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Mars related concepts below...
The Lord of the Mars Rings
Ten Dwarve Lords in the West, mining their icy valleys
Coveting the precious stones of the sky in the shadow of their fiery womb, Olympus Mons
The Old King and Kingdom, a bulwark to the North Gale and homeland, at the east flank of Dwarvendom
And of the outstretched finger called Marte, pointing to the Dead Marches. It’s secrets lie forever hidden
And in lonely Elysium, Smaug, the Lion King, dwells on domination
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There are no men on Mars! They are born of Africa. No hobbit either, it is too harsh a world for ordinary people. War forever wages in the North, as is called the Warlands along and north of the equator. The orcs issue from Hell, and the elves hunt them to their delight. Some orcs find there way to their scattered refuges to the northeast, the Northern Wastes, Lyot.
Across the God Heights to the end of the Crack of Marine, the East shares the fate of hell, and so it is named. A sunken maze of Mars, a playground of orcs and a tomb of ice. Yet the travelers heed not the call, and onward they feed the tools. And the special one, the pivotal one! A hybrid of parallel timelines. You have a secret. An Elves delight. Riventrough.
The Dwarves keep to themselves, their birthplace is Olympus Mons. The Valar raised The Three Towers to watch over Doom. Dwarves have an uneasy truce with the elves, but bear no orc. Like ice ages, invasions of orcs bring drama to eternity. Orc issue from Hell, but the north orcs are the cleverer. Surviving the wastes, they grow as hard as dwarves and as clever as men. The steal from elves and barter with the bad dwarves.
So is laid out the North of Mars, or Middle Mars. The South of Mars is a world set apart for the gods and the dead. Hellas is the Crater of Creation. Its antithesis and purpose, Tharsis, the Grand Theater of Mars. In Star Valley, in the Upper Dao Vallis, lies the Kingdom of the Valar, the capital of the Powers of Mars. In the lesser valleys (Niger, Harmakhis, Reull), the Dead Elves, the spirits of Elves that passed the test, live as bodiless minds.
Elves are immortal unless killed. Dwarves live for a thousand years and turn to stone in the moment. Lion Kings are mortal and no one knows their fate after death, nor their lifespan, all having either having been killed in battle or supplanted by challengers to the throne of Elysium.
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“Rocks from the sky” refer to the metals and crystals of meteorites, the fractured remains of larger bodies, some of which were differentiated into metal rich cores and stony mantles and crusts. They are mixed into the regolith by repeated impacts.
Dwarves make great halls that run lengthwise down the valleys within and beneath the glaciers. Below ground level, ice is the mortar. The facades are imported polished stone and metal plate. The glaciers were quarries of Mars marble to the dwarves. Cities and greenhouses were excavated within the glaciers and ice sheets. Today they reside in the South Polar Cap.
Lion Kings are akin to dragons. They are born upon the rifting of Elysium. Great cracks open on her flanks, it is said, and from each of these, a single Lion King is born to rule his destiny in time. Lion Kings do not fly and have no wings, yet run faster and as tirelessly as the dust storms of Mars. On Mars, the lower gravitational force meant animals could naturally run further and faster than on Earth.
Lion Kings are larger than any cats or bears that have ever walked the Earth and became legendary through perfection of design. They are built for low-to-the-ground, face-to-face encounters and have a physic more in line with the Jaguar’s muscular and compact design for “deep jungle” life as compared to the other big cats in Africa that need lighter physics for running across open ground. [The Jaguar in the third largest cat on Earth, but has the most powerful bite of all cats (Wiki), which it uses to dispatch caiman.] But Lion Kings also share the massive bulk and daggers of the saber-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis.
This made a Lion King a mass of muscle, jaws, teeth, and claws, arranged on the perfect feline body plan, controlled by a motion stabilized head, bearing eyes that tell without uncertainty that you are the target, day or night. Stealth, cunning, strength, speed, and a deadly arsenal of weapons made for domination.
If this was not enough to send a legion of Elves to the spirit world, a Lion King had long ago armed by the Dwarves during the Battles of Tharsis, when it became clear that the Elves would win Olympus. The elves withdrew in despair as Canab (aka the highest) ascended the summit of Olympus Mons in brilliant red-stained glory, roaring so loudly as to cause audible echo’s that rounded the circles of Mars for a day, so that all would know of his domination.
