"Peter F. Hamilton - A Night's Dawn Companion - The Confederation Handbook" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

delicacies from across the Confederation. This waste matter finds its way directly into
the ecosystem via the digestive tracts.


Power
Most of the biological processes within the habitatтАЩs major organs utilize variants of
electrolysis and ion-exchange mechanisms, rather than straightforward biochemical
reactions. This reduces the dependence on fresh chemicals to a considerable degree,
cutting down on the amount of minerals which have to be ingested. Though its
chemical consumption is still prodigious, a habitatтАЩs main power source is electricity.
This energy is generated by simple induction from JupiterтАЩs (and other gas giantsтАЩ)
colossal magnetosphere.

Hundreds of specialist extrusion glands are situated around the rim at each end of the
cylinder, producing 50m, lengths of organic conductor cabling. Because of the
habitatтАЩs rotation the cables extend straight outward and slice through the
magnetosphereтАЩs flux lines. (This means that spacecraft have to approach every
habitat along the rotation axis.) Cables are grown on a more or less constant basis, as
dust impacts continually weaken them and breakage is frequent. As well as
indigenous organ functions and maintaining the environment temperature, the cables
provide electricity for domestic use and the light-industry plants situated in the
endcaps.

Habitats have a large reserve of electricity stored in electroplaque cells to cope with
the fluctuations caused by cable breaks, and in emergencies fusion generators can be
plugged directly into the power circuits. Without this pick-up system it is difficult to
see how an organism like a habitat could survive, given the amount of energy it
requires to heat, light and feed its inhabitants. Photosynthetic membranes, as well as
being extremely inefficient, would be impossibly cumbersome on the scale required
to provide an equivalent amount of energy.


Light
Electrophorescent cell clusters are used throughout the skyscrapers, although
inhabitants are free to redecorate by using electric lighting (chandeliers and
lasersolids are popular). The central cavern is illuminated by a column of fluorescent
gas contained inside a webbed tube of organic conductors extending down the length
of the axis. The webтАЩs magnetic field confines the ionized gas, which is constantly
fluoresced by a high-voltage discharge. During the night-time period, the luminosity
is reduced to the light level of a full (Earth) moon. Repairs to the web are conducted
during this period by bitek servitors specially designed to be resistant to the high
magnetic flux level and energized gas; these creatures resemble giant spiders with a
hard dermal layer.


Climates
Most types of climate exist in the habitats orbiting Jupiter, although Alaskan or
Siberian winters are not easily simulated because of the thermal-flow problems this
would create inside the shell. A Mediterranean-style climate is the most popular,
followed by temperate or tropical. Several temperature habitats grown in the last 150