How to prevent solid mass ships

[GRHayes]

We have all seen them ships filled with blocks barely any interior space at all.

This suggestion goes along with the Power Suggestion
but can be used separately. It also goes along with this atmosphere simulation Blog: How to determine if atmosphere is escaping from a voxel(block based) vessel 2017-04-14 21:53:43

It creates a method that promotes ship interior systems and rewards it.

In real space ships and the ISS any electronic component creates some amount of heat. This is captured via cold plates and channeled to a heat exchanger / radiator on the exterior of the ship.

We could assign a heat unit per each component dependent on the type such as computers and shields each produce 1 h for every 10 power used. There would need to be air flow around components to remove the heat.
Using something like the same heat exchange system described in the power suggestion linked above it could also be a means to gain back some of that heat as power.

A heat exchanger could be built to cool the interior of the ship removing the excessive heat. If heat is allowed to accumulate to beyond 80h per open block then near by components fail, stop working.

The collected heat could be turned back into power at 1h to 1e. Given that it took 10 power to create the 1 h to it won't turn into a self perpetuating system.

For a block to loose heat it would need to be in contact with the atmosphere or cold-plate.

 

[kurosawa]

Out of curiosity and since you chose real life and ISS, how do you factor in the advances in tech when coming from ISS to a point in time where jump drives and warp gates are everyday items.
With such advances in tech we might have materials and tech that have close to 100% thermal conductivity or retention.

 

[GRHayes]

Out of curiosity and since you chose real life and ISS, how do you factor in the advances in tech when coming from ISS to a point in time where jump drives and warp gates are everyday items.
With such advances in tech we might have materials and tech that have close to 100% thermal conductivity or retention.

As you are probably aware Thermal conductivity is created by the movement of particles where electro is based on the movement of electrons.
It also depends on how you are defining superconductivity. If you mean simply without the loss of energy "liquid Helium-4" fits. If you are talking some sort of solid mass object it would be unlikely to ever exist. Given any object heated up will produce another form of radiation or under go a state change or both. There in also is the answer to unlimited thermal retention. You could make a magnetic bottle and store something very hot inside of it but you will reach a point where mass is probably converted to energy and simply lost. Take a look at all the forms of particles we have trouble detecting today. If we could simply catch them in a magnetic bottle we would. A good example look at what it takes to get a glimpse of a neutrino. In short I'm not holding my breath on unlimited thermal retention.

EM superconductors can store its energy in the EM field it produces. I'm pretty sure there is a limit there as well. It might be something along the lines of it starts stripping apart near by molecules or at some point reaches enough force to cause a much large type of collapse potentially creating something on the order of a blackhole.

As for jump drives and warp gates.

A warp drive is a real work in conceptual theory at present. It creates an extended bubble that warping space. Using a single ring to create a warp field would create to narrow of a space inside the bubble for a space craft to exist safely let alone anything living. In short it is not conducive to being made into a gate. Doing so would be like sending people into a black hole as they entered they would be ripped apart.

Jump drive - you would need to define what theory this is based on Heim, hyperspace, spacial folding... in short it is an overly used fairly generic term used to refer to a number of concepts. Spacial folding would destroy all matter caught in the process. Hyperspace currently no proof of existence. Heim's theory hasn't been backed up or supported.