Talk:Megastructure

message: I've merged "orbital tower" and "space elevator" entries in this list, as to the best of my knowledge, they're the same type of structure. I've also merged "rotovator" and "skyhook", for the same reason.
At present, both "rotovator" and "skyhook" are redirects that point to "space tether", which is incorrect. I'll fix this later if nobody else does.
I added "Bishop Ring" again, and put a stub article on the other end. It's a bona fide megastructure; IMO it's better to fill the target of a broken link with a stub than to remove it.
--Christopher Thomas 18:05, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Merged entries

message: I've restored Bishop rings, since Orbitals and Halos are the same type of structure, and all three have their own pages. Plus the result of the deletion was that the entry for Elysium incorrectly referred to it as a Stanford Torus. I've also added an entry for Ringworlds back under the theoretical stellar-scale structures, since it was immediately referred to, without explanation, by the very next entry, which seems unnecessarily confusing for readers. And certainly there's no conceptual difference between a ringworld and the other physically-impossible stellar structures listed. I also tweaked a few wrong or weak descriptions, shuffled a couple of items around and removed the funny but inappropriate See Also link to Cost overruns -- PaulxSA (talk) 06:41, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Bishop ring - redux

message: Wouldn't the Great Wall of China be considered an existing megastructure?.--Shawn Wilson 18 Feb 2005
:Indeed it is. I've added it, along with Mega-City One, and have broken the document into sections by category (existing, space-based fictional, other fictional). Thanks for the heads-up :).--Christopher Thomas 06:03, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: There's actually usually a constraint imposed that the megastructure has to be rigid and self-supporting. This actually excludes pretty much all of the existing examples listed in the article. I'll make clear the distinction between these two categories of megastructure once I figure out how to phrase it properly (requiring the structure to be rigid eliminates space elevators, for instance). --Christopher Thomas 20:09, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  Distinction added. --Christopher Thomas 23:25, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Great Wall of China

message: Both the Alderson Disk and the Dyson Shell require materials that are flat-out impossible if we're restricted to chemical bonds. These should probably be moved to the "fictional megastructure" section, in line with the rationale for keeping Ringworld there. --Christopher Thomas 16:51, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the term "fictional" is too, well, harsh, for lack of a better word. Human flight was fictional 100 years ago. Fosnez 19:49, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The difference is that 100 years ago it was obvious to science that we could develop flying machines, it was just a question of engineering. A ringworld requires materials with properties that no known laws of physics predict are possible. Bryan 19:53, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

text: Actually, only one specific sub-type of dyson sphere is hopelessly unrealistic- the solid shell with a biosphere magically glued to the inner surface. This is the type that's most common in fiction, but the other types that are actually discussed in plain old science literature are realistic. Check out the Dyson sphere article for more detail. Bryan 19:53, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's why I specifically mentioned Dyson shell, not Dyson sphere, Dyson swarm, or Dyson bubble. All of these are listed in the article, in various places. A rigid shell around a star is subjected to stresses that cannot be maintained with chemically-bonded material. A swarm (Dyson's original idea) works just fine. The bubble idea can't be built with present materials, but its requirements don't seem to be demonstrably be beyond materials that _may_ exist (a conducting mesh with holes substantially smaller than one micron might be light eonugh while still being reflective). --Christopher Thomas 20:55, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Possible and impossible materials

message: I wonder if this is the place to mention the literary meanings and symbols that the Megastructure represents. It is more than just an architectural or scientific concept - there are symbols ranging from obvious Freudian ones to those more complex. The Megastructure pops up in abstract conceptual form in many, many types of fiction (I'd put BLAME! on one end, House of Leaves in the middle, and The Dark Tower on the more abstract side). I think there is a wealth of psychological exploration to be done about an idea so widespread and resonant with humans from such diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, I'm new to the wikiworld, and I'd like your opinions. Thanks. --Eli Brody 17:33, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The thing to do if you want material about this to be added is to look for publications that talk about the psychological and literary implications of megastructures. The idea is that any information presented in the article has to be properly sourced (and the article does a bad enough job of this already). You're probably in a better position to look for these publications than I am (I'm in engineering). With citations in-hand, you can then add a section to the article that outlines the different authors' views on the associated symbolism.--Christopher Thomas 20:10, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Symbolism

