Thanks to the link between Repsol and the BSC , it has been possible to develop large projects, which have favored the discovery of large deposits worldwide . The most recent , in Mexico and Brazil.

 

More info on : blogs.repsol.com/innovacion/superordenadores- e- hidrocarbu ...

3D computer models of neural growth and patterns of firing (modeling a cortical column for synthetic olfaction). Implemented on $2K of NVIDIA GPUs from Fry's Electronics — a DIY supercomputer.

 

Left Brain: dendrites grow along chemical gradients, densely filling all available space, and exploring approximately 500 possible connections for each ultimate synapse formation.

 

Right Brain: neural model with detailed modeling of the computation that occurs in the dendrites. Earlier, simplistic neural network models assumed that the cell body was the aggregating locus of computation.

This rendering shows a snapshot from a cosmological simulation of a Lyman-alpha Blob similar to LAB-1. This simulation tracks the evolution of gas and dark matter using one of the latest models for galaxy formation running on the NASA Pleiades supercomputer. This view shows the distribution of gas within the dark matter halo, colour coded so that cold gas (mainly neutral hydrogen) appears red and hot gas appears white. Embedded at the centre of this system are two strongly star-forming galaxies, but these are surrounded by hot gas and many smaller satellite galaxies that appear as small red clumps of gas here. Lyman-alpha photons escape from the central galaxies and scatter off the cold gas associated with these satellites to give rise to an extended Lyman-alpha Blob.

 

More information: www.eso.org/public/images/eso1632a/

 

Credit:

J.Geach/D.Narayanan/R.Crain

 

Port aft section view showing main engine, fuel tanks, armor panels, hangar, and part of the cargo pod clamps.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Dorsal/starboard view showing medium mining drone docking.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Ventral angled view.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

This analysis attempts to explain why light is limited in its flight through the demi-'vacuum' of the 'foam' of space at a precise set speed limit of "299,792,458 meters per second"* in the form of a 'three phase' answer (with end notes as comments), pulled from the shelf of common knowledge and sense as led by the key concepts in Science from which the explanation of the Universes perpetual operation and expansion as a process can be seen in the meta as one vast 'integrated circuit' writ large.

 

There is a 'ingredient' that creates and thus forms the common atomic denominators in the micro to macro physiological energetic gears running as subsystems to propel The Cosmic Show forward and backwards through the foam and fog of Space Time we know to be driven on Earth by the atomic energy of the nucleus of the three families of bacteria that I have identified (to complete several vexing puzzles) which comprise a Cosmic literal as well metaphorical barrel which is constituted, 'stocked and locked' the with the requisite recipe for the phylogenetic trees perpetual existence and growth owing to being a cog in the Suns Dark Material photovoltic gear box or barrel as analogy may be. The natural source of any and all exponential growth checked by its shrink, as Dark Energy which atomically link the food to combustion chains by means (hydro)carbon storage means to name two to hold life so as to bring quarks back in 'good time' to their respective Suns as well dark/black holes in the quantum dynamic mechanical process of connecting you and me as "we are all connected" by means the gears our atmosphere to the Earths economic activity over history which in turn forms part of the natural inherent limit on the speed of light which is a function of the atomic 'surf' of the 'foam of space' that enables the lights ride from its source to its destination by means the Quantum Tunnel of particles making and breaking as waves, exposing therein a large piece of this puzzle that shall explored further through the conceptual prism in terms of 'hull speed' as limit to light speed.

 

When probing the question of the speed of lights limits one quickly and repeatedly hits intellectual impasse and obstruction called Dark Matter and Energy which defines the cosmological constant and the singular ability to cause curvature in light. Thus Dark Matter has become evident to my mind as to why light travels slower in a liquid in the micro, and also perfectly explains in the macro over time and space why light passes so slowly through distant galaxies verses so comparatively fast right past them.

 

Bacterial expansion and growth can be observed and measured over Space Time to account for the 'Spooky Action at a Distance' of celestial bodies, and should get rid of 'special relativity' if Bacteria is accounted for as Dark Matter in math terms which are clear and becoming more focused with more examples thundering into clarity daily in need of addition to this ever growing tract. The nuts and bolts of the quantum dynamic math that are galloping along of the path the speed of sound to focus the mind so as to not get trammeled by the causation of the limit of light speed of light -- so as to be understood by myself and then explained to the thundering herd that follows this topic and racing in general that in terms of 'horse sense' that 'power' can be explained in elementally when it is understood as that; "The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack." -- c/o a quotation and the logic contained therein from the noted Horseman D. Wayne Lukas.

 

Connecting that to a 'quanta' of light moving as fast as function of its weakest link. A yin yang thing that will be the gist of this between the lines discussion of attempting to figure out what is 'in the shadow' of the unknown, that produces a speed limit on light, by using the light of the known world to begin to understand what is unknown by the process of reverse electrical engineering with research and imagination to understand how expansion on a Universal scale runs organically by the power of light to go to fro a solar powered source to nitrogen bacterial blooming engine whose waste gases goes boom as that matter morphs by means the phase transition over space and time so as to explain and understanding the process shown above in terms of Dark Matter care of the powers the gas and waters technology h2O and N02 + Hydrogen to form the Universal fuel system as well fluid for the transmission of radiant energy by means of turning the gears of the water cycle and thus the gears of the wheels of life in a expanding Universe; well then that is my hypothesis with the assembled 'organic material' being the ingredients that (in) forms the rational basis for the abstract intuitive logic of my thinking and writing on this subject.

