ON EDGE
"When you reach the top, keep climbing." ~ Zen proverb
 
 
 

This page deals with the edge of knowledge and those who extend that edge. Eventually, it will list next-step research issues suitable for graduate dissertations. And, as reviews come in, we will update a recommended reading list, sorted by education level. The intent is to provide students and professionals the starting points for deeper inquires – identifying the work on the edge of knowledge that still needs resolution – opportunities for future pioneers to make their mark.

ON THIS PAGE

 
 
     
 

LATEST AND NOTEWORTHY PUBLICATIONS OF TAU ZERO PRACTITIONERS

(Not all items yet added)

For General Audiences

  • Gilster, Paul, Centauri Dreams: The News Forum of the Tau Zero Foundation <http://www.centauri-dreams.org/>
  • Klaes, Larry (2008) "The Ultimate Project to the Stars" <http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1930>
  • Landis, Geoffrey A. (2003) "The Ultimate Exploration: Approaches to Interstellar Flight," in Interstellar Exploration, Y. Kondo, ed., Apogee Books.
  • Mallove, Eugene F; and Gregory L. Matloff (1989) The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel. New York: John Wiley.& Sons.
  • Millis, Marc G. (2005) "Making the Jump to Light-Speed", in Star Wars - Where Science Meets Imagination, Rodley, Ed, (ed.), National Geographic Society, pp. 46-63.
  • Nordley, Gerald (2006-2007) "The Black Hole Project", a series of five separately titled science fiction novellas published in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact. (A glossary covering much of the speculative science and engineering in these stories is available on line)
    • "Kremer's Limit" (July-August 2006)
    • "Imperfect Gods" (December 2006)
    • "The Small Pond" (March 2007)
    • "Loki's Realm" (July-August 2007)
    • "Vertex" (September 2007)
  • Nordley, Gerald (2007) "Hell Orbit", in Visual Journeys from Hadley, Rille Books.
  • Vulpetti, Giovanni; Johnson, Les; Matloff, Gregory L; Bangs ,C. (2008) Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel, Springer.


For College Level and Professional Audiences

  • Benford, James (2008) “Space Applications of High Power Microwaves”, IEEE Trans. on Plasma Sci., V.36, pg. 569.
  • Benford, James; and Benford, Gregory (2003) “Flight of Microwave-Driven Sails: Experiments and Applications”, Beamed Energy Propulsion, AIP Conf. Proc. 664, pg. 303, A. Pakhomov, ed.
  • Bennett, Gary; Forward, R.L; and Frisbee, R.H. (1995) Report on the NASA/JPL Workshop on Advanced Quantum/Relativity Theory Propulsion", AIAA 95-2599, 31st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, 10-12 July 1995, San Diego, California.
  • Brin, David, (1983). "The 'Great Silence': the Controversy Concerning Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life" Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, v.24, pp283-309 <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1983QJRAS..24..283B>
  • Cassenti, Brice, N. (2008) “Design Considerations for the Interstellar Ramjet”. Paper AIAA-2008-4797 presented at the 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Hartford, Connecticut, July 20-23.
  • Cassenti, Brice, N. (1993) "Design Concepts for the Interstellar Ramjet", Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 46, pp. 151-160.
  • Cassenti, Brice, N. (1982) "Design Considerations for Relativistic Antimatter Rockets", Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 35, pp. 396-404.
  • Cassenti, Brice, N. (1982) "A Comparison of Interstellar Propulsion Systems", Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 35, pp. 116-124.
  • Cramer, John; Forward, R.L; Morris, Michael: Visser, Matt: Benford Greg: and Landis, Geoff (1995) "Natural wormholes as gravitational lenses" Physical Review D, Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 3117-3120.
  • Kare, Jordin, (2002) High-acceleration Micro-scale Laser Sails for Interstellar Propulsion, Final Report, NIAC Research Grant #07600-070
    31 December 2001 (Revised 15 Feb. 2002) <http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/597Kare.pdf    >
  • Landis, Geoffrey A. (2004) "Interstellar Flight by Particle Beam," Acta Astronautica. Vol 55, No. 11, 931-934.
  • LaPointe, M. R. (2001), "Antimatter Production at a Potential Boundary", AIAA-01-3361, presented at the AIAA 37th Joint Propulsion Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, July 8-11, 2001.
  • LaPointe, M. R.(1991) "Antiproton Powered Propulsion with Magnetically Confined Plasma Engines", Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol.7 No.5, pp. 749-759.
  • Long, Kelvin, (2007). The Status of the warp drive (& collected papers). Journal British Interplanetary Society. Special edition dedicated to warp drive. Vol.59, No 5/6.
  • Maccone, Claudio, (2008), "The Statistical Drake Equation", Paper IAC-08-A4.1.4, presented at the 2008 International Astronautical Congress held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK
  • Maccone, Claudio, (2002) The Sun as a Gravitational Lens: Proposed Space Missions, International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)
    (first published in 1997 with two later editions in 1999 and 2002).
  • Maccone, Claudio, (1994) Telecommunications, KLT and Relativity by IPI Press, Colorado Springs, USA.
  • Matloff,Gregory L; Les Johnson, Les; Bangs ,C. (2007) Living Off the Land in Space: Green Roads to the Cosmos, Springer.
  • Millis, M. G. (1997) "Challenge to Create the Space Drive", AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 13, N. 5, pp. 577-582.
  • Tajmar, M; Plesescu, F; and Seifert, B. (2008) "Anomalous Fiber Optic Gyroscope Signals Observed above Spinning Rings at Low Temperature", Journal of Physics: Conference Proceedings, 25th Low Temperature Physics Conference, 2008

