CAST your mind forward to a time when we routinely keep in touch with intelligent communities around the Universe. One day, some stray transmissions on the Intergalactic Net reveal that somewhere out there a people much like us inhabits a planet of similar fortunes and proportions to Earth. It鈥檚 a world with an atmosphere which has roughly the same content of oxygen and nitrogen as ours, but slightly more inert gas.
The main source of energy that the dominant life form has developed is electricity, and the whole planet is given over to generating it. Wind, nuclear reactors, tides and the plentiful lightning that strikes the desert regions are all dedicated to its production. Cars, trains and trucks provide the everyday systems of transport and all are powered by electricity.
But a crisis looms. There is a planet-wide shortage of the elements needed for the sophisticated batteries that many of these vehicles rely on for their power. 杏吧原创s battling to develop alternative ways of providing energy have come up with numerous possible solutions, but all depend on harnessing fossil fuels. It has long been known that vast deposits of these hydrocarbons 鈥� some solid, others liquid 鈥� lie deep beneath the planet鈥檚 surface. No one has previously considered them worth exploiting, but now they are seen in a different light as possible energy sources for a revolutionary kind of engine.
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Before any such futuristic and potentially dangerous technology can be introduced into the planet鈥檚 public domain, it must first be sanctioned by the Committee for the Advancement of the Global Government, in which advocates of the proposed new system or invention defend the innovation against objections made by various official questioners.
What follows is part of some judicial hearings picked up on the Intergalactic Net. Chief Magistrate: 鈥淲e have now reached the stage in the proceedings when the Development Agency will answer questions as to the technical nature of the vehicle which it wants permission to develop. If the Chief Inventor could take the stand and submit to questions, please.鈥�
First Questioner: 鈥淲e understand that the vehicle proposed will have a revolutionary new power system. Could you please explain something of its principle of operation?鈥�
Chief Inventor: 鈥淎s with electric vehicles, the power unit will be a rotary device. The main shaft will derive its rotation from the energy produced from a series of controlled, instantaneous reactions of a flammable substance with air, within the power unit.鈥�
First Questioner (dryly): 鈥渓 have read the brief. You mean a series of controlled explosions, don鈥檛 you?鈥�
Chief Inventor (meekly): 鈥淵es.鈥�
Second Questioner: 鈥淚ndeed, A series of controlled explosions! How many of these explosions would be used on a short journey of, say, five minutes鈥� travel?鈥�
Chief Inventor: 鈥淢any thousands. We have found that for smoothness of running at the sort of speed our electric power units turn, that is to say, a maximum of 3000 revolutions in every minute, we require about two explosions per revolution.鈥�
First Questioner (calculating): 鈥淪ix thousand explosions in every minute. One explosion sounds more than enough. Have you given any thought to the safety aspects of this?鈥�
Chief Inventor: Of course. We will use metal alloys which can easily contain these explosions. For smoother running we may even want to provide more expensive vehicles with a power unit using more explosions per minute.鈥�
Second Questioner: 鈥淐ould you provide us with a simple technical description of how you intend to make and contain these explosions and thus rotate the main shaft of the power unit, please?鈥�
Chief Inventor: 鈥淲e have developed a contrivance which is capable of atomising one of the highly flammable hydrocarbons, which can be obtained in abundance from our reserves of fossil fuel. This device mixes the atomised fuel with air and the mixture is drawn into a chamber where it is compressed, and then ignited, by a spark.鈥�
First Questioner (interrupting): 鈥淎 spark, from where?
Chief Inventor: 鈥淲e envision a device which is capable of delivering upwards of 20 000 volts to create a spark across a small gap between two electrodes inside the chamber. Some of our younger and more enthusiastic members of staff have also looked at the possibility of so compressing the flammable mixture that it ignites spontaneously.鈥�
Second Questioner: 鈥淭o continue. After the mixture has been ignited, the force of the explosion is, I presume, somehow channelled into causing the main shaft to rotate. The gases which remain after the explosion must escape into the atmosphere. What would the effect of this be?鈥�
Chief Inventor: 鈥淭he leftover gases would be carbon dioxide, water vapour and nitrogen. They would contain some impurities in the fuel, but our calculations show that these would be negligible. Perhaps in areas where many such vehicles were used, individuals with breathing difficulties might experience some discomfort.鈥�
First Questioner: 鈥淗ow much fuel would the vehicle normally carry to support such a power unit?鈥�
Chief Inventor: 鈥淥ur early calculations lead us to believe that it would be normal to have 100 litres of fuel on board the vehicle when it is fully charged.鈥�
Second Questioner: 鈥淧resumably, carrying such a large quantity of highly flammable liquid would require some substantial means of storage, in case of, for example damage of the container by accidental collision. Isn鈥檛 there a weight penalty from this?鈥�
Chief Inventor (uncomfortable): 鈥淭he fuel could be stored in a tank manufactured from mild steel, 0.6 millimetres thick and fixed to the back of the vehicle. This would be the best place for greatest stability of the vehicle.鈥�
First Questioner: 鈥淢ild steel, 0.6 millimetres thick, at the back of the vehicle! Are there any other 鈥榙etails鈥� we should know about?鈥�
Second Questioner: 鈥淚t seems to me that the power obtained from explosions cannot be expected to be smooth and controllable. Is this so?鈥�
Chief Engineer: 鈥淥ur prototype models have shown us that the power delivered at low speeds by these units is not high. This has led us to develop a unit which is required between the power unit and the final drive and which we have called the 鈥榯ransmission鈥�. When the car is stationary it is necessary to disconnect the power unit from the final drive. The transmission has the capability of doing this, also. As high speeds are attained, the transmission is changed until the vehicle is travelling fast enough to deliver power directly to the final drive.鈥�
First Questioner: 鈥淭hat sounds complicated. Does this affect the simplicity of driving the vehicle in any way?
Chief Inventor (shifting): 鈥淲e find that driving the vehicle requires a greater number of controls than the single control of the present electric car. However, we think that most people should manage to master the new driving technique after a month of instruction.鈥�
Chief Magistrate: 鈥淐ontrolled explosions, quantities of flimsily stored inflammable liquids, complicated, ahem, 鈥榯ransmissions鈥� resulting in a vehicle which takes a minimum of a month to learn to drive. Just what kind of civilisation would want to live with that, its fumes, pollution and noise fouling up its planet? It鈥檚 a silly idea.
First Questioner: 鈥淚 suggest, My Lord, that we leave any further discussion on this unlikely solution to our problems and carry on with the next contender: 鈥楾he development of a power unit based on the thermal energy of steam鈥�.鈥�
Sadly, something then went badly wrong with transmissions on the Intergalactic Net from this direction, and to date no information has become available on the out-come of the hearing.