> What does TANSTAAFL! mean and what is a fnord?
>
> Michael Lorrey wrote:
>
> > Thanks for using NetForward!
> > http://www.netforward.com
> > v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
> >
> > Anders Sandberg wrote:
> > >
> > > Wei Dai <weidai@eskimo.com> writes:
> > >
> > > > Black holes emit Hawking radiation at a temperature of
> > > > T=h*c^3/(16*pi*G*M). With the mass of the sun, the temperature of a black
> > > > hole would be about 10^-8 K. At this temperature, erasing a bit costs only
> > > > about 10^-31 J. If you build an insulating shell outside the event horizon
> > > > of a black hole, everything inside the shell would eventually cool down to
> > > > the temperature of the black hole.
> > >
> >
> > This gives me a solution to the Cosmic Filter dillemma. Rather than a
> > Dyson Sphere radiating its encircled star's output as black body
> > radiation, the inside surface would be coated in thermal superconductor
> > material. The Dyson shell would have a twin around a black hole that
> > orbited the star at a relatively constant distance, and would be
> > likewise encircled by a shell of superconducting material. The two
> > shells would be linked by a spinning tube, the inside surface of which
> > would be inhabited by a civilization. The star shell end would be the
> > "hot" electrode of a multimillion mile long particle beam which would be
> > grounded at the black hole end. The tube surface would have thermal
> > superconductor embedded in it to pipe waste heat to the black hole. The
> > particle beam would interact with the helium "upper atmosphere" in the
> > center of the spinning tube to provide illumination.
> >
> > --
> > TANSTAAFL!!!
> > Michael Lorrey
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive
> > MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?