Well, they WERE on the fediverse, though their last post seems to indicate that is no longer the case.

I'm guessing that Starlink and our progression along in Kessler Syndrome has taken a space elevator off the table? Or are these structures so magical that they are impervious to hypervelocity impacts?

@sundogplanets

I mean, lots of SciFi novels have space elevators. Just one or two minor details still to work out, for example:

“The manufacture of tether-quality material for a space elevator still needs more development..."

I'm curious how they expect to lift the elevator up and down. Maybe there are two that counterbalance each other, like the streetcars in San Francisco?

@cstross

@sundogplanets

@sundogplanets Not to be spoilery, but the TV version of Foundation makes me *really* question the wisdom of space elevators.

@sundogplanets “humanity's most important missions”? Oh for fucks sake… give me a break.

@sundogplanets these days, the frontier between jokes and reality is too blurred to tell

@sundogplanets
oooh "a happy vertical people transporter"

@sundogplanets

I’m given the understand it’s real and there’s a Japanese firm that’s pursuing it.

They’ve done the number of developmental projects.

The main constraint, of course, is material that can handle that kind of load. What I do know from a video I watched is supposedly a project to build an elevator on the moon is discussed because the gravity there is low enough that materials we have today can handle it.