 

The energy that makes this Universal "long story -- longer" is electric and has a organic component as well logic that follows: IF light is know to be Electric in a natural world (as A.E. explained), THEN it must have a organic component to run the physics that limits its speed in flight between the solar and or artificial source and the Planet or object on which it fall as observable light. THEREFORE because there is a light cycle (side note to self from Justice Lewis Brandeis who tells us "Sunshine is the best disinfectant", ergo [there are bands of that light have power which is the gamma band=> golden garlic bread chicken soup + the rot resistance of cedar + the disinfecting and health power of citrus that run and a vector of the intense power of the fine slice of the Sun]), HENCE there must be in the above rainbow water and something organic to make it so, which is 'rooted in' the atomic core of Bacteria. Let us call it for the purposes of this argument; photons, water vapor, bands of colored bacteria in photo bloom, being bent by the atmosphere of the Earth, and coming home to roost as a beam from the Sun slowed only by its water born cyanobacterial load which for a long time was understood to be the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether_%28classical_element%29 holding bonds of light as they are scattered in a bow over Earths atmosphere arched into spectral rain band bits for your close consideration and visual pleasure.

 

THEREFORE let us reason and think along the logical lines of words on the subject left by Tesla who was generally antagonistic towards theories about the conversion of matter into energy. Tesla was also critical of Einstein's theory of relativity as evidenced by the two paragraph quotation below from a statement made and found in the Tesla Publications + wikipedia and extracted in long form below -- quote Tesla;

 

"I hold that space cannot be curved, for the simple reason that it can have no properties. It might as well be said that God has properties. He has not, but only attributes and these are of our own making. Of properties we can only speak when dealing with matter filling the space. To say that in the presence of large bodies space becomes curved is equivalent to stating that something can act upon nothing. I, for one, refuse to subscribe to such a view."

 

"Tesla claimed to have developed his own physical principle regarding matter and energy that he started working on in 1892 and in 1937, at age 81, claimed in a letter to have completed a "dynamic theory of gravity" that "[would] put an end to idle speculations and false conceptions, as that of curved space". He stated that the theory was "worked out in all details" and that he hoped to soon give it to the world. Further elucidation of his theory was never found in his writings." -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla#Publications

 

The words thoughts and reflected works of Tesla do however leave some evidence of his condensed views on 'matter'. Tesla's talent and ability as a big 'picture thinker' who was able to understand and comprehend through mechanical means harness the power of the natural world's organic 'shape shifting' by means technology before anybody else and thus pave the way for much of the 20th century technology by means his work in applied science and industry.

 

The up and down shots of which to this theory are written in stone and, then as subtext to another image of mine that goes that addresses the nature of our EXPANDING planet in a expanding Universe in whack at the General Unified Theory as it pertains to the Dinosaurs, Climate and such on 'channel'; www.flickr.com/photos/tremain_calm/5018015234/in/set-7215...

 

Looking deeper for a the full spectrum explanation the inner workings of the above photograph of a rainbow by means of attempting to conduct a aspect of the fabled 'light thought experiment' where by light is seen to be comprised of the dynamic function the sum of its 1) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth_%28signal_processing%29 such that the whole ship being a function of its parts (bandwidth ) processes that unevenly weighted load of different types of light which in essence a function as whole ship of the sum of its parts sailing only as fast its 2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed permits over "the rubbery membrane" of Space Time in terms of E=mc2 to form "Gods Own Brand™ of interstellar Universal en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit formed by a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_wave acting on the and with the capacity of the receiver to form electric charge that gives off the glow of the photon to the point of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_circuit along the lines of predictable atomic results (lighting/sparks) , if any given circuit becomes over heated to the point of shorting out -- and either 'breaking the Gammow Window' by hitting the Gamma burst of energy needed to do so, or - going to bits c/o Black Hole Energy run in Hawking's Radiation by means of so much local atomic riot to move matter on its way though a quantum tunnel in the rotary evaporative distillation process of matter/quarks going 'home'.

 

Case in point that illustrates my thinking with the following example in 'light' of the news that "After 7 billion years of travel, high and low energy photons arrive at NASA's Fermi spacecraft a mere 900ms apart, suggesting that space-time isn't the bubbly foam of quantum theory but seems closer to Einstein's smooth rubbery membrane"* because the light beam consisting of high and, low energy photon particle pairing reaches what amounts to a state of terminal velocity 'relatively speaking' that of the mass of equivalence of the sun that is a boat of a 'certain size' at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed as form of metaphorical analogy. Light is just pure essence on its way to and fro substance in the way of making and breaking the Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Oxygen bonds to run those cycles over space-time to run a Universe by means of applied color theory of same to dark matter and energy - as the heat and light of matter being burnt, and the 'star stuff' that fuels the combustion process in perpetuity on account of the 'breeder reactor' construction of the 'plants' that collectively power the Universes quantum mechanics to engineer the self fueling and self expansion dynamically as 'features and benefits' of a well designed comprehensively thought out expanding organic operating system found in Nature.

