Computers

Computers have become cheap and powerful, incorporated into all kinds of devices, and widely networked on a local level (though time-lag puts some limits on interplanetary-scale networking). However, most small or consumer-level systems remain tied to semiconductor technology. Moore's Law played out a long time ago, and computer processing speed has shown only modest advances in the last 100 years. One significant advance has been the use of MRAM, or magnetic memory, which does not require constant power to retain its data.

The engineering requirements of optical computers have proven too difficult to make practical systems -- so far. Quantum processing has given a boost to some specialized systems, particularly in fields of scientific research. Nano-computers were developed on Earth before the Apocalypse War and are still the most promising technology for the future, but research into them in Sol System has been hampered by safety regulations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made some advances. It is possible to create DIs (Dependent Intelligences) that can accept and follow orders but have little initiative of their own. These DIs cannot be installed directly in robots, for the most part, since the computer processor required is about the size of a deep freeze. However, a DI computer installed in a fixed location -- or on board a spaceship -- can control robots remotely. Many service "robots" around Alpha dome are controlled in this way.

A DI can be converted into a true AI with its own personality and self-motivation, but the process is not reliable and the results are not entirely predictable. In some cases DIs that have been running for a long time have made the jump to full AI without any outside help. The legal status of AI systems as persons is still up on the air.

This is where Sol System really excels. For the last 150 years recoms have been dealing with a diverse genetically engineered population, as well as the fallout of bio-weapons, nano-weapons and mutagens leftover from the Apocalypse War on Earth. They have been forced to develop a high understanding of bio-chemistry and genetics simply to survive and reproduce.

Since opening contact with other races, Luna has become a destination for those seeking special medical or genetic engineering help. Although other races are more technically advanced in many ways and Sol System remains somewhat a backwater in galactic terms, this is one area where Earth-recoms can compete on even or more-than-even terms.

"Nanotechnology is the future -- and always will be!" This is the cynical assessment of most technologists.

Nanotechnology gained a very bad reputation during the Apocalypse War when nano-weapons played a leading role in ruining the Earth. For the next fifty years while recoms rebuilt their civilization, nanotech research was largely ignored, aside from ways to combat the remaining nano-weapon contaminants that sometimes made their way to Luna and the other colonies.

Nanotechnology research today faces extreme regulation, both to prevent accidents and to keep the wrong people from building nano-weapons. As a result, nanotech is limited mostly to simple bulk manufacturing processes and some medical applications. The most advanced creations that humans made before the Apocalypse War have never been recreated, though a few artifacts from that time may survive.

Some other races have this technology, most notably the inhabitants of the mysterious realm known as Metaspace.

Spacefaring civilization is powered by two main technologies: solar and nuclear fusion.

Solar panels have more than doubled in efficiency and are produced cheaply in microgravity labs, and they are widely used in the inner system, especially for small habitats or fixed facilities. However, solar power has not proved practical on the lunar surface, due to the two weeks of continual night. In the outer Sol System, beyond the orbit of Mars, sunlight is so weak that solar power is not widely used.

On Luna, on board spaceships, in the outer system and other places where solar power would be impractical, the IEC (Inertial Electron Confinement) fusion generator has come into general use. These are sometimes referred to as Farnsworth-Bussard reactors in honor of the human scientists who invented them. Most of these run an advanced boron fuel cycle that produces almost no waste or emitted radiation and releases ionizing particles directly from its reaction, thus generating electrical power very efficiently. No complex heat-conversion system is needed for these reactors.

Energy is often stored in flywheel packs. Most ground vehicles, for example, are powered by composite flywheels. They are also used as backup power for emergency services, and to balance power load in places where solar panels are not continuously exposed to sunlight. On spacecraft, flywheels provide backup power and sometimes serve double duty as control moment gyros.

Chemical batteries and fuel cells are still used often in small devices. The lack of suitable power storage devices is still the main obstacle to creating man-portable energy weapons.

Hydrocarbon "fossil" fuels are rarely used anywhere in Sol System, especially since the Earth was left uninhabitable. Hydrocarbons are now considered valuable for the plastics and petrochemical industry -- the idea of burning them for fuel seems as strange to most furs as the idea of burning wood. However, they are still used for fuel in other star systems on Earth-like worlds.

