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Enon's avatar

Mile-long nuclear steam zeppelins. It's the obvious solution, why do people heep looking at me like that?

https://web.archive.org/web/20190507094726/http://flyingkettle.com/

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rhY's avatar

You should check out what we're doing with openairships.com

If you are really serious about advancing humankind through airship technology, we have to intentionally break all of the laws.

Otherwise the FCC and FAA will continue to hobble us for Verizon and United airlines profits.

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Thalia Toha's avatar

This is a fun, calculating journey into what’s possible and what’s not, especially this part: “A floating city would need a way to actively manage its location in space.” Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing.

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Yair Halberstadt's avatar

What's the use case for a floating city? At the moment land is not expensive - only land where people want it is, and I doubt NIMBYs would be happy with a mile wide sphere floating over their head.

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ProveIt's avatar

I don't think this essay is about practicalities and use cases. Seems like it was written because floating cities are a fun thing to think about. But since you asked:

* States that could physically change their country would be one use case, if their citizens don't agree with what's happening to the country.

* Moving with hemispheres once a year so that it's never winter.

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