Ender's Ansible

Asteroid Mining May Be the Next Gold Rush

In mining terms, the asteroid was a “lumpy,” or a rock rich in iron, cobalt, nickel, and other ferromagnetic minerals. Miners used scanners to look for concentrations of metal in the stone, which they called “lumps.” The more lumps or seams of metal they found, the higher the metal-to-stone ratio. No lumps meant the rock was a “slagger” or a “dumpy,” a worthless chunk of nothing. […] It was tedious, hard labor, but if the lump was big enough, it was well worth the effort.

−’Earth Unaware’ by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, page 26 hardcover edition

‘Earth Unaware’ is the first of three novels that will form a prequel trilogy to ‘Ender’s Game’ which will tell the story of the First Formic War and introduce readers to a young Mazer Rackham. ‘Earth Unaware’ begins the trilogy with a family that travels through space mining asteroids for metals. While large families traveling through space self-sufficiently may be a hard concept to grasp, asteroid mining should not be. Asteroid mining may be the next booming industry.

Last year a company called Planetary Resources announced their intent to mine local asteroids for metals, water, and other precious resources. This year, a similar company called Deep Space Industries announced a similar adventure. Both companies bring the idea of asteroid mining beyond fiction and into reality.

While the free-mining families in ‘Earth Unaware’ sell their harvested metal for enough profit to sustain their health and travel, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries have different motives in mind. Both of their unmanned missions plan to create fuel stations in orbit for private spacecraft from the mined resources. Additionally, Planetary Resources intends to alter the trajectories of asteroids, and return whole asteroids into lunar orbit for mining, and Deep Space Industries wants to use 3D printers to make metal components in space.

If these companies are successful in their adventures, asteroid mining may become the next gold rush. This draws another parallel to ‘Earth Unaware’ in that small clans and large companies compete in their mining efforts. With high-priced resources waiting to be harvested, asteroid mining may be the catalyst Earthlings need to begin our venture into space.

Have you ever thought, “This reminds me of ‘Ender’s Game,’” while reading an article? Our new column, ‘Beyond Fiction’ is dedicated to sharing those stories. Each Saturday we’ll publish a piece both reminiscent and beyond the fiction of ‘Ender’s Game’. Of course, if you’d like to nominate a feature, please contact us.

Source: Discovery

Warning: Major ‘Speaker for the Dead’ Spoilers

“The first life is within the mothertree, where we never see the light, and where we eat blindly the meat of our mother’s body and the sap of the mothertree. The second life is when we live in the shade of the forest, the half-light, running and walking and climbing, seeing and singing and talking, making with our hands. The third life is when we reach and drink from the sun, in the full light at last, never moving except in the wind; only to think, and on those certain days when the brothers drum on your trunk, to speak to them. Yes, that’s the third life.”

“Humans don’t have the third life.”

Human looked at him, puzzled.

“When we die, even if you plant us, nothing grows. There’s no tree. We never drink from the sun. When we die, we’re dead.”

—’Speaker for the Dead’ by Orson Scott Card, page 340

When Ender explains the human life cycle to Human, the piggy, he makes it clear that humans can’t enter the piggy’s so-called “third life” (becoming a tree after death). We’re guessing Ender never heard of Bios Urn.

Bios Urn, designed by Gerard Moline in 1999, is a biodegradable urn containing coconut shell, compact peat, and cellulose that turns human remains into a tree. After ashes are inserted into the urn, the urn is planted with a seed that eventually germinates into a tree. Users have the option of changing out the tree seed for another type of plant seed, but the overall idea is the same. Cemetery space is saved and humans are “reborn” into a new life. Although, to be honest, we doubt use of this product will turn anyone into a sentient tree.

Have you ever thought, “This reminds me of ‘Ender’s Game,’” while reading an article? Our new column, ‘Beyond Fiction’ is dedicated to sharing those stories. Each Saturday we’ll publish a piece both reminiscent and beyond the fiction of ‘Ender’s Game’. Of course, if you’d like to nominate a feature, please contact us.

Source: Big Think via Neo-Dragon on philoticweb.net