[Interview+] How Close Are We To Building A Practical Skyhook?

Coming up with the energy is not the problem. Getting rid of the waste heat from large scale technological energy use is the problem. People often cite the huge amount of energy that falls upon the Earth as sunlight, but a good deal of it is reflected into space. If we really captured a large fraction of that energy, processed it, and re-emitted it as infrared waste heat (which doesn't escape the atmosphere as readily,) then we would raise the surface temperature of the Earth (in a process not related to greenhouse gas emissions, but just simple thermodynamics.) It's easy to show that if we continue to grow our technological energy use at current rates, even if we transition to 100% emission-free sources, the oceans will boil off in a few hundred years. Post-scarcity is a dangerous delusion.

Hunger and poverty are an artificial concept and actually a distribution problem is such a correct statement. Hunger is something we choose to do 👍

As i said in my comments for the last interview, these aren't interviews but a really interesting conversation between 2 knowledgeable people. Great conversation again

You never think in gigapascals?! How do you operate your coffee machine? Or apply the perfect wiping force on the toilet? Time to learn Fraser

Awesome interview yet again! Your guests and their enthusiasm for the future is the positive intoxication that needs to be shared.

Workers of the world, unite. The only thing you have to lose is your tethers

Ohhh now I want to hear a full detailed interview with Markus on his thoughts about it ur artifices resource limitations and poverty/wealth! That topic keeps me up every day!

The idea of the Skyhook goes back to the end of the golden age of Sci-Fi (1950s), even Boeing, in 2000, did a research study and concluded it was 2 out of 9 on the practical technology scale. Twenty five years later and it's probably at 2 and a bit, so the answer to "how close" is not any time soon, probably never. The philosopher Daniel Dennett , in his book "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", describes a skyhook as a euphemism for any miraculous elevating device.

Also if people want to look for planet nine they need to look at a 41 to 41 and a half degree above playing it doesn't orbit the same as the rest of the planets

this interview and the conversation of limited resources is imensely renewing my energy for a concept of energy centers that solve seasonal food disruption and transportation dependance simply multi story green houses with complementary botany and enriched with wind generation and solar generation …still working on the water restriction for global expansion though

Great interview! The explanations and discussions really helped remind (I remember that tether breaking on STS-75) and clarifying my understanding of tethers, skyhooks (it worked with gliders in SevenEves, but they also had the tech to build elevators), and material science progress (go graphene!). This is the sort of stuff that makes it worth contributing to Universe Today! More please!