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From: piersol.pasa@Xerox.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Gravity drives
Message-ID: <3261@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Tue, 13-Aug-85 12:13:03 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.3261
Posted: Tue Aug 13 12:13:03 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Aug-85 00:34:55 EDT
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: piersol.pasa@Xerox.ARPA

This reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke's 'Asymptotic Drive' from "Imperial
Earth", which used a very small black hole as the basis of the drive
system.  As particles approach the event horizon, they emit high energy
photons, exciting the gas around them.  Since only a relatively few
atoms were needed to excite a much larger volume of gas, the drive
attained extremely high efficiency.  The only problem was that the black
hole needed to be replaced once it had attained sufficient mass to begin
slowing the ship's accelleration.

Clarke never went into how the microscopic black holes were created, or
more interestingly, disposed of in a safe manner.

Kurt