Bigger Earth

[johnloony]

The laws of physics (gravity etc.) are different, such that it is possible and practicable to have a planet Earth which is millions of miles across, not just thousands.
Even with modern technology, it takes months or years to travel round the world, not just hours or a day or two.
There are hundreds of large continents, not just a handful.
There are tens of thousands of countries, not just hundreds.
International politics - even in the modern age - would be like a science-fiction series of Star Trek or whatever, with constant new discoveries and connections being made in international communications and diplomacy.

[J.G.Harston]

Jun 13, 2022 21:42:48 GMT johnloony said:

The laws of physics (gravity etc.) are different, such that it is possible and practicable to have a planet Earth which is millions of miles across, not just thousands.
Even with modern technology, it takes months or years to travel round the world, not just hours or a day or two.
There are hundreds of large continents, not just a handful.
There are tens of thousands of countries, not just hundreds.
International politics - even in the modern age - would be like a science-fiction series of Star Trek or whatever, with constant new discoveries and connections being made in international communications and diplomacy.

A similar concept to The Ringworld before its civilisation(s) fell.

[John Chanin]

This idea in various incarnations has been exploited by many science fiction authors.

[Defenestrated Fipplebox]

Jun 13, 2022 21:42:48 GMT johnloony said:

The laws of physics (gravity etc.) are different, such that it is possible and practicable to have a planet Earth which is millions of miles across, not just thousands.
Even with modern technology, it takes months or years to travel round the world, not just hours or a day or two.
There are hundreds of large continents, not just a handful.
There are tens of thousands of countries, not just hundreds.
International politics - even in the modern age - would be like a science-fiction series of Star Trek or whatever, with constant new discoveries and connections being made in international communications and diplomacy.

Humans would not have evolved, the politics of another species is possible though. 

[willpower3]

I love how the word "handful" gets used sometimes. Holding Asia in my hand would be quite an achievement.

[sirbenjamin]

Maybe everything would scale proportionally, so we'd be much bigger, everything we have and observe would be much bigger and nobody would know any different?

In fact, maybe everything is actually expanding/contracting all the time and because of relativity and universality we are simply unaware of it?

[gwynthegriff]

Wasn't there a television programme on this recently?

Explored three options - a bigger planet, bigger humans, and a third (the details of which I've forgotten).

I think they concluded that neither a bigger planet nor bigger humans would work (in the sense of allowing "life as we know it Jim").

Curiously, I've recently been pondering what the railways would have been like had Britain been 150% of its size (linear) and thus 225% of its size (area).

Plays havoc with overnight postal trains!

And Cornwall becomes a very long way away for holidays from most of Britain.

[Toylyyev]

newsrnd.com/life/2022-06-13-mont-saint-michel-photographed-under-the-milky-way--behind-the-scenes-of-an-unpublished-shot.ry-swsRNtc.html

better resolution image in the tweet

[carlton43]

Jun 19, 2022 22:59:52 GMT @boogieeck said:

Is there any scenario in which Brunel gauge could have been the standard?

Obviously there could just be the one scenario for that to happen.  His gauge is chosen by a committee instead of the one we have now.  Any 'other' scenario and we don't end up with his gauge!!!

[finsobruce]

Jun 20, 2022 10:24:13 GMT carlton43 said:

Jun 19, 2022 22:59:52 GMT @boogieeck said:

Is there any scenario in which Brunel gauge could have been the standard?

Obviously there could just be the one scenario for that to happen.  His gauge is chosen by a committee instead of the one we have now.  Any 'other' scenario and we don't end up with his gauge!!!

Somewhat inevitably there is a Broad Gauge society...

www.broadgauge.org.uk/index.html

[sirbenjamin]

Jun 19, 2022 22:59:52 GMT @boogieeck said:

Is there any scenario in which Brunel gauge could have been the standard?

In my ideal world we'd definitely have broad gauge. There would be so much potential for awesomeness on rails.

Over the past century, people have got wider, seats have got wider, road vehicles have got wider, planes have got wider, even railway platforms have generally got wider... I do wonder if the railway industry feels just a smidge of regret that they didn't standardise on seven feet. Or, potentially, even broader.

