> > I would think that if such events are truly as common as this, the prognosis
> > for long-term space colonization is poor. It would be very hard for a
> > space-based civilization to sustain hundreds of years of hard radiation at
> > such intensity that an atmosphere is insufficient shield. Even planetary
> > based nanotech using civilizations would be very strained by such events.
>
> I disagree. A nanotech-ased civilization would find such an
> event a minor hindrance (nanotech repair of biological radiation
> damage would render them highly resistant to radiation.)
This doesn't work, since the nanomachines are just as vulnerable to
radiation as biology. Building hardened systems might work, just as the
radiodurans bacterium manages to survive intense radiation by using a
large percentage of its energy for error repair. But it would require
plenty of time of preparation before the radiation storm to build an
ecosystem-wide nano-repair system.
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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
nv91-asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y