In a book by Arthur C. Clarke (Ghost from the Grand Banks if I remember correctly... if I'm wrong please correct me) he talks about an economic theory which predicts great depressions every 80 years or so. Now, current events have brought this prediction rather starkly to mind. Was there a sound basis for that prediction or is it merely that bad economic shocks happen often enough for a fake pattern to emerge? Was it maybe just a lucky guess? [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Sep 22, 2008 - 10 answers

Question about the movie 2001- A Space Odyssey foreshadowing events in 2010. (Warning: Spoilers inside in case you haven't gotten around to seeing these!) [more inside]
posted by Burhanistan on Feb 12, 2008 - 22 answers

Need Longform Alternate London Fantasy, please. [more inside]
posted by signal on Jan 31, 2008 - 22 answers

I'm looking for a poster with Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws of Prediction on it. Google is failing me. [more inside]
posted by saraswati on May 18, 2007 - 2 answers

In Arthur C. Clarke's novel, "3001: The Final Odyssey", he postulates the idea of a "ring around the world", an artificial ring surrounding the entire globe, sitting in geostationary orbit, connected to the Earth with four space elevator towers at 90 degree intervals.

Has anyone ever rendered or painted what this would look like from space, or on Earth?
posted by Mwongozi on Oct 28, 2004 - 18 answers