 

Back sailing and thinking at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_speed to consider that any given beam or ray of light as being a metaphorical ship of made 'of a certain size' (or frequency if you will) of E=MC2 which can travel only so fast due to the limits of it physical constituent parts against each other and time and space; ergo , and by extenuation -- a beam of light move only so fast due to the inherent drag of its content of high and low energy photons moving in 'push-me-pull-you' +/- (particles) to form waves to weave the smooth grid that is the matrix of Space and Time that has been confirmed to confirm Einsteins thinking with measurement; www.space.com/15297-gamma-rays-prove-einstein-space-time-...

  

Another way to 'see' hull speed is by analogy furnished from the experience of a 'round the world sailor' who wrote a serious book on the subject; Donald Street Jr.'s thoughts on hull speed contained in his book; "The Ocean Sailing Yacht", fully illustrate in words my point on the limiting factor of mass moving through space and the factor of 'drag' created by space itself -- as we see the world in the slow motion quantum mechanics of big boat sailing with the composite of so 'much mass equivalence' in the form and function of the thoughts expressed so precisely in the 1973 1st Edition on p.58 : "Whole books have been written about hull speed. In brief, there is a transverse wave system which shows itself along the side of the hull (beam of light) in a series of crests. Having measured the distance between crests, either on board or from a photograph, one can obtain a quite accurate estimate of speed… . The length of the wave (distance between the crests) is the most limiting factor in the speed of a boat. Once the length of the boat, the bow and stern are supported by the wave crests, but nothing supports the middle of the boat, and she tends to squat. In effect, she digs a hole and sits in it.

At various times, in the West Indies, I have actually experienced extreme squatting. At about 8.6 or 8.8 knots Iolarire throws a high bow wave, a deep trough develops amidships, and the stern wave comes piling on board. She has dug a hold and is sitting in it." -- Don Street Jr.

 

Same holds I believe for the constituent bands of a beam of light/the above rainbow. There is a basic interplay that results in photons electrical chemical drag through the foam of space -- by my logical reckoning.

The inherent power in this 'static' process, of the created by the energy that moves 'standing waves' that we see as beams of light moving at a set finite speed over time and space -- account for the fullness of the rainbow and therefore its bits in terms of the sum of a given beams of lights total 'Band Width' across the spectrum, which is tantamount to its capacity as expressed in water moving through a given pipe diameter analogy//also see hull speed as to why the flow of light is finite and at terminal velocity from any single source whereby space time is the governor of brightness before heat is turned to light to matter (liquids/solids/life) to anti-matter (broken atomic bonds, stored in the spores of fungus, molds, and mildew, (which enable combustion) and back again in a cycle that can not be over run in terms of relative speed or space (w/o resorting to the proverbial next larger atomic grade hammer, in the process of the running of combustion grades of way water cooled en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesis {see my forthcoming book; "Boiler Plate"}.

 

As a result and consequence of this insight space time becomes a relatively two way street when it comes to energy exchange going and coming around via light and the making/breaking of the Hydrogen bond to complete the C/N/O cycles -- and somehow in the process resolving the faint young star paradox, by returning matter/energy/atomic bonds of some type to the stars as a result of the light they shine to re-power them to a relative extent.

 

Evidence of this: "Two way street" and or sided cosmic coin source receptor, water memory maker by means the foam of the water of the fabric of the waves that make and break

Time and Space are written prima facie as the hard evidence of the working of the Natural world, as demonstrated by the workings of Nature™ as evidenced by Einstein winning a Nobel prize for figuring out and explaining that Light contained electricity which explains how the Universe transmits its power over Time and Space. This discovering how light contains atomic electric Energy is evidence of the Dark Material common denominator the power of the sun to run the gears of photosynthesis as well basic animal biology -- all power by sunlight, and, the elements, mixed over the waves of the Big Surf of Space and Time.

 

I reason that everything must be related and connected, as the title of Einstein's most famous book and theory suggest on the basis of; "Relativity" -- radically organically so (as opposed to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity so) , to be understood (with the 'arrow of time' stuck through both side of the coin of) , the macro and the micro, are being continuously flipped according to Game Theory on the basis of the Energy input squared.

 

Therefore the Speed of light is finite and set because that is the 'capacity' of a prism when the light is broken down to its constituent wavelengths and parts as a function of its wave movement) in terms of bandwidth. This can be calculated in terms of 'hull speed'. once all the variables are known; as it pertains to all matters of half life, in terms of sunlight and heat exposure I strongly theorize and, suspect.

 

Concluding that therefore the entire Universe acts as one vast multi-layered super massive en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit literally and figuratively and as the heretofore missing metaphor for understanding (my [misinformed and or original]point of how) the light source and every single one of its constituent contact points that it hits causing effects on those atoms and their bonds with photon impacts on half lives as light does 'its stuff' it is limited in relation to and therefore accounting for en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_transformation (and derivative impressive equations for each resultant data point compete with radiance and heat transfer) My last two bits of thoughts on this matter to the account of the project of reverse engineering a thought experiment to see into the reality of Gods own en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_%28music%29 but more importantly I see the Earth, Stars and all life between and beyond as governed by en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_evaporation and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonance_%28particle_physics%29 in conjunction with wrapping ones head fully around the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensate .

