Subject: (urth) Chem power

From: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net>
Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 21:37:51 +0000

Dan'l wrote:
>Noooo ... their power source is clearly nucyulehr. Isotopes
>everywhere when a chem blows. That won't work.

Correct:

    "Five chains away, the blade of the azoth wrecked a fusion generator,
and the soldier whose heart it had been died." (LS3, 9)

But, but . . . that's just another good reason to shoot those fool engineers
who designed them! If chems were subject to exploding and raining
radioactive material all around when they died, then they were a hazard to
every bio around them, including their fellow human troopers. Dumb. But
then, Typhon didn't care about people, did he?

-Roy

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From: Bratt Ian <ian.bratt at colorado.edu>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 03:15:53 +0000

> then, Typhon didn't care about people, did he?

A quick technical point:  Roy, you seem to be confusing fission and
fusion.  Fission, what powers modern power plants, is the process of
massive nuclei breaking apart and releasing energy.  Radioactivity is a
natural byproduct of this process.  Fusion, however, is the process of
lighter nuclei fusing together to make a more massive nuclei.  Large
amounts of energy are released during fusion, but with significantly less
radioactive emissions (on order of 10^9 less than fission).

http://wwwofe.er.doe.gov/More_HTML/Comparison_w_fission.GIF

Unfortunately for society, commercially available fusion generators are
still science fiction.  I don't think those "fool engineers" would
appreciate you being so trigger happy :)

Cheers,
Ian

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From: Andy Robertson <andywrobertson at clara.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 04:38:26 +0000

ordinary elements the generator was composed of into radioactive isotopes.
Particularly if the generator had been running for hundreds of years.

Another reason why I doubt Hyacinth was a chem or a chem with a bio shell -
the radiation would be bad for living flesh acually in contact with the
chem, though it is short range and would not hurt people in the same room
(much).

    hartshorn

----- Original Message ----- eutron flux
From: "Bratt Ian" <Ian.Bratt at Colorado.EDU>
To: "urth" <urth at urth.net>
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: (urth) Chem power

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From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 16:00:35 +0000

> But::  Fusion would create a neutron flux which would turn many of the

Not if you reverse the polarity on the neutrino flow.

Yours for better technobabble,

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 16:16:50 +0000

> Not if you reverse the polarity on the neutrino flow.

Yes, exactly.  If we can assume the chem-makers have figured out how to
put a fusion generator in a robot, we can probably assume they figured out
how to solve the radioactivity problem too unless someone finds some
textual evidence that they are radioactive (Aha!  The true source of
Silk's mutant powers!  He was raised by radioactive robots!)

-Rostrum

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From: matthew.malthouse <matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 16:11:11 +0000

>Not if you reverse the polarity on the neutrino flow.

Only possible if your sonic screwdriver has the special attachment

Matthew

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From: Andy Robertson <andywrobertson at clara.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 13:58:13 +0000

Yes, even then.  You cannae break the laws of physics, captain, etc etc.

    hartshorn

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <ddanehy at siebel.com>
To: <urth at urth.net>
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 5:00 PM
Subject: RE: (urth) Chem power

> --Blattid

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From: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net>
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 17:43:24 +0000

>radioactive emissions (on order of 10^9 less than fission).

Yes, and that's all very well when the fusion chamber remains intact; but
when it is breached? When the plasma hits the fan, so to speak, what then?
Why was Dr. Crane, when he and Silk were pulled from the lake, concerned to
say:

"But we've gotten a thorough washing, and that's good. Lots of isotopes
released when a chem blows." (LS2, 13)

I hadn't supposed that when chems exploded it was comparable, in any way, to
a present-day nuclear device exploding; had it been, Crane and Silk would
have died in the room where and when Lemur did, and isotopes would never
have been an issue.

-Roy

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