Ringworld (Known Space Series)

[Rekkon]

Part of the justification given for walkers in Star Wars tech manuals is that they can be used on planets with unstable gravity. While this is pretty much a bullshit reason, it does seem to indicate that repulsors are anti-grav. Offhand I cannot think of any examples where it is used away from a planet/moon/other significant mass save for small units in ships where they would presumably be working against the ship's own artificial gravity.

Of course, if the Ringworld had relied on gravity generators, it's quite possible that everyone on board would have died after technology started to regress. I seem to remember some kind of bioengineered mold that ate the room temperature superconductors used by Ringworld's "floating cities," for instance.

Aye, spinning was a passive approach that would not release all the air if a system malfunctioned or lost power.

The Day/Night system in Ringworld is also pretty stupid, it would have been much more efficient to have the big pieces creating shadow for "night" to orbit retrograte compared to the ringworld itself, rather than slowly rotating slightly faster than the ringworld.

But hindsight is 20/20, it's hard to get everything right on the first try.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that this too was pointed out to Niven by some fans, and he addressed the issue in a later Ringworld novel by having the characters infer that the Pak preferred twilight because the non-retrograde night system provided more of it.

Note that in Known Space, gravitic tech (gravity polarizors) could compensate for accelleration, but produced no thrust. It could be used as a parachute or to totaly halt all all downward pull towards a gravity well, but all lifting was done with thrusters. (The Soft Weapon)

I think you have two separate devices crossed. The gravity drag operates as you describe, but the gravity polarizer is a reactionless drive that the Kzin have had since well before the first Man-Kzin war. It was the primary drive system on their ships.

[Batman]

By repelling against the mass of the planet, with EM repulsion? There is I believe a reason they call it repulsor, not anti grav. You could use it against any large mass, but only a planet or large moon would it's use not shove the object used away. I am not realy up on my Star wars tech.
In any case I could very well be wrong about Star War repuser tech NOT being anti grav.
Are repulsors ever used as anthing but planetary* liftoff, or landings? (*small bodies with gravity included)

Repulsors are time and again explained as some kind of 'countergrav' technology that 'pushes' against the gravitational field of a planet in Wars. They apparently do NOT work without a gravitational field to interact with. Sounds pretty gravitic to me
And no, they're never used for anything than landing/liftoff/moving inside the gravity well (and even there IIRC they're never used for anything but hovering or changing altitude, movement lateral to the gravitational pull has to be done by reaction engines).

That was not my point. The floating cities in Ringworld did NOT use anti grav, nor could anti grav work on ringworld, as there was no gravity to anti. Also Known Space had gravity polarizors not anti grav. It could pull, or block gravity, but not push. That was what I was driving at.

That was a very weird way of getting it across then.

[lordofchange13]

Didn't we just have a testing thread? Ringworld itself is awesome- so much land area. Of course, orbitals would be a better idea, but it was built to block radiation... or just look awesome.

As always the alien psychology isn't so good, but better than earlier stories.

and it seems pretty ridiculous

What part? Aside from the luck gene, the pax, the puppeter planet, the natives taking apart the stabilizers to go into space while they still had more land to expand to and scrith there isn't anything ridiculous in the story.

they didn't leave the ringworld for land they needed metal,which is pretty rare on the ringworld. and the scrith is supost to be ridiculous.

[lordofchange13]

The ringworld itself is pretty well thought out, but the weird stuff Niven comes up with to get them into the situation are rather silly. I was especially irked by the luck gene, and the pak protector stuff, and "slaver stasis fields." However, he really seems to have paid attention to detail, and really worked out what these things would actually do to a society if they had them.[/quote]
whats wrong with the stasis field? planty of other sci fi use it, so its not an obserd technology.

[lordofchange13]

Here I thought he got his sums wrong and later editions included the 'corrections' from readers.

no that was about louis going i think to the west unstead of the east to prolong his birth day

[Dalton]

Please read the rules about thread necromancy.