• Registered: 2006-10-01
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Topic: Tackling the Overpopulation

First, a simple calculation:

There are 480 floatbeds available for the Middle Cluster's mature colonists' resustenance.

Every colonist requires 3 hours of floatbed sleep each day to facilitate vital functions.

Thus the current floatbeds can sustain 24/3 * 480 = 3840 colonists.

The current population of the Tower is 213 colonists.

There is a new patch of 5 colonists every 3,7 standard days arriving to Floatbed Chamber Alpha (excluding the faulty floatbed column 6).

Thus, the milestone of 3840 colonists will be reached in (3840 - 213) / 5 * 3,7 = 2680 days.

The mortality of colonists will extends this time limit somewhat further, but it should be clear that there's going to be a serious problem in approximately 7 years of time.

Action must be taken to stop our dependency on those 480 floatbeds. Thus I call for discussion on how to accomplish this. We at The Initiative have come up with two classes of solutions: either reactivate our natural digestion and sustenance processes or build floatbeds of our own.

I stress the importance and urgency of this task. Seven years might feel like a long time now, but neither of these solutions is trivial.

Yours truly,
Mohale - The Initiative

((time stamp of this message is three years ago))

  • Registered: 2006-10-01
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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

You do realize what it would require to start producing food for 3000 people?

As for floatbeds of our own: floatbeds require a very sophisticated AI, to keep the process properly balanced. The chemicals must be administered, the nanobots coordinated and the state of the subject constantly monitored.

And even if we managed to substitute TAU, there's still the matter of constructing a massive complex for the new floatbeds. Where would we place this and where would we get the workforce and resources. Our resources are scarce as it is - a megaproject like this would jeopardice the stability of the Tower.

Aini - Tower Engineering Society

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

That's exactly why we must start thinking about this now!

Mbuku - The Initiative

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

((What follows is a detailed discussion about different suggestions on how to solve the problems apparent in freeing us from the floatbeds. Many solutions are put forward and rejected as too resource-consuming, too risky or downright infeasible. Nevertheless, The Initiative, that later merges with Association of Scholars, starts a research project for building independent floatbeds. The project is cancelled a year later, as it's not produced any results.))

  • Registered: 2006-10-01
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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

Hello.

I wanted to remind people of this problem and urge the Scholars to reinstate the research project on floatbeds. It's been two years and TAU hasn't slowed down the production of colonists. This problem will become reality.

Khitasang - leader of The Common Good

((The message has been timestamped one year ago.))

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

How can you be so sure this will happen? I, for one, have no reason to think TAU would create any more colonists than it's able to support. You people are just causing panic based on an unlikely scenario.

Batula

  • Registered: 2006-10-01
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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

I agree there must be more action on this matter! Researching medicines and new tools is all very important, but the floatbeds are our lifeline and the clock is ticking. There are several projects supported by Association of Scholars that are nothing but pet projects of the people doing them, and should be scrapped immediately for the favor of this pressing concern!

Such projects include:
The weather simulation project - we know the weather: it's bad
The advanced genome mapping project - what's the point of eugenics if people start dying of malnutrition?

Mira - handler of Association of Scholars

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

Those projects at least have produced some results instead of mere infeasible designs and far-fetched plans.

Alexandra - leader of Association of Scholars

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

((A lot of arguing follows, concerning whether this and that project is more important than tackling the overpopulation. The proponents of the project include several members of the Association of Scholars as well as The Common Good as a whole. Also The Horizon presses the importance of looking into the future instead of living day-by-day, and thus give their support to the project. They are denied access to the research equipment for this project by the Association, though. In addition to the majority of the Scholars, The Watch is strongly opposed to the project.))

  • Registered: 2006-10-01
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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

The population reached 1200 today, and still nothing has been done to make sure we'll all be able to live in this tower! We're running out of time!

Mira - Association of Scholars

((This is the last message in this thread, dated two weeks ago.))

  • Darkhawk
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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

I find this discussion strange - how could you miss the obvious solution?

It is vitally important not to exceed floatbed capacity, all should be able to see and understand this. However, building new floatbeds is just a waste of time and resources, unless we need the extra Seeds for work in the tower? Why waste space and time and resources on a heavy and inefficient solution that doesn't even seem to get anywhere? Here is my solution.