Most spaceships use IEC fusion for both power and propulsion: hot plasma from the reactor is used as reaction exhaust. However, chemical rockets are often used as a supplement for high-acceleration maneuvers such as lifting off a planetary surface. Vernier thrusters and CMGs (Control Moment Gyros) are used for fine maneuvers, such as docking.

Most space combat is dominated by kinetic energy weapons, rocket-propelled guided missiles, and lasers.

Kinetic energy weapons take many forms, from pellets to bullets and darts. These depend on high velocity to do their damage. They are propelled by various means, ranging from chemical propellant in old fashioned cannons to hybrid ETGs (electro-thermal guns) and the more experimental electro-magnetic coil guns. ETGs are the most widespread technology in Sol System currently. One problem with kinetic energy weapons is that their projectiles become space junk that remains dangerous long after the battle is passed. Projectiles have been developed that automatically disintegrate some time after firing, but these are more expensive and have not been universally adopted yet.

Rocket propelled guided missiles (or "torpedoes" as some navy hands still insist on calling them) are expensive but generally have a greater chance of hitting their target, since they can respond to the evasive maneuvers of a target ship. They can also carry a large explosive charge or other warhead.

Lasers and charged particle beams are sometimes used as weapons, but they are only effective on small un-armored or lightly armored targets. Their advantage is that their beam moves at lightspeed and therefore is every easy to score hits with.

Other exotic weapons have been experimented with, including "spurt bomb" gamma-ray lasers, but these are not widely deployed.

Standard missiles can carry a nuclear warhead, but this is very rarely done. Since earth was devastated in large part by nuclear weapons, recoms have developed a very strong distaste toward building or using them. Also, it is very hard to secretly produce nuclear fuel for bombs since fission reactors have entirely been replaced by IEC fusion. However . . . It is worth noting that alien races outside of Sol System may not have the same restrictions.

Spaceship defenses consist of armor, evasion, stealth, decoys, and ECM (electronic countermeasures). With the exception of armor, the goal is to avoid being hit by enemy weapons. No progress has yet been made toward developing any kind of force field to protect ships.

Hyperspace jumpgates provide the shortcut that makes interstellar travel possible. Hyperspace is a parallel dimension to our own "realspace", existing on a different physical scale. As a result, travelling a short distance through hyperspace is equivalent to moving a much greater distance in realspace.

It is only possible to enter or leave hyperspace through a specially constructed "jump gate". There has been much research into creating a portable "jump engine" that could be carried on a starship, but this has not yet been achieved. Thus, a network of hyperspace JumpGates has become the defining factor in the topology of known space.

By the nature of the process involved, a hyperspace jump gate can only be constructed in realspace, not in hyperspace. Travelling to a previously unvisited star system requires that a starship must first travel there by conventional means through realspace and construct a gate for future use. Expanding the network of gates by this method is slow, the time required being measured in decades and centuries.

Other means have been used to speed up the process. One is to transmit instructions for building jumpgates. The theory is that any alien race receiving the instructions can build it's own jumpgate and soon contact the rest of interstellar civilization. This was the means by which recoms in Sol System gained interstellar travel.

Another means of expanding the jump gate network is by discovering gates abandoned long ago by earlier civilizations. Galactic history is long, and jumpgates sitting on open space can be quite durable. Using these gates is always extremely risky, since they have often not been maintained for thousands or millions of years, and there is no way to be sure what's on the other side before you go through.

Over seventy years ago, recom explorers on Mars uncovered an ancient alien artifact, the Loc-Nar. This mysterious object was eventually decoded into a long list of jumpgate locations. Some of these are still functional. A special corporation was formed, backed by several governments, to explore this ancient network. The company sends volunteer "star chasers" to explore these jumpgates, and allows them a generous cut of the profits from any discoveries or artifacts they bring back. However, the fact that 25% of all star chaser missions are never heard from again serves as a counter-incentive, plus the fact that 95% of those who do return come back with nothing useful. A few furs have struck it rich, and a few always seem willing to gamble.

The Loc-Nar list of jump gates is kept as a closely held secret by the corporation, with individual coordinates doled out only to their volunteer crews. It is, of course, possible for other space explorers to stumble upon such gates without any help from the company.