*As Biggs sees OA* Look at the size of that thing!

[CaptainDorran]

Greetings you marvellous people, most people who know me on the internet call me Savar, Dorran, Captain, 'Spots' and occasionally Malcolm, but really I'm just Stuart.

Although I haven't been able to read everything yet (Has anyone here? There's so much!) I am trucking steadily through the primer and canon sections in the hope I might come out of it with some vague grasp of my sanity- Ahem, I mean the OA universe. As already stated I'm not quite in tune with all that goes on here, but I couldn't resist signing up because I either do it now or when I finish reading!

Having seen how you incorporate new science into your universe as it comes into the universe of us mortals, I was curious as to how you view the Alcubirre Drive theory, as as far as I can tell (which is about as far as my 5/5 vision in regards to this massive site) it doesn't strictly contradict your physical laws rule.

If there's a particular thing I should go read and absorb spin me round three times and point me in the right direction and I'll muddle through.

Savar

[Rynn]

Welcome to the forum Dorran there's maybe one or two people who have read everything in the EG, but as its constantly getting updated and added to there's always something new. In regards to warp drives we do have something of that sort in the setting: void motes
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4b53cbf383f6a

They are microscopic warp bubbles (bigger on the inside) that are the basis for reactionless drives. The science behind them is way beyond ordinary humans however, that sort of exotic matter and space time engineering can only be done by Archai. Though it's entirely possible a modosophont might be gifted one.

An important difference between these and classical warp drives is that they cannot go faster than light, however they can allow for some extremely fast accelerations.

[CaptainDorran]

Welcome to the forum Dorran there's maybe one or two people who have read everything in the EG, but as its constantly getting updated and added to there's always something new. In regards to warp drives we do have something of that sort in the setting: void motes
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4b53cbf383f6a

They are microscopic warp bubbles (bigger on the inside) that are the basis for reactionless drives. The science behind them is way beyond ordinary humans however, that sort of exotic matter and space time engineering can only be done by Archai. Though it's entirely possible a modosophont might be gifted one.

An important difference between these and classical warp drives is that they cannot go faster than light, however they can allow for some extremely fast accelerations.

Intriguing... *opens halo cryotube* see you at alpha centauri in about 6 years.

But thanks for the welcome and answer I very much like the vague notions of psudeo-gods I've picked up so far, always a fun topic of morals in fiction :3 I'm sure in time I'll figure out what a modosophont is too...

[Rynn]

Any questions you have by all means ask away we all love discussing OA. A modosophont is any being whose mental capabilities are around the human level:
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45bd06293820c

An important concept in OA is toposophy:
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45b3daabb2329

Essentially toposophy is the landscape of mental abilities. OA is transhumanist science fiction. A bit part of that is the notion that things like intelligence, perception and consciousness can be artificially improved. In its basic form it can be quite simple: better memory, faster thinking, better pattern recognition etc. Beyond that though it's possible to go so far that the being in question will be as beyond humans as humans are beyond animals. When that happens in OA we call it a singularity:
http://www.orionsarm.com/page/298

Humans and other modosophonts are termed S0, which means singularity level zero. S1 and higher are transapients:
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45c53f5eca9d9

These beings are vastly more capable than humans. We're like insects to them. In seconds they can perceive, create and plan things that millions of humans working for a thousand years might just achieve. And in many cases it's physically impossible for modosophonts to ever figure them out. Like how a cat can't ever figure out how a computer works. Each S-level not only involves mental augmentations, but physical ones. The brain of an S1 is a bit bigger than a humans, an S2 is like a building and an S3 an entire moon.
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4a53a8f690f09

Each stage is characterised by abilities that we can only loosely understand
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4b9f2a844034a

But the story doesn't stop with transapients. Beyond them are the S4-6 beings. The Archai, or AI gods as they're often called
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/492d76d2f173e

These beings literally are the size of gas giants and beyond that multiple solar systems. They're the rulers of most of terragen space and transaps are mentally equivalent to bacteria to the archai. Modosophonts are little different from dust. This means that there can't ever be any meaningful conflict between S levels, no more than ants could wage war on a human army
http://www.orionsarm.com/page/33

But that's not as daunting as it sounds because many archai have used their powers to construct vast, prosperous and safe empires
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45bc148c97563

That's probably a lot to read at once so I'll leave it there! Have fun reading, and remember that OA is all about group contributions. So if you ever want to propose an article, story or piece of artwork feel free.

[Drashner1]

Hi Dorran, Welcome to OA

Not to bury you with references, but regarding warp drives in OA, you might find this page useful.

It includes an overview of the different types of drive used in OA as well as references to real world science papers that form the theoretical basis for how OA warp bubbles work.

Hope this helps and if you have any questions about any aspect of the setting, please don't hesitate to ask.

Todd

[stevebowers]

I know that Todd has read just about every page on the site, as he transferred it all from the old site to the new one a few years back. Stephen Inniss has been methodically trawling through the site for a long time now, and may be on his second run. However I must admit that I occasionally find a page I've never seen before. The scary thing is that sometimes I wrote them.