> >A classic Ringworld is a short cylinder about 300 million kilometers in
> >diameter and about 1 million km long, with a G-type star at the center.
>
> That'd mean an area of about 10^15 sqkm for the inside of the Ringworld -
> the inhabitants are going to have alot of space. Not to mention the amount
> of building material ... at a quick estimate more than the mass of of the
> Solar System minus the Sun (assuming a laughable average
> thickness of 1 km).
That would be like a gargantuous soap bell... and due to effects like
radiation pressure from the sun, there will be a certain surface tension.
Wondering what would happen if you punch a hole in it :-)
Maarten