Re: Latest Nations/States/Organizations document

Brian Bell wrote:
> Poul Anderson had a GREAT science fiction story about just such a
place
> in his Polsoltechnic League series. It was in two books "Satan's
World"
> and "Mirkihm"<sp>. The main character learned about a free planetoid
> that would pass within the gravitational field of a supernova. The
nova
> would be expelling tremendous amounts of heavy metals (in the 1950's
> [60's?] story). The main character set up a mining colony on the
planet
> after it passed close to the nova, but still within the a habital
zone.
> The cost of mining it out of the zone would make it not profitable.
> Thus, it provided a bonanza of scarce heavy metals for a few years.

	Ummmmmm, not to nitpick, but I think that it was
	almost, but not quite like that.

	In SATAN'S WORLD, they discover a rogue planet that is
	about to make a close pass by a large sun.  This will thaw
	it out.  This will make it ideal for establishing large scale
	transmutation installations upon it.

	Such an installation can take the Amazon river as input to the
	cooling equipment, and turn it *all* into live steam with
	waste heat.  Industrial scale transmutation would totally
	ruin the ecology of an entire planet.  Satan's world is unique
	in that it has no ecology to ruin, but does have the volatile
	elements (i.e., water and air) needed as heat sinks.

	In MIRKHEIM, they discover a planet that used to be a gas giant,
	orbiting what used to be a nova.  Though the gas giant was
	reduced to something the size of Earth, it was also plated with
	elements created in the nova's explosion.  Elements like rare
	transuranianics, which generally are not found in nature, 
	cannot be economically synthesized, but which have valuable
	properties.
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