Re: An interesting question for IP?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: George Dyson [gdyson () gmail com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 9:35 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:    An interesting question for IP?

It would certainly be a good idea to keep some kind of backup copy
nearby to reboot our own planet in the event of a serious but
recoverable crash. But even doing this isn't easy, and does not solve
any of the near-term problems facing us. Leaving our own solar system
with enough people to resettle elsewhere (assuming you can find an
elsewhere) is really tough. In September 1959, Freeman Dyson looked
at this question, given currently available technology and resources,
taking as a minimal example a hydrogen-bomb driven interstellar ship
that “could get a colony of several thousand people to Alpha
Centauri, about 4 light years away, in about 150 years.”  The good
news: it would only require 25 million hydrogen bombs to get there.
The bad news: it would require 25 million more bombs if you wanted to
stop.



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