quote:Somewhere between reality and the unknown, science fiction has always flourished. The best sci-fi authors rigidly adhere to one principle: Make it as real as possible, given what's known. Now, as if lifting a chapter from an Isaac Asimov novel, NASA plans to create hundreds of "synthetic planets" that might represent real worlds orbiting faraway stars.
The cyber planets will be modeled on solid science, but the results are likely to be decidedly fantastic. No one knows what sort of worlds will be generated, and that's the whole point
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cool! I'd be very interested in learning of the results of these simulations. Especially to compare them to the various kinds of planets conjured up by innumerable science fiction writers over the years.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Maybe we will find out if an orbital situation like Vulcan and T'Khut can exist with the resulting climate on Vulcan (we already know that two planets can orbit each other while orbiting a sun - just look at Pluto and Charon)
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