https://xkcd.com/2883

Alt text:

They didn’t bring us a gift, but considering the kinetic energy of a bottle of wine at orbital speed, that’s probably for the best.

  • @PancakeEpiphany
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    5 months ago

    Legal Fiction, by William Empson

    Plus, I recommend Samantha Harvey’s 2023 novel, Orbital, spanning one day on a space station orbiting Earth. It’s really good.

    • RiverGhost
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      5 months ago

      Image transcript:

      Law makes long spokes of the short stakes of men.
      Your well fenced out real estate of mind
      No high flat of the nomad citizen
      Looks over, or train leaves behind.

      Your rights extend under and above your claim
      Without bound; you own land in Heaven and Hell;
      Your part of earth’s surface and mass the same,
      Of all cosmos’ volume, and all stars as well.

      Your rights reach down where all owners meet, in Hell’s
      Pointed exclusive conclave, at earth’s centre
      (Your spun farm’s root still on that axis dwells);
      And up, through galaxies, a growing sector.

      You are nomad yet; the lighthouse beam you own
      Flashes, like Lucifer, through the firmament.
      Earth’s axis varies; your dark central cone
      Wavers a candle’s shadow, at the end.