Gun Fusion: Two barrels to the stars

To start a fusion reaction, you have to create extreme conditions. A combination of stellar temperatures, incredible pressures and lightning-quick energy dumps have all been tried to create these conditions, with varying degrees of success.

In this post, we'll look at a low-cost, low-energy method of achieving nuclear fusion. It's not Cold Fusion, it's Gun Fusion.

The Nuclear Spear: Casaba Howitzer

When a nuclear technology has been kept classified since the 60s, you know that it is worth looking into. The Casaba Howitzer is one configuration for a nuclear shaped charge, that can concentrate the power of an atom bomb into a narrow cone.

In this post, we'll look at its potential configurations, its advantages and limits, and how it can be applied to both propulsion and warfare.

Saving the planet with alcohol: An Ethanol Energy Economy

In this post, we'll detail how an ethanol economy might arise, its advantages and its effects on the environment and the world economy.

Why go?

Why aren't we going to space? Where are the fleets of space stations promised in the '50s? Where are the dozens of flights a month the Space Shuttle was designed for? Why has there never been more than 13 people at once in orbit?

In this post, we'll tackle one of the major questions that hard science fiction has to confront, and that is creating a setting with appropriate motivation for going into space.

Battleships of the Future

Naval warfare has been defined by transitions, all triggered by major advances in technology. Steam power, radar, aircraft... all have led to drastic changes. Today, we are on the verge of another such transition. 

LWW: Laser Weapon Web

For those who have read the previous few posts, you'll find many arguments and solutions to reducing the effectiveness of lasers. Un-fun by design, they allow for combat at extreme ranges, where manoeuvring becomes insignificant and combat nothing more than a slug-fest.... but what's the logical extreme?

Stealth in Space is Possible IV

Stealth in space is possible... but it will not resemble our conventional understanding of it.

We will now consider all elements discussed in previous parts of this series to paint a general picture of how stealth would be applied in a plausible setting.

Stealth in Space is Possible III

In this part, we discuss active sensors and defenses against them. We'll then move onto discussing what do with the lowered detectability achieved by the various methods described so far, and how stealth affects various elements of the setting and vice versa. 

Stealth in Space is Possible II

We'll continue looking at the various methods commonly proposed for stealth in space, then start looking into effective solutions.

Stealth in Space is Possible

The first thing an aspiring scifi fan looking into the harder end of the spectrum is told is: No Stealth In Space. They're still high off the latest Star Wars, or vividly remember scenes from Alistair Reynold's Revelation Space or James S.A. Corey's The Expanse, but they're given the choice of giving that up or leaving.

This is ToughSF's answer to that.