message: What about dingo fence, which runs across Australia (length comparable to Great Wall). SYSS Mouse 17:19, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, the article currently contains the following unsourced statement: "Networks of roads or railways, and collections of buildings (cities and associated suburbs), are usually not considered megastructures, despite frequently qualifying based on size." I'd say that if these and major oil/gas pipeline networks and electrical power networks don't qualify, neither should the Great Wall, Dingo fence or the rice terraces. But I may well be wrong. --KFP (talk | contribs) 17:56, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

text: lol, good catch.  That sure is a fun one to read about.  I think the Great Wall of China has been a rather difficult inclusion from the start, and I'm sure you could find some source out there that would include it and some source that wouldn't include it.  In every case of road or fence or wall the 100 km rule is just barely fit, but the great wall I think goes above and beyond due to the fact that it has both appreciable height and width.  You can actually walk around in the inside and it could be said that it's just sort of a big house :-/  I agree that it's a difficult distinction to accept, but the dingo fence sadly doesn't seem anywhere close to getting on the list as long as interstates aren't. theanphibian 04:45, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[dingo Fence]] 

message: These have all been clearly notable proposals for the following things to build all the fregin way from Spain to Africa.
*Atlantropa - A Gibraltar dam (currently in the article)
*Gibraltar Tunnel
*Gibraltar Bridge
Which qualify as a megastructure and why?  GO! theanphibian 04:18, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Silly [[Straight of Gibraltar]] Ideas

message: OK, I just read the article and theres one thing that really strikes me as something "unpolished". 
Actually, it's just a problem with the arrangement of the sections.
In my opinion, planetary and orbital structures should precede the stellar structures.
It's just about the size, isn't it?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.242.52.41 (talk) 01:21, 28 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Just to be sure... 

message: The Citadel was constructed by the Reapers billions of years before the games. Space Commander Plasma (talk) 00:49, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mass Effect 

message: I'm an infrequent editor of Wikipedia looking to get a better understanding of one of the tags.
The "Theoretical" section of this page is currently tagged as lacking citations. But this is a page listing examples of megastructures, and each of those items listed is linked to a page describing what it is, several of which define themselves as a megastructure. What kind of citation is needed to define something as an instance of something else when that is its own definition in its own entry? 
This is one of those times when the citation needed tag seems to me to be very oddly applied, and I would like to understand what would make this section better in the eyes of other editors so I can better edit other entries.
AristosM (talk) 07:45, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Why the citation needed comment on Theoretical? 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Wikimedia received an email regarding the spelling of Ralph Wilcoxen. :ticket:2018060710010904
One complication is that an article mentioning the publication make a structure was written by somebody who use a misspelled version of the name. As a consequence it is possible to find the misspelled version and what normally would be reliable sources. In addition, the misspelled name is becoming ubiquitous and Google searches due to the misspelling (now corrected) in the Wikipedia article.
However, careful Google searches of the incorrect and correct spelling will clarify the correct spelling of the name. In particular the Amazon link to the publication and the world cat link:
* Amazon
* Wordlcat--S Philbrick(Talk) 18:12, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spelling of Ralph Wilcoxen 

message: There were a few from that franchise in the "[p]lanetary and orbital scale" section, so I added a section for Star Wars. Please let me know if this was a good or bad idea.--Thylacine24 (talk) 12:45, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Added subsection for ''Star Wars'' 

message: Voice 103.81.25.12 (talk) 12:01, 17 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Megastructure 

message: Might the proposed Linear City in Saudi Arabia be considered a proposed megastructure? 2A0C:5BC0:40:2E34:8583:5287:F2D6:2680 (talk) 17:38, 3 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Line 

message: This is no where near the 1,000km suggested lower limit, why is it included in existing megastructures? 81.170.70.180 (talk) 03:30, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Large Hadron Collider  

message: Would Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship, the Supremacy, from Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi be considered a megastructure? It certainly seems to be large enough, but I'm not sure if spacefaring vessels can count as megastructures. Both Death Stars and Starkiller Base were/would have been mobile when fully operational, though. Yet Another Dragon (talk) 02:35, 4 June 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Supremacy