When you think about the length of trains relatively to their width and height, it's quite ridiculously extreme. Just because that's the way it's been done for ages doesn't mean it shouldn't be challenged.

[sirbenjamin]

Jun 20, 2022 10:36:03 GMT finsobruce said:

Jun 20, 2022 10:24:13 GMT carlton43 said:

Obviously there could just be the one scenario for that to happen.  His gauge is chosen by a committee instead of the one we have now.  Any 'other' scenario and we don't end up with his gauge!!!

Somewhat inevitably there is a Broad Gauge society...

www.broadgauge.org.uk/index.html

I was once a member, but it's basically full of trainset people, which for me completely defeats the object.

The gauges used by model trains are magnitudes narrow than standard gauge, let alone broad gauge FFS. Fuckwits.

[gwynthegriff]

Jun 20, 2022 16:00:42 GMT sirbenjamin said:

Jun 19, 2022 22:59:52 GMT @boogieeck said:

Is there any scenario in which Brunel gauge could have been the standard?

In my ideal world we'd definitely have broad gauge. There would be so much potential for awesomeness on rails.

Over the past century, people have got wider, seats have got wider, road vehicles have got wider, planes have got wider, even railway platforms have generally got wider... I do wonder if the railway industry feels just a smidge of regret that they didn't standardise on seven feet. Or, potentially, even broader.

When you think about the length of trains relatively to their width and height, it's quite ridiculously extreme. Just because that's the way it's been done for ages doesn't mean it shouldn't be challenged.

There is, of course, a possibility that we would have ended up with a two gauge network (7' for the main lines and major branches, but 4'8.5" for minor lines) as some other countries did. (Thinking India for example, but they have more than two I think.)

[neilm]

The railway went downhill after broad gauge was scrapped.

[sirbenjamin]

Still, we'll always have the Corn Laws.

[john07]

Jun 20, 2022 19:32:10 GMT neilm said:

The railway went downhill after broad gauge was scrapped.

No they go uphill as much as they go downhill.

[Strontium Dog]

Jun 14, 2022 11:28:17 GMT willpower3 said:

I love how the word "handful" gets used sometimes. Holding Asia in my hand would be quite an achievement.

It would also be very close to being a T'Pau record.

[neilm]

Jun 20, 2022 20:38:02 GMT sirbenjamin said:

Still, we'll always have the Corn Laws.

Or, as I like to call them, 'the Common Agricultural Policy.'

[sirbenjamin]

Jul 1, 2022 22:44:00 GMT @boogieeck said:

Jun 20, 2022 17:13:43 GMT gwynthegriff said:

There is, of course, a possibility that we would have ended up with a two gauge network (7' for the main lines and major branches, but 4'8.5" for minor lines) as some other countries did. (Thinking India for example, but they have more than two I think.)

That would be ace.

I think I would like the same planet earth, except the British Isles are twice the size. We have 7ft gauge for intercity, 4'8.5 for local lines, Beeching never happened and none of the canals were filled in either. They also operate a two gauge system, ship canals linking major cities and boat canals.

Motorways have central reservations the width of two lanes minimum and another two lanes of open ground on either side. There are no residential housing units more than four storeys' and even they are the rare thing of the wealthy. Doggerland is around half the size of Ireland.

I think I'd like a smaller planet, but with this country remaining the same size it currently is, so that it 'looks bigger'.

[J.G.Harston]

Jul 1, 2022 23:19:04 GMT sirbenjamin said:

Jul 1, 2022 22:44:00 GMT @boogieeck said:

That would be ace.

I think I would like the same planet earth, except the British Isles are twice the size. We have 7ft gauge for intercity, 4'8.5 for local lines, Beeching never happened and none of the canals were filled in either. They also operate a two gauge system, ship canals linking major cities and boat canals.

Motorways have central reservations the width of two lanes minimum and another two lanes of open ground on either side. There are no residential housing units more than four storeys' and even they are the rare thing of the wealthy. Doggerland is around half the size of Ireland.

I think I'd like a smaller planet, but with this country remaining the same size it currently is, so that it 'looks bigger'.

At Stirling I read somebody's thesis in the library that demonstrated that some of the inconsistencies with continental drift data could be reconciled if the Earth had been smaller in the past. Or bigger, I can't remember.