 
ReSent-Message-ID: 
ReSent-Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 14:31:55 -0500 (EST)
ReSent-From: "Jon C. Slenk" 
ReSent-To: +dist+/afs/andrew/usr/js9b/Public/camc.dl@andrew.cmu.edu
To: "Jon C. Slenk" 
Subject: Re: another quick question...
From: wce@hogbbs.scol.pa.us (Bill Eichman)
Comments: Validated
Message-Id: <6q79TB2w165w@hogbbs.scol.pa.us>
Date: 	Sat, 14 Nov 1992 18:50:40 -0500
In-Reply-To: 
Organization: The Heart of Gold BBS, Lemont PA

Well, I haven't had time to respond to all the letters on ocean
colonization. I'm going to try to sum up my replies in a larger post.

First, I want to emphasize that I am not promoting ocean colonization in
and of itself. I feel pretty aware of how tough real colonization is
going to be. What I'm suggesting is the very practical and real
establishment of an ocean colonization research center, somewhere in the
caribbean, within the upcoming 5 to 25 year time frame.

I don't think we know enough, or have the right businesses ready, to
make ocean colonization practical anytime within the next 25 to 40
years. It's another profit desert to be crossed.

But, based on quite a bit of study, I think we could make an ocean
colonization _Research Center_ profitable immediately, by selling
infotainment, while doing the basic research that will lead to patents
and future, larger profits.

I see it as a 'doable' experiment in independent science. Most R&D is
the province of state controlled or influenced universities or corporate
laboratories-- which can be fine establishments, but they need
competition to keep their bureacracies and administrations honest. I
think there's profit to be made in an independent, capitalist,
science-as-business.

An ocean colonization research center can be just the sort of wild
collision-of-ideas places that keeps the creative juices flowing. And,
it can be a place to explore the huge third world market. (I think it was
Charlie Stross who talked about leapfrogging wires and marketing
cellular phones in Bangladesh-- it's pretty clear to me that this is
just the tip of the iceberg of the trillions to be made in using our
cleverness to design, manufacture, and sell products that are high
profit and focused directly at the third world market.)

So, this is the slant I'm taking with this ocean colonization thread; I
don't know if ocean colonization is feasible, I don't know if we could
build even a mini floating/undersea 'Hong Kong', but I do know that I
personally expect to be moving to the caribbean and trying to set up an
ocean colonization center starting about ten years from now.
....................

Yeah, it's pretty clear to me that interest in ocean colonization is
indeed both reactionary and escapist. In myself, it's definitely a
reaction to dreams of space travel and space colonization in my younger
days, and a reaction to the urbanization of the continent. I'm
definitely trying to escape. There's really not much place in this
society for a troublemaking cuss like myself, and I don't have any
objections to living at the edge, even if all I'm doing is escaping
society's problems and immersing myself in my studies.

Now, just talking about it, as opposed to tryin' to do it, _that's_
reactionary and escapist in the negative sense, no doubt, no doubt...
(Then again, if speculation and escapism were gold, we'd all be rich
folk on this list. ;-}  )
......................

The thing to do is to rent an inexpensive dock and a cluster of
buildings on some 10 to fifty acre piece of land, presumably somewhere
in the caribbean. One of the 'desert' islands (no fresh water) might be
a cheap choice, especially the lowlying ones that are swamped during
storms. We set up solar desalinators, and start collecting data on their
performance as we let cisterns fill with fresh water. And we set up a
small marina, a boatbuilding business, and experiment with buildings on
the island and on boat platforms, working towards building a first larger
'flagship' platform trimaran that would hold the central computer labs,
biotech labs, communications equipment, and the other essentials of the
research center.

All through this period we are exploring, doing underwater photography
and video for later sale, and studying the profit potentials of the
region.

While the onsite people are looking for regional profit, the teams still
"back home" in the mainstream study & develop ways that the ocean center's
material can be marketed as infotainment for profit. I'm assuming that
some combination of education/tourism package would be sold, in which
wealthy yuppies pay to visit and play with submarines, and students pay
for credits, as one of the cornerstones of the first 25 year's income
possibilities. Whatever else, in the form of tapes, magazines, books,
stereoVR simulations, etc, etc, will be decided by assessing the
possibilities at the time-- but I'm assuming we'd have to market
ourselves aggressively from day one, as opposed to counting on grants
and patronage.

I think I'm most interested in working on the following:

    Water desalination and purification devices, potentially salable
    throughout the undeveloped countries, based on solar or osmotic
    filter technology.

    An automated boatbuilding plant to produce the functional equivalent
    of the one family house, in the form of a 'smart' trimaran
    houseboat, out of resinated organic fibers. The "Model T" of the
    ocean lifetyle and economy.

    Intensive studies of the local biology and ecology, looking
    especially for chemical compounds with pharm. and industrial uses,
    and also for 'agricultural' breeding stock. Gathering baseline data
    so we can assess ecological impact accurately years later.

    An intensive calcium electrodeposition study.

    A study of coatings, starting with the best data we can gather from
    the existing oceanographic engineering experts.

And so on-- pretty humble stuff, actually. It can be done with at first
tens, then hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is a capitalization
that is within my reach. There is, of course, a tremendous amount of
advance work and preparation that has to be done for something like
this-- we can't afford to waste a drop of energy reinventing the wheel,
meaning that we need to be as up-to-date on the subject and the
literature, and we have to be skilled with the video, computer, and lab
equipment, so that we avoid the common business hassle of trying to
start a business and learn how to use the equipment at the same time.

As far as something like data piracy or free banking or suchlike, it
seems pretty clear that your basic 80 to 240 ft refitted commercial
ship, running under a protective flag and docked in a protective
country, would be your best bet. (Although, it occurs to me that a
factory to produce a "delivery truck" style of submersible could
revolutionalize smuggling.) Mobility and invisibility is your best
protection against the organized killers and torturers (soldiers and
police) that the government will turn against you once it becomes
aware of you. Assuming you want to get involved in such a thing,
which I don't.

Well, this is way long, so I'll just stop here, leaving questions
unanswered. As far as I know, there are no definitive texts on ocean
colonization, and I've learned about it by reading bits and pieces from
a hundred sources. John and Nancy Todd's "Ocean Arks International" has
been a good source, but I've been out of touch with that organization
for a few years.

I'm going to work on assembling some files about it, and I'm working on
a comic book exposition of the ocean colonization idea, though that goes
slowly so far. I think it's a potent fantasy/meme, getting ripe for
harvest.

Later, Bill
wce@hogbbs.scol.pa.us



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