ESTIMATING – ARE WE ALONE?

Outside this Foundation there are already well-supported groups trying to answer this question.  The most prominent is SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a privately funded attempt to scan the Cosmos for intelligent signals from afar. Closely related to that quest is the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox.  The Drake Equation attempts to estimate how many communicating civilizations might be in our galaxy (tending to give a large number for optimistic ingoing assumptions), and the Fermi Paradox then asks "why don't we see them if there are so many?"

We'll take our own crack at answering those questions and endeavor to keep that estimate up-to-date with the latest, best, and most reliable information (with citations).  Our "Living Drake Equation" is still under construction, but we have already made headway by converting the simple Drake Equation into a statistical format so that the estimates more clearly reflect the degree of unknowns.   One of our practitioners, Dr. Claudio Maccone, has worked out the statistical equations to make this possible ("The Statistical Drake Equation", Paper IAC-08-A4.1.4, presented at the 2008 International Astronautical Congress held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK). Two intriguing graphs result, one plotting the relative probabilities for how far away the nearest civilization might be (which has been dubbed the "Maccone Distribution" by Paul Davies), and another plotting the relative probabilities for the number of civilizations.

The "Maccone Distribution"

This chart examines the probability of finding the nearest ExtraTerrestrial Civilization at a given distance from Earth (in light years).  At this stage, the values shown are only provisional, based on cursory inputs to the Statistical Drake Equation.  The most likely distance, base on this provisional estimation, is that the nearest civilization is almost 2000 light years distant.

ExtraTerrestrial Civilizations Estimate

The thin line on this chart conveys the probability that there are a given number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy. At this stage, the values are only provisional, based on cursory inputs to the Statistical Drake Equation.  From this provisional estimate it appears that the most likely number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy is a mere 250.

Graphic Courtesy of Caludio Maccone
Graphic Courtesy of Caludio Maccone

And finally, we realize that there is veritable cottage industry devoted to the notion that UFOs are continuing visitations from extraterrestrials.  Regrettably, because the Foundation's organizers do not know of any reliable and rigorous investigative groups studying UFOs, we have no links to recommend.  This phenomenon is as much a question of sociology and psychology as it is about actual sightings.  Having a rigorous and impartial study of that in its entirety would certainly be fascinating.  [Curran, D. (2001) In Advance of the Landing]  Regrettably, we know of no such efforts to cite.
 
 
 
 
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Last revisions by Millis 2008-November-27
 
 
 
 
 
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