Bucky Fuller was a master of speculative technology. Bucky developed the theory of tensegrity and helped to build structures which applied it, such as geodesic domes and bridges.

One of the interesting features of tensegrity is that it is scalable- which is to say that as long as the principles are applied with precision and proper materials, they may be used to build strong structures of almost literally any size.

Another interesting trick of physics is using air -pressure variations to lift enormous objects. This is what allows a massive aircraft carrier thousands of tons in weight to float or blimps / zeppelins weighing hundreds of tons to fly.

Theoretically any structure which could be built strong enough to enclose a large enough mass of air could float. All that is necessary would be for the structure to be large enough and the size could be almost infinitely large. The weight would simply have to be displaced by enough air.

A good example of how this works would be to understand how a balloon floats. A deflated balloon doesn't float. Even though it weight the same whether inflated or deflated, it doesn't float unless it's inflated. The reason is that the relative weight-to-cubic centimeter of mass of the entire structure of the balloon is much smaller when it is inflated. To get the balloon to rise into the air, all you have to do is enclose enough hot air or lighter-than-air gas like helium in the structure so that it has negative weight-per-cubic centimeter of mass.

Fuller figured out that if you enclose a structure with say a cubic mile of air inside it, all you would need to do so get it to float would be to make the average temperature inside it five or ten degrees hotter than the surrounding air and keep it that way.

So if a structure could be built strong enough to hold a billion cubic feet of air, you could get it to rise even if the entire weight of the structure was tens of thousands of tons. One could theoretically levitate a structure as heavy as ten aircraft carriers or even an entire city.

All that it would take to keep the temperature inside the structure elevated would be some sort of solar heat-retention system which trapped infrared heat from the sun combined with some artificial fuel-driven system to supplement or replace the solar system as needed.

Since air temperatures at high elevation are very cold, the higher the structure was floated in the atmosphere, the less heat would have to be retained or generated to maintain altitude (because what causes buoyancy is the RELATIVE difference in air density between the air inside and the air outside, not the combined temperature level). If the external air is near freezing, the internal temperature would only have to be an average of say 50 degrees-or-higher to maintain buoyancy. 

Aside from the novelty of elevating cities, a very real advantage for application of such a technology would be to create a floating lake with a mechanism to disperse water onto the ground below - an artificial rain cloud.

Such a thing could be used to put out a forest fires or other large-scale fires in a single day instead of weeks. Imagine having one of these steerable rain clouds carrying say a billion gallons of water that could be positioned over any major forest fire and used to douse the flames.

Computers monitoring air currents could guide the dispersion of the water so that it landed with accuracy.

The current cost estimate for building something like that is prohibitive, but over time, with increases in the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of applying robotic manufacturing and other forms of mass production, it might not be forever.

http://cdn.citylab.com/media/img/citylab/legacy/2011/11/18/airborne2.jpg

In Orange County, California, a hulking, 230-foot long, 36,000-pound beast is being groomed as the future of air travel. For the next few years, all eyes in the aviation space are on the Pelican: a prototype for a revolutionary new airship—neither a blimp nor a plane—developed by engineering firm Aeros on a $35-million contract from the Pentagon and NASA.

What's so significant about the aircraft? First, it doesn't need a runway to land, which means it could deliver the 66 tons of cargo it's expected to carry anywhere in the world. This could change the game for military operations (hence the investors) but also for humanitarian aid, by getting supplies to hard to reach places after a disaster or to islands lacking in infrastructure. The Aeros team imagines using it to transport massive wind turbines some day, allowing for gains in an industry that's long been hindered by transportation difficulties. Another vision for the airship is as the Titanic of the air: a luxury cruise through the skies, letting passengers slowly absorb the sites below, while dining in style high above.
 
The Pelican will run on just one-third the fuel of the most common cargo planes by using helium to aid in buoyancy. As Aviation Week explains it, "compressing the helium makes the vehicle heavier than air for easier ground handling and cargo unloading. Releasing the helium displaces air inside the vehicle and makes it neutrally buoyant."


This month, the Pelican reached several important milestones in its development. In early January, its cockpit controls were used to move along the ground, without the assistance of personnel on the ground. The following week, the vehicle completed its "first float," hovering above the ground at its engineering hangar in Tustin, California.

While the Pelican is just a prototype, the real thing will be nearly twice as long when it's ready for flight, some time in the next few years. Until these are as ubiquitous as commercial liners, we'll just continue praying for an aisle seat.

I love this kind of stuff.  Buck was a genius!  Such an elegant idea.

Didn't he create Bucky balls?

You know the little magnetic balls that libtards say should be banned because kids are too stupid not to eat them?

Yes, he also invented Heisen burgers, the spicier, more-flavorful alternative to Standard burgers.

Quote from: Late-For-Lunch on March 11, 2016, 06:39:46 AM
In Orange County, California, a hulking, 230-foot long, 36,000-pound beast is being groomed as the future of air travel. For the next few years, all eyes in the aviation space are on the Pelican: a prototype for a revolutionary new airship—neither a blimp nor a plane—developed by engineering firm Aeros on a $35-million contract from the Pentagon and NASA.

While the Pelican is just a prototype, the real thing will be nearly twice as long when it's ready for flight, some time in the next few years. Until these are as ubiquitous as commercial liners, we'll just continue praying for an aisle seat.

In the 1980s, the Navy built a similar prototype
by attaching four helicopters to a blimp.

The vehicle itself had a net weight of zero.
ALL of the lift from the helicopters carried the payload.

The future keeps being invented over and over,
only to be abandoned by politicians.

Good point JE! Who knows how far Humanity might have progressed if the Library at Alexandria had not been destroyed, for instance. Maybe a lot less reinventing of things.

Of course in the case of fixed-structure air ships (zeppelins) the shift to fixed-wing, high velocity fighters and bombers made the military applications of large air-ships obsolete.

There is some military usefulness for zeppelins as transports and high-altitude observational/communication/targeting  needs (to replace satellites or spy planes) but so far there is nothing (that the military or government) will admit to in use.

A recent spy-zeppelin went haywire recently and had to be deliberately crashed. That was a real screw-up and they'd better be damn sure that they know what they are doing if they plan on lofting self-controlled drone zeppelins. Even without hydrogen floatation cells they are dangerous.

Airships have their niche, most of which involves cargo.

They'll never replace airliners or most military aircraft,
because they just can't go very fast.

But they're great at staying up for a looooong time.
       _______

Another thing from the mind of Buckminster Fuller
is the format I use for most of my posts.
He called it "ventilated prose."

I use it to make my writing as easy as possible
for the reader to take in,
by breaking out everything by phrases.

Quote from: je_freedom on April 14, 2016, 06:10:45 PM


Another thing from the mind of Buckminster Fuller...

Lemme'  know if you get around to experimenting with polyphasic sleep.

I think Keith Richards did something similar but that was undoubtedly using uh, chemicals.