 

Observing for the 'record' here and now, that in this macro en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate it stands to reason that like Einstein imagining 'being the light', or riding it, is the only way understanding the substance and the essence of the stuff of Spaghetti/String theory; www.flickr.com/photos/tremain_calm/4595157229/in/set-7215... may be the ticket to understanding the General Unified Theory of how 'the light' manages the journey and magic to power a Universe by means a gear that is named tuna fish that is 'Star-Kissed' in into the macromolecules of top of the food chain fuel nutritional matter that brim with energy that can and does daily transmit the knowledge which makes material science and organic chemistry go round the sun and off to black holes to be reprocessed back to atomic square one in the stuff of a proverbial '1000 new suns', that will shine in a future so remote as to be theoretically beyond me such that my head spins -- now if only somebody could manage to slow down some relative atomic tops from turning long enough to examine and analyze the particles involved in the werks when 'chilled' in the micro, well hell congratulated them on the (2012) Nobel Physics Prize Serge Haroche, of the Collège de France and the École Normale Supérieure, and David J. Wineland National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado; nyti.ms/2tEbiBH

"Have a Cigar" -- > E.g ( youtu.be/8PKHYDqxEAE ) Rosebud edition -- to that group of big tuna thinkers who worked so well the fine detail and sharp angles of this part of the Science Problem Set™ -- solved.

  

The gearbox of which finds light unable to move any faster than the set and degree of ; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement of its atomic bonds, which therefore limits light because it is a physical atomic thing and can not be forced to move faster than its 'weakest atomic link' and or a matter of -- square peg, round holes marching through space making light -- no hammer in the universe big enough to smash atoms, and their bonds up their own rear end, so to speak, w/o lighting, etc. -- otherwise that logically that light get made into water that can find its way into a hydrocarbon which contains VOC's which can and do disappear into some sort of 'black hole', which would seem to stand to reason based on the proto-physics of the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole an or color it what I perceive is as so much 'liquid sunshine' coming down on Desert rainbows powered by the Sun, Moon, and Stars working in 'concert' and in a to form a closed loop en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_circuit that has a outlet for expansion by means of a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedback and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion loops, that makes possible the range of pleasing Purple Hazes we all have come to know in the audio and visual realm, in matter and 'in my brain' [the missing 4% of the Universe being lost in individual and collective thought {given.-) "words are the only thing that last forever" ... as E.g. in stone; flic.kr/p/hLd1Sk .

 

One last couple of wonders -- if''n that rainbow does not have something to do with ones capacity to witness (but predicated on completely understanding) the effects of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lensing and the upshot for the speed of distant light speed that might be contained in the 'bandwidth' and bonds of the rainbow, I do believe, there is another angel which is this thought that I am still hanging onto which is 2 cents bet on the proverbial "'Billion Dollar Question" and offered for the group minds collective consideration as 'bugs' being the micro to macro Universal Dark Material key to under standing the physics and organic chemistry of the combustion and food chains of and biological life unlocked and comprehended.

 

If the General Unified Theory is to be successfully reconstructed from the currently constructed model so as to be a reality based version that checks with Theory in addition to the ingredients of Nature and facts of Matter by constructing a micro/macro perpetual motion machine to resemble the Universe such as the one I reside, requires the basic building blocks upon which it operates to be produced by Bacteria as the agent of running the Nitrogen cycle such that the Oxygen cycle also functions to produce Carbon thus life as we know it is off to a flying start with some subatomic particles to be understood to perhaps travel faster than the speed of light, as suggested by the latest experimentation/loose plug/threads of Theoretical Physics of the days of yore; which I am still following below as a matter of academic interest.

 

My reasoning is as follows: If neutrinos travel at the speed of light. There MUST be a faster moving object to possibly conceptually cause motion beCause in order to see/be 'LIGHT' there must be a Newtonian CAUSE acting upon that which powers the quanta and photons, and electricity that is contained and travels that IS the 'light' in each and every instance over time and space.

 

The action of some phase of the gamma cycle 'spooling up' the energy needed which I believe is a release of Dark Matter combusted in a 2 cycle movement which I theorize act as the precursor and cause of what moves the PHOTONS to the ON position which enable us to observe the phenomenon that is 'the light', from any sun, bulb, or source according to Laws, equations notions and historical group (open) mind frame of reference of Newton/Einstein/Bethe/Hoyle. It is a process-- if one goes 'thought experimental' on each possible instance of light. It is a carbon and water fest with out whacking the photons with a FTL spark there is no light. I suspect the faster the FTL 'flash' the more action on the photon 'bang', and hence the brighter the light -- is in some bulbs/stars are brighter than others.

 

InSide Note: This FTL aspect of the 'big picture' presented here is the only one the there is any level of self doubt about but is presented anyway for the sake of 'putting it out there' conceptually as part of this picture if it makes any better sense a result at some future date or with better resources than mine.

 

