Physicist Gregory Benford has written a series of science-fiction novels that take place near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in the far future. Suppose you were writing such a story. Consider the following questions: How would the environment near the galactic center differ from the environment in the "galactic suburbs," where the Sun is located? Would life as we know it have an easier or harder time surviving on planets that orbit stars near the center (and why)? What if instead, the Solar System was located in an active star-forming region in a spiral arm, rather than on the edge of the Orion arm where it is now? How would the Solar System be different as a result of this new location?