Ya don't even need a full blown reactor. A fission product heat battery is all it takes to warm a small environ on, say, Mars.Arioch wrote:We don't all have household atomic reactors or flying cars today, not because they're not technically feasible, but because they not a good idea.
Here's a brochure from Moltex discussing the intricacies of their Stable Salt Reactor:
https://www.moltexenergy.com/learnmore/ ... tfolio.pdf
On page 23: "One of the waste products discussed above is the electrolyte salt. The salt can hold extremely high quantities of fission products by weight. As the fission products are the main heat producing elements in the medium term (primarily caesium and strontium) the salt is a valuable source of high grade heat that does not require maintenance and can be easily transported to its point of use. The quantity of heat available is in the kilowatt to hundreds of kilowatts range and can be extremely valuable for certain applications. These include remote military sites, space exploration, remote communities, hospitals and mines. Conventional fission product heat is too dilute to be usable. It is only now that it is in concentrated form that it becomes usable and valuable".
So put the stuff in an armored cylinder, bury it, and watch it heat itself for a few decades (all while incidentally turning it's contents into rare earth elements).
Monstrosities? You mean people with eidetic (but still selective!) memories, that could see in the dark, do not get cancers, can survive high doses of radiation, maintain fitness with ease, do not suffer from MS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, lupus, IBD or age-related movement, mental or sensory decline? Growing teeth and limbs? Avoiding Down or Tourette syndrome?Arioch wrote:but also because I find a lot of it personally repellant. Just because it may soon be possible for humans to transform themselves into posthuman monstrosities doesn't necessarily mean that most or even many people will..
I, for one, suffer from polycystic kidney syndrome, so I'd be more than glad to find a way to permanently remove this danger (it can be kept under control, as I am doing, but the dread is real, especially with my family history). Same for cancer, diabetes, my horrible vision and a whole host of other things.
And I very much doubt that our primate brains will accept enhancements that are Borg-like in appearance. Most of the stuff will be hidden. Those people will simply be...better. Healthier, better looking, better memories, stronger, faster, more tireless...
I expect some people will opt out. That's fine. The Amish opt out for the trappings of modern technology. However... the Amish would fare very poorly in say Africa, or Europe, where others that have NOT made their choices have extreme advantages. So, yes, one can opt out, but there are consequences. You end up becoming obsolete (perhaps not in your lifetime, but eventually). Life is, after all, a competition. One grits his death and fights until death.
The only question is cost. If the wealthy become "better" then...yeah, you can see where I'm going with this....