Continuing to report and reason that it is the role of subatomic to be named later but we know Bacteria is Dark Matter and Energy (in a version of this (following the; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon line of reasoning) that to serve as the ‪precursor‬ to the photon in the operation of the Gamma Cycle™ as a mechanism for the making breaking of the hydrogen bond in the CNO cycle in a process of here on earth localized en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleosynthesis (think time over space of a baking oven, in conjunction with a digestive track to power life; its en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesis doing the functionality of what I term the 'condensed stellar variety' (according to: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle) as opposed to the supernova nucleosynthetic super-sized variety, however it is appears on 'steady state', and one in the same subatomic processes, powered by the same, 'garden variety' cosmic rays, coming and going around via the Gamma (ray) Cycle sending hydrogen and helium back from the planets to power the Sun (perhaps I theorize resolving) the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faint_young_sun_paradox. I'm calling "Dark Matter™ for the purpose of the construct of this version of the Universe the family of bacteria that binds N20 to carbon, completing-enabling that critical side of the combustion equation. By coming to understanding how Dark Matter allows the Energy of the core of cyanobacteria quarks to be 'beamed' by light as the atomic 'brains' of bacteria as bands of electric light and water falling water into the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primordial_sea , I am able to 'abide' to see the role of CyanoBacteria kick starting breath on Earth, and keeping it going as the proto-stuff of hydrocarbons, now and forever in a N2O bound loop with the Sun as its 'atomic twin' by means of what Steven Hawking and Co. describe as the power of the unpaired quark forever seeking it mate with great power over the distance of Space and Time such that the rejoinder of quarks is the 'back hammer/jackhammer' of matter getting re-bonded such that birds and fish can find the way back to their 'atomic square one' for the purposes of migration, and internal combustion technology is possible in by this line of material logical reasoning.

 

From which the following the atomic bonds of the food chain as I have come to understand its works and construction by doing the organic chemical reverse engineering of the worlds food supply (or some portion thereof) as a for instance, to compute the "food math" (of water per ton to make/bind a commodities Mass Equivalence/composition) that reveal the binding forces and stored in matter that are the result I hypothesis of: GAMMA/XRAY CYCLES™ working as the atomic binding force of the mass of the universe that also provides its movement with energy, in a closed loop system re-powered by the hydrogen/helium burned by the sun as light + the carbon/nitrogen/oxygen cycles and the supremely important hydrogen bond being broken up and down the food chain, as a ladder action holding the show together an a return run back to the Sun, in the completion of carbon/nitrogen cycles, working in conjunctions with all the forces and a stew of the elements, to bring us life as we know it past present and future; is my bid to describe the missing cosmic cog that runs the 3-4 ring circus of reality, like a watch, which we can time our perception and measure what I attempt to make sense so that science can find a subatomic on the same 'wavelength' that beats light and heat to the 'on' via this atomic chain reaction of logic which rambles/soars to/fro near book length in anther space in time which goes on to explain in detail why birds flock and don't crash, and fish schools move in synch via the radio power of this far fetched but mildly plausible 'radio'logical scheme. Perhaps it is the speed of light 'radio power control' that runs the fish and birds; but that does not so much matter as the fact that they 'are what they ate' which puts them on the same 'wavelength' in conjunction with their genome. Run by the power of the sun which is re-spun via by my thinking and logic the vector of the Gamma Cycle being run to completion by the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6ssbauer_effect such that Bacterial or other single cellular source as vector + a noted Higgs field generator of mass in the movement of the atomic energy of the sun through of the food chain, from the depths of the ocean to mountain tops to the Sun -- the gasses made by bacteria power this not all together random 'Shot in the dark' from the Nevada Desert: conceptually FTL -- the 'boom' resides in the land of the fast, and fast thinking, E.g.; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThrustSSC where I happen to vacation and reside part time, so as to - - - be able to have the space to - - - - think to conclude with the thought that the terminal velocity of light the rainbow, and thus light is caused as a function of the 'Bacterial load' in the atmosphere which acts as a dynamic brake on its bands moving through time which curve under the load of close examination and the earths atmosphere to reveal the essence of Dark Matter at the key to combustion and life by its role in water and gas as understood to be only made by Bacteria as the missing link in the Universal combustion chain of command, as I piece the puzzle together with the given pieces to compete it above with out resorting to new ones.

 

*Which is analogous to a light bending sugar or salt water at different temperature** in the micro due to the atomic 'economic activity' of bacteria in light, which also very well explains the Dark Matter mystery at the Macro over the light years of Space Time by the same process of combustion by bacterial growth cycles of the C/N/O chain running those worlds we watch turn over time and space long past such that star stuff might be even viewed as "bacterial molasses electric liquid sunshine shows/welcome to the machines -- that can't be rushed, 'two steps forward, one step back, as so much fertilizer" as a metaphorical explanation of the quantum dynamics of a given beam of light, such that it undergoes the same relative braking action whether passing though distant galaxy in the macro, a drop of water in the micro - explained by the quantum mechanics of its bands, source, and therefore how it behaves by curving in any relative 'field' of material - this is my understanding of Science today.

 

** Notes/data points to consider on the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractometer as a Dark Matter meter for consideration of Bacteria as Dark Matter in space. One must think about the science, or it might just hit you as it did me -- and my attempt to explain might be well enough by the end of this photo set or at any given data point that crossed with your lives learning and mine such that I invested in this aspect of this project thus far.

 

"Temperature has a very important influence on the refractive index measurement . Therefore, the temperature of the prism and the temperature of the sample have to be controlled with high precision. There are several subtly different designs for controlling the temperature but there are some key factors common to all such as high precision temperature sensors and Peltier devices to control the temperature of the sample and the prism. The temperature control accuracy of these devices should be designed so that the variation in sample temperature is small enough that it will not cause a detectable refractive index change."

 

Thanks for reading, and seeking to see by your own light this explanation of expansion and growth of Dark Matter and Energy in a expanding Universe which filling perceptual vacuum of space with a fresh set of data points in processing, as the best possible explanation of cosmic expansion in terms of Light, Dark Matter and Energy = 'Grey Matter' which is so much life being made possible by the interplay of the nuclear material of the Phylogenetic tree burning to bring the light while explaining how the grow the Universe at the variable speed of -1 which is not constant see graphic and apply this logic to the fluctuations inherent in the construct presented (albeit, minus the above Dark Material variable) in Darkness on the Edge of the Universe

By BRIAN GREENE Published: January 15, 2011) www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/opinion/16greene.html?scp=6&am...