Go into TAU's software and take over control with how many Seeds are spawned. 

There are several benefits to this:

1. We can regulate birth of new Seeds to the task at hand. If we need many, we tell TAU how many we wish. If we need less, we regulate that.

2. Turning off production of Seeds in specific areas. We can stop the birthing of mentally damaged Seeds in certain floatbed chambers too.

3. We save resources and manpower on the research - a small dedicated software and possibly hardware team is all that is needed initially. No need for building things for testing or involving many people.

4. The knowledge we gain from this project can be applied to many fields afterwards. We need to be able to understand TAU better and modify it when it does things that are not benefitting the survival of the colony as a whole.

I am a new Seed, specializing in software and hard science. I do not have the knowledge others have. I do not know who made the AP system, which must have required similar knowledge to implement. I do not know if any of these are alive yet, or if there are recordings about their methods. I have presented the idea that is the most efficient and has the most chance to succeed. I do not need to be the project-lead on this if others are more qualified, but we need to get started now.

Please reply here or contact me to arrange this project

- Mizuki

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

To Mizuki:

The problem with your suggestion is that TAU has been severely fragmented. The processes in our cluster have no contact with the processes in the Lower Cluster where the speedgrowth takes place. So even if you did manage to create such a program it wouldn't do much good if you can't install it in the Speedgrowth Chamber. And as has been discussed in other topics, it's not in the near future for us to bypass the massive collapsed spaces separating us from the Lower Cluster.

Your idea is a good one in principle, but I'm afraid you as a new colonist don't yet have a full understanding of the extent of the problems in this Tower.

Mohale - The Association of Scholars

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

Hai. I understand. I am new and do not know everything yet. However, this project, to learn more about how TAU works and be able to modify is programming, is still important. Are there such programs ongoing?

Even if it takes access to the Lower Cluster, there is no reason to first begin on this research when access is achieved. And it would be wise for a team to look into establishing access down there at the same time.

- Mizuki

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

Mizuki, do you have any idea what kind of obstacles there are between us and the Lower Cluster?

1) Tons after tons of machinery that was never designed to be passed through by humans. We'd practically have to dig through a kilometer of titanium, glassteel, creep plate and whatever. Not to mention cutting through vital machinery.

2) Collapsed Chimbot tunnels preventing access to certain areas even for them.

3) Heightened levels of microwave and radioactive radiation, as measured at the upper levels, heigtening when you go downward.

4) Malfunctioning terraforming machinery causing huge power spikes.

And these are only the ones we know about. Believe me, we've tried to find ways down ever since we discovered Labspace two and a half years ago. The furthest we got was 240 meters below the Shaft before the explorer was killed by falling through the floor into a pit.

So I say once again: let's stop wasting time and continue the floatbed project now! The last thing we need is another competing project!

Mira - Association of Scholars

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

Mizuki wrote:

Hai. I understand. I am new and do not know everything yet. However, this project, to learn more about how TAU works and be able to modify is programming, is still important. Are there such programs ongoing?

I believe the TAU Basecode Project, that The Association of Scholars is doing with Dreamers of Gaia and a few others, is what you're looking for.

The problem in understanding TAU's programming is that it's self-evolving. By now it's become in many ways different from the original TAU, through learning. And while it learns it generally becomes more and more complex. But we have reached good results, starting from deciphering the radlock processes enabling us to configure them to cure the Aufer lesions.

Ping - Handler of the Association of Scholars

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Re: Tackling the Overpopulation

We at Servants of Evolution have come up with a perfect solution to this problem: Instead of building new floatbeds to serve our ever-growing need of sustenance, we should adapt ourselves in such a way we no longer need them in the first place. But instead of reactivating our primitive digestive functions, that require the growing of edible foodstuffs, we must device ways to directly harness the energy we have in abundance.

I'm talking about the field of cybernetics and surgical alterations. We could device a way to install a Compressed Nitrogen Cell in our bodies and use advanced nanotechnology to convert its energy into a form usable by our cells. The solution is elegant and doesn't require huge constructions or access into the Lower Cluster.

Of course, this project would require a lot of scientific work to become reality, but if we put our minds to it, there's no reason for it to fail. Please contact me if you're interested in helping in any way.

- Chia Pao - leader of Servants of Evolution