Lion Kings have been driven away and barred against, but never killed while in Dwarven battle gear. The craft has been passed down generation after generation of Dwarve royalty for use as last resort against foes, to be presented to the residing Lion King of the age. To keep control of the Lion King battle gear, the Dwarves invented clock-locks that gave the user only time enough to accomplish the task agreed upon. After a preset time, the locks that held the gear on the Lion King would unlock, and all would fall off of the wearer in so many pieces as to render the battle gear useless.
A Lion King that was armed and clad with the craft of the Dwarves was nearly invincible - it was far better to bargain for your life if one set upon you - but generally motivated only to a point. The Lion King suite of armor consisted of mithril chain mail that was held close to the body so as to not restrict movement. The head gear was designed so as to not restrict the jaws. For claw-weapons that dealt death by slice and dice, the dwarves devised a terrifying set of cutlery that made “Edward’s scissor-hands” look like pins and needles. There were also grip attachments for spear throwing, shield holding, or other inventions.
wwwJohnArfstrom.com
in press
The Cheemans
Only 1 in 20 cheetah cubs survive to maturity in nature. The majority of those that die are victims of predators, especially lions, hyenas, and leopards. A solution: a “Managed-Natural-Hybrid Cheetah Conservation Plan”. The main purpose of this plan is to create a natural yet controlled environment that will vastly improve cheetah cub survival rates while providing the most natural environment for cheetah quality of life.
The two most important elements of the plan are the exclusion of other top predators, and the management of the population. If the preserve is located in areas where other top predators are present, as in the cheetahs homelands, a means of preventing other predators from entering the preserve must be devised. Population management will focus on the selection of cubs to be distributed to other preserves or zoos.
John respected cats as the number 2 class of top land predators. They ruled before apeman fought with them for control of, and man finally conquered the Earth. He wanted to provide more civilized worlds for cats where he could select for intelligence.
Cats where known to have nearly twice the neuron density of dogs, and pound for pound could make a dog look like prey. They didn’t just follow the pack and try to fit in (copy cats?), with some hierarchy behavior throw in. Big cats ruled their territory as highly evolved “experts” of the “trade” that is Darwinian carnage, and if you were in their neighborhood, they’d find out about it. They even behaved civilized in houses - well, most of the time.
This was John’s reason for choosing cats for his plan. As for cheetahs, they were the largest cat a man could “safely” work with. That is to say that you could usually beat them off. Also, because they were so challenged by their natural environment they would probably be under the most severe intelligence selective forces of the other big cat species cheetahs lived with. So, he concluded that cheetahs were the overall best choice for his plans.
With his conservation plan in effect around the world, he could gain access to a vast cheetah gene pool. He could select from among these to create a secret gene pool. His ultimate goal was to create a fully logical cheetah, a “Cheeman”, with the help of science, of course. But, well before that he would be able communicate with the pre-logicals - the pre-cheemans. What would they say? What would they think? What would they do? They could be angry and dangerous, or cool and appreciative.
John hoped that they would eventually accept that the loss of top speed, the price of a bigger brain, is a price worth paying for intelligence. To balance the weight of the bigger brains, John gave them longer tails. Cheemans looked like cheetahs with big heads and long tails - just like Dao Vallis. “Why ruin such a perfect and beautiful evolutionary design for uprightness.” He thought it unconscionable what breeders were doing to some breeds of dogs on the Earth, forsaking quality of life for fashion and sales. It wasn’t too bad for cats yet, but...
Anyway, two points of the design John focused on were the cheeman skull structure and forepaws. He made the best design compromises and developed a paw that had retractible claws and longer and more nimble “fingers”. The cheetah does not have retractible claws as they are needed for traction, especially at top speeds. Thus, cheetah claws are the dullest of all cats. Cheemans that liked to run would often wear nail covers and paw pads.
The forepaws where more an issue of function rather than art. The opposite was true for the skull. He chose to keep the cheetah traits as much as possible, retaining the teeth and jaw and the nose and the eyes. To house the bigger brain he would raise the top of the skull - cheemans would have foreheads and noggins, necessitating the invention cheeman skull protection. The overall shape of the skull from forehead to the back of the head was tear-dropped for aerodynamics. The fastest cheemans could still clock 60 mph on the Earth. On Mars, the lower gravitational force meant cheemans could reach speeds of 150 mph, with strides of 100 yards.
When John considered granting the request of the wisest of the cheemans to roam the cheetahs’ homelands, he wondered if the wise one would look upon cheetahs as we would look upon apemen. Would he feel pity? Disgust? Fascination? Arousal? Would he be able to live with and as one of them? What insights might he share? Could the wise one ask the cheetah what they might want? Would the wise one be wise enough to choose for them?