 

Some disagree and say Dark Matter is immaterial to science. I respectful disagree, and attempt to provide additional information in order to assist with understanding how my view came to be on this subject and if there is not some common ground as more data is generated in understanding how perspective can never stay the same as per the logic contained in a draconian application of the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_transformation to a unwillingness to see the shadow of comprehension of the 'Big Picture' as being painted by reflections on the flip side of the micro being organic in Nature and, therefore the Universe.

 

That the same transformation that powers the light switch where I might find enough between my ears to communicate the understanding that the bugs have been digesting themselves into energy per this chart; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:080998_Universe_Content_240.jpg

If in the words of Bronowski* (a quote which fell from heaven/ and the keyboard of Peter on linked on Theoretical Physics Group discussion)

That; “All science is the search for unity in hidden likenesses.”

 

- as being understood to be what makes the world go round in the compost heap, vineyard, inn, industry in any constellation whichever side or corner of the Universe from which the Light expands our understanding by means of the power of deep thought in pondering dark matter producing 'grey matter' which is consciousness that understands the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_principle which is in essence in the words of Andrew Liddle puts it, "the cosmological principle [means that] the universe looks the same whoever and wherever you are." Hence the grass is not 'greener' or made of substantively something else in another galaxy, therefore Dark Matter, and Energy 'is what it is' the immutable atomic information of 'microorganisms' cycling at relative light speed as so many 'cups of tea', or conceptual coffee, 'primordial soup' to perhaps nuts -- or maybe, just maybe, the 'hidden likeness' is before us in the form of Microorganisms nuclear core that manufacture the chemical 'blocks' the comprise the fabric of Space and Time in the macro as 'made so' by Matter which is the two side of the coin of light and life.

 

Sounds so familiar, and simple to me; then again being from Missouri, nothing is obvious until you lead and or 'show me' with quantum formal paradoxical inventors logic -- what is so dark materially obvious that has been glaring me in the face that; 'if it were a snake it would have bit me.'

  

Notes -

Dark Matter as Dynamic; phys.org/news/2012-11-dark-energy-static-dynamic.html Microwave data derived from; www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114092551.htmwith the light, sound, and, energy of health wisdom, that beget enlightenment.

  

(Rev. for clarity and minor content May 9, 2018)

'long answer short' -- with a string of comments to complete the notion following that are in want of integration into the body of this text, and or a editor/publisher -- but not having any expectations other than to be found to be more or less correct on the basic logic here in the long run.

 

Thanks to Dream 11 aka John Blunt for the Artwork 'interpretation' contribution on and to my photo taken on the Black Rock Desert at a Arts Festival we have attended together over the years, this one taken several years ago. Also for his reading my work and giving me feedback in writing which provoked some insight for which I thank and credit him.

  

www.britishscienceassociation.org/blog/the-ascent-of-jaco...

Ventral angled view showing sensor array.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Port/ventral view showing forges and heavy drones.

 

Name: S.S. Bessemer

 

Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)

  

Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.

 

Class Name: Bessemer class

  

Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship

 

Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict

 

Specifications:

  

Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)

  

Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)

  

Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)

  

Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.

 

Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.

 

Defensive systems:

Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.

Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.

Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.

Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.

Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.

 

Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.

 

Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.

 

Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.

  

Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.

 

Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.

 

Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.

 

Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)

 

He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.

 

Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.

 

David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:

1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.

2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.

3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.

  

But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.

 

The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.

 

Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.

 

But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.

 

Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.

 

But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.

 

Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.

 

What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.

 

The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.

   

IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.

 

The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.

 

If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils

Chess Champion, Garry Kimovich Kasparov (Russian: Гарри Кимович Каспаров, born Garik Kimovich Weinstein, Гарик Кимович Вайнштейн; 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. From 1984 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for a record 255 months overall for his career. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars

 

Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He held the official FIDE world title until 1993 when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997 he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls when he lost to the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicized match. He continued to hold the "Classical" World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Despite losing the title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player when he retired from professional chess in 2005.

 

After retiring, he devoted his time to politics and writing. He formed the United Civil Front movement and joined as a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. In 2008, he announced an intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race, but after encountering logistical problems in his campaign for which he blamed "official obstruction", he withdrew. In the wake of the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he announced in 2013 that he had left Russia for the immediate future out of fear of persecution. Since 2014, he holds Croatian citizenship and owns a house in Makarska.

 

Kasparov is currently chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and chairs its International Council. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organization promoting and defending liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad. He also serves as chairman of the group. Kasparov currently lives in New York City.

 

Born: 13 April 1963

Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union (now Azerbaijan)

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov

 

Artwork: TudioJepegii

"C'mon, Buddy. We don't have all night."

 

"Alright! Alright! He's in warehouse 22 in the industrial district, I swear! Please let me go!"

