cli-sci
illconsidered | September 13, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 56
Table of Contents
Chapter 58
Chapter 57
Moonchild, December 11, 2057
The moon consists primarily of iron, aluminum, silicon and manganese, with some calcium and oxygen. Some areas have concentrations of titanium. That was why the Hipparcus crater had been chosen.
Once the smelter was set up and they had full power, the mining began in earnest. It was all open pit. They used a large wheeled dragger to scoop up the material. They wanted aluminum and titanium. The lack of free oxygen on the moon made steel production problematic, but aluminum…
illconsidered | September 5, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 55
Table of Contents
Chapter 57
Chapter 56
Petrov, October 19, 2057
The Daedalus reached Petrov in late September. On the internet a coterie of space enthusiasts and the climate concerned had followed their reports religiously, but until then there was little coverage in the corporate media. For twenty-four hours they were media stars again. The trip had been uneventful, which in the tech-besotted, bloodless language of the space agencies and corporations meant there were no major accidents and nobody died.
The asteroid was less than a…
illconsidered | August 28, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 54
Table of Contents
Chapter 56
Chapter 55
Spacemen, September 11, 2057
From my vantage point in UNGETF, I was able to monitor the activities of the various groups. All year, I heard about rocket launches, mostly by the Swiss-German consortium Brahmaputra, but the odd one was by the L1 construction group Carillon. The Group 6 cloudmakers had their first batch of ships sailing for Antarctica. More of the old tankers were being refurbished weekly. The target number of vessels for north and south had been raised to 600. Sometimes when things don…
illconsidered | August 22, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 53
Table of Contents
Chapter 55
Chapter 54
Greenhouse, May 31, 2057
Things were not looking good. At UNGETF, we were all too aware of of the unfolding disasters. The storms and wildfires, the floods and droughts were bad enough, but food production was down again. The methane levels kept rising. Nothing we were doing seemed to have any effect.
I left the meeting with a heavy heart. As I headed for home, it was already hot. This was May. When spring starts in February, the season seems to go on forever. Calling April the cruellest month seemed…
illconsidered | August 16, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 52
Table of Contents
Chapter 54
Chapter 53
Carillon, March 8, 2057
When I got home that afternoon I discovered that one of my new students had surreptitiously video logged me. Edie met me at the door with, "I watched your whole lecture today."
"What?"
"It's true. You're all over the forums. There have been thousands of downloads."
I shook my head a little dismayed.
"People want to know what's really going on and nobody believes the official reports."
Anna heard my voice and came running into the kitchen. I was hot and tired, so I dropped down…
illconsidered | August 8, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 51
Table of Contents
Chapter 53
Chapter 52
Ecology 550 - Group 5 Overview, March 8, 2057
Notes on a lecture.
Spring term was near the half way point and Ecology 550 was ahead of schedule. I had been fielding a lot of questions about Group 5, so I decided to do an overview lecture on the UNGETF groups and wind up with some details on Group 5.
I made a list to structure the class. I opened a screen with my padd and projected the list.
Group 1 - Reforestation, ongoing, effectiveness minimal.
Group 2 - Stratospheric sulphates, effective but…
illconsidered | August 1, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 50
Table of Contents
Chapter 52
Chapter 51
Soap, February 20, 2057
Anna came down the hall complaining. "Mommy, my tummy hurts." There were bubbles coming out of her mouth.
Edie took one look and yelled, "Luc, call an ambulance!"
I came out of the kitchen and saw Anna down on her hands and knees vomitting on the front room floor. There was a trail of liquid down the hall to the bathroom. Following the trail back, I found a shampoo bottle on the bathroom floor. It was about half full.
"Do you know how much was in this?"
"Oh my god!" exclaimed…
illconsidered | July 26, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 49
Table of Contents
Chapter 51
Chapter 50
Eco 110 - Carrying Capacity, January 15, 2057
Notes on a lecture
It was the first class of the term. I was purposefully late, because I wanted everyone to be present and impatient. I walked in, dropped my case on the wide black presentation desk and turned to face the old theatre style hall.
"Okay, here is the question: Are we collectively smarter than a vat of yeast?"
I let that sink in for a few seconds, then continued with:
"The topic for today is carrying capacity.
"Intuitively, the idea is how…
illconsidered | July 26, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 48
Table of Contents
Chapter 50
Chapter 49
Solstice, December 27, 2056
I have not been writing much, because I have been busy with the lichen. Annoyingly, the symbiotic signalling continues to elude me. A colleague at CCU collaborated with me on a paper. "An examination of the laboratory growth rates of the lichen eFontaine1" by Luc C. Fontaine and George R. Collins. eFontaine1 was the proper name, but we all called it eF1.
Last year by unspoken assent, Edie and I both more or less ignored xmas. This year Anna was old enough that she would…
illconsidered | July 20, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 47
Table of Contents
Chapter 49
Chapter 48
Edie's Questions , October 4, 2056
Since our talk about Neurolin last spring, Edie had applied herself to her distance courses and done well. She had stopped taking it when she finished the courses. Judging by the steady stream of customers who dropped around for fab created items, her basement business was thriving.
I mentioned it to her once. "I noticed you set up another fab," I said.
She nodded with a funny little smile. "Yeah, I've been busy," but no more was said.
Several times Edie ambushed me…
illconsidered | August 8, 2012
The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
My thanks go to Marlene for listening and to Kaeren and Rick
at the Sal's for their many helpful comments.ISBN: 978-0-9881321-0-8
Copyright(2012) by H.E. Taylor
Table of Contents
Chapter
Title
Date
Page
0
Edie
May 11, 2055
5
1
The Burning Lake
May 11, 2055
9
2
Externalities
May 11, 2055
13
3
Electronic Democracy
May 11, 2055
17
4
Matt
May 18. 2055
23
5
FabNet
May 18, 2055
27
6
The Great Hunger
May 19, 2055
30
7
Teaser
June 4, 2055
35
8
Jacy
June 7, 2055
38
9
Henry
June 10, 2055
40
10
Robert Fontaine
July 18, 2055
52…