When he was satisfied with their gene pool, John would send them to populate the planet Mars. As far as top dogs are concerned, the Cheemans, not humans, would be top cat of Mars, as a way of giving back to our nearly vanquished kin. On Earth, man would remain top ape.
Yet there would be co-mingling between the worlds and everlasting peace between both races, like the modern dream of many a Christian and Jew (eg. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews). Technology was used to enforce compliance of all inhabitants of the Solar System, ensuring everlasting peace and the certainty that logic would prevail. It was the fulfillment of John’s Grand Logical Plan.
It was a beautiful reality.
p.s. It was rumored that John had developed the technologies of the mind field to the degree that it was possible for John to transfer his mind to an artificial abode. And that he was forever reunited with his best friend, the wisest of the cheemans - the wise one, and that together they surf the galaxy forevermore.
John
in press
Marsariums and Mars Jars
Concept for a chamber to simulate the Martian environment. One example is to test for Mars Jars (aka Arfstrom bottles, Sagan suitcases). An enclosure of 1m by 1m and any height that is strong enough to withstand the pressure differences between the interior and ambient pressures required. A evacuation system that can maintain vacuum during experiments. A system for cooling the substrate is required and the simplest solution is to house dry ice below and or around the marsarium, but isolated from it. Beware of deadly CO2 vapors - it displaces air from the ground up.
To test the Mars Jar prediction, a straightforward suggestion would be to excavate or form a depression that is twice as wide as it is deep, or the same dimensions in the case of a second experiment, and circular in planform. The substrate should be definable, such as what kind of sand or clay, for instance.
When the desired pressure differential and substrate temperature are set, pour water into the depression. The amount of water might vary from 1 to 5 gallons. The temperature would preferably be as close to freezing as possible as this will reduce the time need to form an icy shell and reduce loss to seepage into the substrate. As the water evaporates the pressure will climb if the evacuation system is not adequate.
Temperatures and pressure should be monitored. The temperature of the column of air above the water/substrate will have relatively little affect on the temperature of the surface of the water compared to the cooling provided by evaporative cooling. The ice will sublimate as it forms, but the rate will be similar to the sublimation of dry ice.
My prediction is that if the pressures are adequately low, evaporative cooling, observable as “boiling”, will cause the water to cool and form surface ice. At the same time, water will permeate the substrate and loose heat to the substrate until freezing begins to take place. At some point, continued freezing will seal the remaining liquid water inside an icy “Jar”, which will be in the shape of a bisected sphere, the flat part being the “lid”, in this example. The careful application of a pry bar or other suitable tool should release the Mars jar. The thickness of the shell will vary with experiment variables.
So what does this mean for Mars. Novices might wonder how you could generate meltwater if the ground is so cold. Well, the sun needs to warm up the ground ice at one location enough to generate meltwater. Then the meltwater ideally would travel to another location with a colder depression. Slopes and valley or crater floors are suitable places for this to happen.
If it works please let me know.
www.JohnArfstrom.com
My Mars Research
“ahead of the curve”
Idiom definition: “Similar to ahead of the pack, ahead of the curve literally refers to your position on the statistical bell curve, where the top of the curve represents the median, average result. By being ahead of the curve you represent the top percentile of results that either has the advanced skills or understanding that sets you apart.”
- www.UsingEnglish.com
The idiom and definition above reflects my approach or goal in doing research. I enjoy research that is ahead of the curve. And when I get some good ideas I jot them down into elements. Then, gradually, elements will naturally become nodes in a web of logic as I “process the logic”. Then I’ll explain it in a story or scientific paper and the world will progress. For, I am the science surfer, Lewis and Clark (because I’m schizophrenic or something) and I lead the way by being ahead of the curve by virtue of my intuitive skills and logical deduction. (me being playful and grandiose)
Also, I do not care what the prevailing views are if I see the logic. I assume the first tries at interpretation will be off and that the early numerical modeling will likely be wrong. In fact, in my humble opinion, it could be argued that the over-reliance on “the physics” as people (especially physicists) like to say, caused early geologists to seek “unconventional” solutions to geological problems. For example Baker’s groundwater floods solution and Luchitta’s sub-terrainian glacier source solution to the problem of the outflow channels, because “they” said it can’t snow on Mars, or at the equator anyway.
I think the mistake (if that is what it was) stems in part from the fact that people wrongly or lump-headedly (I refer to the lumper/splitter perspectives) tend to mush-headedly equate the “Laws of Physics” with what I like to think of as “proto-numerical modeling”. Specifically, the sense that because ice and snow is not stable on the surface of Mars at present at equatorial latitudes, somehow means it never could be through all of Mars history. I’m suggesting that historically speaking anyway (both in terms of research and Mars history) we should expect early numerical modeling to be off.
