Wildepad <noreplies> wrote:
> On 17 Dec 2007 19:51:9 -0500, "Ash Wyllie" <ashw@lr.net> wrote:
> >Wildepad opined
> >>>> Inside the ship is an alien, quite dead and with an oddly-shaped but
> >>>> very efficient knife stuck in its back.

> Would anyone think to back out and leave it alone for a while, just to
> be on the safe side?

> If it's been in space for a generation or two, then another decade
> won't hurt, and the amount we could learn without actually touching
> anything would probably keep everyone happily busy for a long time.

This depends on the human political situation. If there is a world
government and global peace, then yes, scientists could take their time
and carefully study the ship.

But if there is anything like a balance of power, this ship *threatens*
it. It will not be a matter of finding discoveries over time. It will be
a race to strip knowledge and useful tech from the ship as quickly as
possible. At a minimum, this ship represents the ability to go to other
worlds...and no nation is going to cede that to the first bozo who finds
it. A war could be fought over this thing. That was a subplot in 2001:
A Space Odyssey, as I recall.

Scientists will be instructed to process everything in that ship and
come up with tech demos within weeks. Thinking about it as a crime scene
will be done in their spare time, if they have any.

.... ...
Remus Shepherd <remus@panix.com>
Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/remus_shepherd/
Comic: http://indepos.comicgenesis.com/

Remus Shepherd wrote:

> This depends on the human political situation. If there is a world
> government and global peace, then yes, scientists could take their time
> and carefully study the ship.
>
> But if there is anything like a balance of power, this ship *threatens*
> it. It will not be a matter of finding discoveries over time. It will be
> a race to strip knowledge and useful tech from the ship as quickly as
> possible. At a minimum, this ship represents the ability to go to other
> worlds...and no nation is going to cede that to the first bozo who finds
> it. A war could be fought over this thing. That was a subplot in 2001:
> A Space Odyssey, as I recall.

_Rendezvous with Rama_, wasn't it (maybe I'm blurring the edges between
the two, since I haven't read them in ages)? Come to think of it, it's
a crucial part of _Eon_ too. And, to be really topical, it's a part of
the setting for the near-future game _Crysis_.

> Scientists will be instructed to process everything in that ship and
> come up with tech demos within weeks. Thinking about it as a crime scene
> will be done in their spare time, if they have any.

Yes, I totally agree.

--
Erik Max Francis && max@alcyone.com && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 18 N 121 57 W && AIM, Y!M erikmaxfrancis
My hand trembles, but my heart does not.
-- Stephen Hopkins (on signing the US Declaration of Independence)