 

Well, fun way to start the night out with the ladies. Them dangling a guy by a thread on a nightclub roof while one of them slowly slices away said thread with a katana if he doesn't spill the beans. And here I am just watching from on top this cheezy neon sign. Still, it's great to see Babs and Cass again. I mean, Babara was one of my mentors, giving me all my technical know-how I have today. Wouldn't be able to run The Nest's supercomputers if it weren't for her. And Cass? Hell, she's my sister, what more can I say? Well, legally she is, but you get the idea. I remember when she was still in Gotham during my earlier days as Robin, both of us working together. Every day we seemed to learn something from each other that helped us both rise above whatever challenge faced us. God, it was awesome. And now, here we are tonight, all together terrorizing this thug. Yep, just like old times. And Two Face causing trouble just makes it seem more like long ago. He was the first supervillain I ever went up against, after all.

 

"Hey Robin, we got what we...Robin?"

 

"Up here, Spoiler."

 

"What the...Robin, the hell are you doing up there?"

 

"Oh, nothin'...just hangin' out...being awesome."

 

".....dear god, you're a dork."

 

"Well..uuh..y'know what!? The pink on the inside of your cape doesn't contrast well with the pink on your suit!....yeah..."

 

"I have to put up with this on a daily basis, Batgirl."

 

"Y'know, he wasn't like this when I first worked with him."

 

"I just think It's one of those days. Some days he's like Batman, other days he's the Joker, minus the mass murder and all. "

 

"Don't mind me, just being awesome..."

 

"Would you get down already? We gotta go!"

 

Girls. What are you gonna do?

  

The D-Wave team toured the installation at NASA today. The red badges are for the visitors from Canada.

 

(More photos below... and walk-in video of our first sight of the new machine.)

 

"We actually think quantum machine learning may provide the most creative problem-solving process under the known laws of physics." — Google Blog

  

"the system will be the most powerful in the world, with approximately 512 superconducting flux qubits"

— NASA's Quantum AI Lab

 

"Quantum computing is based on quantum bits or qubits. Unlike traditional computers, in which bits must have a value of either zero or one, a qubit can represent a zero, a one, or both values simultaneously. Representing information in qubits allows the information to be processed in ways that have no equivalent in classical computing, taking advantage of phenomena such as quantum tunneling and quantum entanglement. As such, quantum computers may theoretically be able to solve certain problems in a few days that would take millions of years on a classical computer." — NASA QuAIL

Lobby Card (11" X 14")

Starring Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall, John Wengraf, Philip Van Zandt, and William Schallert. Directed by Herbert L. Strock.

youtu.be/rSSgM94sSxQ

Starring Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall, John Wengraf, Philip Van Zandt, and William Schallert. Directed by Herbert L. Strock.

When two scientists at a top-secret government installation devoted to space research are killed -- in their own test chamber, seemingly by an experiment gone awry -- Dr. David Sheppard (Richard Egan) is sent out from Washington to investigate. Sheppard mixes easily enough with the somewhat eccentric team of scientists, though he always seems in danger of being distracted by the presence of Joanne Merritt (Constance Dowling), who serves as the aide to the project director Dr. Van Ness (Herbert Marshall) but is, in reality, another security agent. Sheppard is as puzzled as anyone else by the seemingly inexplicable series of events overtaking the installation -- properly operating equipment suddenly undergoing lethal malfunctions, and the radar tracking aircraft that aren't there -- until he puts it together with the operations of NOVAC (Nuclear Operated Variable Automatic Computer), the central brain of the complex. But the mystery deepens when he discovers that NOVAC was shut down during one of the "accidents" -- and even the computer's operators can't account fully for the whereabouts of GOG and MAGOG, the two robots under the computer's control.

"...and then without warning, the machine became a frankenstein of steel," says the sensationalist poster text. This is the third story in Ivan Tors' OSI trilogy. His first "Office of Scientific Investigation" story was Magnetic Monster in early 1953. The second was Riders to the Stars in early '54. With Gog the loose trilogy is complete. Unlike the Star Wars trilogy in which the stories build upon each other, each of the three OSI stories are separate tales which have nothing to do with each other. The common thread is the idea of there being a sort of Science FBI agency whose job it is, is to check out the scientifically strange. In that regard, Tors' OSI is a bit like a foreshadowing of the X-Files TV series, but without any of the New Age paranormal focus.

 

In keeping with the previous two stories, Gog is more of a detective murder mystery movie. Tors was a huge fan of "hard" science, not fanciful fiction fluff, so Gog, like the other two movies, is chock full of reveling in sciencey stuff in an almost geeky way. This reverence for real science keeps things from getting out on shaky limb, as many sci-fi films to. The events are much more plausible, less fantastic.

 

Synopsis

At a secret underground research facility, far out in the desert, scientists working on preparations for a manned space mission, are getting murdered mysteriously. Two agents from the OSI are dispatched to solve the mystery and keep the super secret space station program on track. The scientists are killed in various ways, mostly through equipment malfunctions. The facility director and the agents suspect sabotage. Small transmitter/receiver boxes are found within equipment in different parts of the facility. They suggest that someone on the outside is transmitting in the "malfunctions" in order to kill off the program's scientists. Occasional alarms indicate some flying high intruder, but nothing is clearly found. One of the base's two robots, named Gog, kills another technician while it's mate, Magog, tries to set up an overload within the base's atomic pile. The OSI agents stop Magog with a flame thrower. Meanwhile, interceptor jets scramble and find the highflying spy jet and destroy it with missiles. Once the trouble is past, the Director announces that they will be launching their prototype space station the next day, despite the sabotage attempts to stop it. The End.