So to assume that just because there’s “physics” in “it”, “it” must be right or at least “not weak” is loose thinking. The same mentality causes a solution that is geologically more likely to be passed off as “weak” even though "the physics" may arguably be mere details in the early stages of research - how thick? how fast? for how long? and other such numbers - from the standpoint of “getting “it” right” in the first place.
The lesson is to not pin yourself in a box based on early assumptions, or rely too “religiously” on the “concept” of physics, but rather finding a balance between the empirical and the theoretical. By empirical, I refer to analogs and understood phenomenon, together with geomorphology. I would ask the climate modelers to make me the ice sheets I interpret to have existed based on my interpretations, rather than have them tell me it is impossible because they say so.
Now that surface ice is seen as an important player, regular old fashioned snow and glaciation seems perfectly capable of explaining the channels (now troughs) and much more. Indeed, and of course!
You watch! I’ll bet anything this Mars research will rock the world (the Mars world anyway). It might take them 10 years to rewire their brains, but they will get there in time.
Remember, those outflow channels on Mars are glacial troughs, not channels made by floods or lava. Mark my words.
John
Star Valley
a concept for a sci-fi novel mirroring reality...
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Star Valley 7 for web.pdf Size : 834.464 Kb Type : pdf |
Megageomorphologist of Mars
I believe that with regard to the glacial history of Mars I have attained a special level of enlightenment. I like to relate my overall understanding of Mars glacial geomorphology, or the synthesis of all of the elements of what comprises that “understanding”, to the field of mega-geomorphology. In particular, the concept of land-systems, applied as glacial land systems, may provide a most practical solution to fully conceptualizing Mars glacial history. There are practical examples designed with concerns such a agriculture as their focus. However, the freedom to find useful perspective has not yet been denied. Thus, we may invent as we wish as we seek the logical solution to all that is Mars glacial history.
To be poetic or even romantic, to the lover of knowledge and understanding, I have worked my way up through the ranks of the trenches of Mars to the level of general. I am General Martianice. My domain is all of Mars, for ice rules over Mars completely. It carves where it will and fills when it will. Like a genie of geology, or a Valar of Arda, an ice maiden she is, indeed. Merciless is her cold touch, enslaving now and rending later, cracking to flake the bones of Mars, or sweeping away as rubble, the regolith. Then slowly carrying the ash of the dead to icy graves, there waiting, the witnesses.
To now see the evolution of landscapes as Darwin must have envisioned the evolution of the biosphere. This is the loftiest view of glaciology I have attained in the realm of planetary science. It is visible in my mind. Ice, as if alive, not a force of physics, but a force of “Nature”. So dynamic and complex, akin to life in ways. Ice, bestowed of so much peculiarity and circumstance. To the fleeting, cold as time, yet at the timescales of the planets, it’s heart beats hot.
Ice is God’s fire. Altering the landscape like a magic wand or some such tool of God’s solution. Like we are to God? But we are even more complex. We can spread the biosphere and our imagination across the creation and make grand drama for God and all, maybe? Then we clash with the Romulins or some such invention and we all have a grand “something” to think about and be a part of to some degree only noticeable us.
Wow! So now what?
We terraform Mars! We double the sunlight that reaches its surface, and so like the hand of God we move Mars closer to the Fire. The ice boils, and New Earth blooms. And God thinks...life finds a way... or something...
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What a beautiful solution! What a magic trick of ice! A cold weather tool. It could be the perfect solution for Mars. The combination of elements just so arranged as to turn ice that would otherwise be too cold to cut, into a buzz saw. And not just some cool hypothesis, but working tools here on Earth. Would it work on Mars? I’m sure. Early Mars for sure. But what about later. The lifers will be clamoring about that point, and for good reason. Because water is the lube of the tool.
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I’ve got it figured out! I may be and I know I am jumping the gun on this but the logic is just so right! When you know it, you know it, is how I feel right now. Its funny. I thought my best guess about Dao would explain equatorial glaciation. But what is fantastic is that the natural explanation that only became apparent to me at the grander scale and perspective of megageoporphology that the equatorial dichotomy problem required, also applies to Dao! So I’m glad that I never yet published my Dao research because now that I have this new solution, I must develop a grand solution for all latitudes between the equator and around 60 degrees.
John, megageomorphologist of Mars glaciation.