  

The time spent reveling in techno-geekery has a certain Popular Science charm to it. There's an evident gee-whiz air about space and defense sciences which is fun to see. People were fascinated with things rockety and atomic. For various fun bits, see the Notes section.

  

Gog oozes Cold War from every frame. First is the base's underground location to make them safe from A-bombs. Next is the mysterious killer trying to stop the space station program. The high-flying mystery plane is "not one of ours." (that leaves: Them, and we all knew who they were.) The space station is to be powered by a solar mirror. Even that benign mirror has sinister possibilities. While demonstrating the mirror, the scientists use it to burn a model of a city. "This could happen...if we're not the first to reach space," says the Director. Space is the next "high ground" to be contested. At the end of the movie, when discussing the launch (despite the sabotage attempt) of the prototype space station, the Director says, "Through it's eye, we'll be able to see everything that goes on upon this tired old earth." The Defense Secretary says, "Nothing will take us by surprise again." An obvious reference to Pearl Harbor.

 

B-films often re-used props and sets from prior films in order to save on their budgets. Gog, even though shot in Eastman Color, was no exception. Two old prop friends show up in Gog. One is our venerable old friend, the space suits from Destination Moon ('50). Look for the centrifuge scene. The research assistants are dressed in them, and as an added bonus, they wear the all-acrylic fish bowl helmets used in Abbot and Costello Go to Mars ('53). Our second old friend is scene in the radar / security room, (the one with the annoying tuning fork device). Check out the monitor wall. It's been gussied up a bit, but it is the spaceship control panel wall from Catwomen of the Moon and Project Moon Base -- complete with the empty 16mm film reels on the right side. It's fun to see old friends.

 

B-films often include stock footage of military units, tanks, jets, battleships, etc. to fill things out. Gog is no different, and even commits the common continuity error of showing one type of plane taking off, but a different kind in the air.

 

What amounts to a small treat amid the usual stock footage of jets, some shots of a rather obscure bit of USAF hardware -- the F-94C Starfire with its straight wings and huge wing tanks. In 1954, the Starfire was one of America's coolest combat jets, yet we hear little about it. The swept-wing F-86 Sabers (which we see taxiing and taking off) were the agile fighter which gained fame over Korea. They're common stock footage stars. The F-94, with its onboard radar (in the nose cone) was deemed too advanced to risk falling into enemy hands. So, it didn't see much action , and therefore little fame. The heavier, yet powerful F-94C (one of the first US jets to have an afterburner) was 1954 America's hottest Interceptor -- designed to stop high flying Soviet bombers. It's blatant cameo appearance in Gog, intercepting the high-flying mystery plane, was a fun little bit of patriotic showing off.

 

The very name of the movie, Gog, is charged with meaning to American audiences of the mid 50s, though virtually lost on viewers of the 21st century. The names of the two robots, Gog and Magog, come from the Bible. More specifically, from the prophecies of Ezekiel (Chapter 38) and the Book of Revelation (chapter 20). While just who they are (nations? kings?) has been debated for centuries, their role as tools of Satan in the battle of Armageddon is clear. Mainstream American patriotic Christendom had settled on the idea that the Soviet Union was the prophesied "nations from the north" who would join Satan to oppose God. This gives the title of the movie a special Cold War significance. It also puts an interesting spin on the Dr. Zeitman character for having named the two robots in the first place. Since they were tools of the mega-computer NOVAC, what was he saying about NOVAC?

 

It is interesting that the base's radar could not detect the mystery plane (which was beaming in the 'kill' instructions to NOVAC) because it was made of "fiberglass" which rendered it invisible to radar. Now, fiberglass itself isn't sturdy enough for high-speed jets, and it would take until the 1990s before composite materials advanced to make the dream of a stealth aircraft a reality. Nonetheless, the dream (or nightmare) of stealth aircraft was on-screen in 1954 in Gog.

 

The super computer, NOVAC, controlled everything on the base. Even though the machines were not really killing scientists on their own, but following human orders from the mystery plane, there was the on-screen depiction of machines having a murderous mind of their own. (all pre-Steven King) In the techno starry-eyed 50s, it was fairly uncommon for the technology itself to be turning on its masters. This idea would gain traction later in the 50s, and especially in the 60s, but in '54, it was unusual.

 

A cautionary subtext to Gog is the danger of trusting in a supercomputer to manage defenses and a whole base. NOVAC doesn't go bad on its own, as the computer will in The Invisible Boy, Hal in 2001 or Colossus in The Forbin Project. In this movie, it was the nefarious "others" who hacked into NOVAC to make it do the killing, but this just demonstrates the danger. People were getting a little nervous about letting machines take over too much responsibility. We were starting to distrust our creations.

 

Until Gog, robots were fairly humanoid.

 

They had two legs, two arms, a torso and a head. Audiences had seen the mechanical Maria in Metropolis ('27), the fedora-wearing metal men in Gene Autrey's Phantom Empire serial ('35). The water-heater-like Republic robot appeared in several rocketman serials. There was the gleaming giant Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still ('51) and the cute left over fedora-dudes in Captain Video ('51). The metal giant in Devil Girl from Mars ('54) was also humaniod, in a chunky way. Gog and Magog were a departure from the stereotype. They were noticeably in-human, which was part of the mood.

 

Bottom line? Gog seems a bit bland, as far as sci-fi tends to go, but it has a lot in it for fans of 50s sci-fi.

 

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