Urth Net
Hard SF
Daniel Petersen · 28 Nov 2012, 22:59
· from 2012-November.txt.gz
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From: danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com (Daniel Petersen) Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:59:23 +0000 Subject: (urth) Hard SF In-Reply-To: <50B69565.7030908 at verizon.net> References: <SNT123-W51C23DE417511A76E93303CF5D0 at phx.gbl> <CAM0v-i6a1ETBvs_M7XCx1fP4DwuzjMW4Eqb_kbWCRV3ZeVq8ZQ at mail.gmail.com> <CAGB0RZ4RTa7Hq9y_zK1vdOJ9S3+4yQY5BJ73WRn250dkGg_gfQ at mail.gmail.com> <CAJ8=rtinbYV92jM_qEd4V9J8cHRHhs0xuApMWy6rW6FkeOCx6w at mail.gmail.com> <CAGB0RZ5ZGYEekefa9EYjb86qMn7VtM5UjjuE2TRuN9mQGwUC1A at mail.gmail.com> <50B69565.7030908 at verizon.net> Message-ID: <CAGB0RZ4KkHn=0jAXA_CV1D2-PM1i2Ux4mHWuhxAD8ARY8=yUYQ at mail.gmail.com> Ah, helpful. That's part of what I was wondering too - whether the story itself suggested or allowed for the 'commingled atmosphere theory'. Sounds like we need to discard it (imaginatively beautiful though it is). -DOJP On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 10:51 PM, David Stockhoff <dstockhoff at verizon.net>wrote: > Well, the cited Jahlee reference has them burning up on reentry if they > are dead. So the commingled atmosphere theory is not part of the story. > > > On 11/28/2012 5:48 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: > >> Yep, that's what I was worried about, but I have no scientific training >> so I didn't know if there were some exquisitely rare scenarios where this >> might be just barely plausible. (It's such a breathtakingly awe-inspiring >> thought: worthy of a fantasy at least - if no one has written such a >> thing, someone needs to!) But come to think of it: doesn't the passage >> say rather explicitly that they fly through /space/? (Does anyone have a >> page number reference for this?) >> >> -DOJP >> >> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 4:21 PM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com<mailto: >> danldo at gmail.com>> wrote: >> >> Not really -- they both seem to have about one G of surface >> gravity, so getting close enough that their atmospheres >> meaningfully touched would involve massive tidal effects up to and >> including immense tsunami and disastrous earthquakes. >> >> >> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 8:04 AM, Daniel Petersen >> <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.**com<danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> >> <mailto:danielottojackpetersen**@gmail.com<danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com>>> >> wrote: >> >> That's a wonderful thought, Antonin! Is this feasible? (Both >> generally and in the text?) >> >> -DOJP >> >> >> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Antonin Scriabin >> <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com <mailto:kierkegaurdian at gmail.**com<kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> >> >> >> wrote: >> >> Do we have any idea just how close Blue and Green get >> during conjunction? I seem to remember that from Blue, >> Green is more of a spec than a moon, but perhaps they are >> close enough, or have unusually expansive atmospheres, >> such that during conjunction their atmospheres merge and >> allow the Inhumi to fly from one to another. If they are >> this close though, they would most definitely fall under >> the sway of one another's gravitational field, which >> doesn't seem to be the case. >> >> >> >> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 10:51 AM, Lee Berman >> <severiansola at hotmail.com >> <mailto:severiansola at hotmail.**com <severiansola at hotmail.com>>> >> wrote: >> >> >> >David Stockhoff: We're not talking about hard SF here. >> >> Just for the sake of discussion, I'll disagree. >> Perhaps Wolfe isn't diamond-hard >> but I'd give him ruby- or sapphire- on the MOhs scale. >> I think he makes a >> sincere attempt in most of his work, as the quote >> below illustrates. >> >> Where fantasy writers are content to give us shape >> changers without explanation, >> Wolfe provides us with a sponge cellular analogy for >> Tzadkiel and flexible bones >> and muscles, make-up and hypnotic abilities for Inhumi. >> >> If the Inhumi really fly through space I'd want more >> than the skimpy evidence we >> are provided (and less evidence for their lying nature). >> >> >Nick Gevers: Speaking as an engineer, how might the >> godling be constructed so as to >> >walk as a giant on land, where the undines [submarine >> giantesses] cannot? >> >> >Gene Wolfe: There are a number of ways you could go. >> First, get rid of the notion that >> >the godling is going to be proportioned like a human >> being. Changes in size always mean >> >changes in build. (Dr. Crane touches on that.) A man >> fifty feet tall, proportioned like >> >you or me, would sink into the ground a lot -- had >> you thought of that? Take a look at >> >the really big dinosaurs. Bone density could be >> increased, and the legs and pelvis made >> >more massive, and so on >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Urth Mailing List >> To post, write urth at urth.net <mailto:urth at urth.net> >> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net >> >> >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Urth Mailing List >> To post, write urth at urth.net <mailto:urth at urth.net> >> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net >> >> >> >> >> -- Daniel Otto Jack Petersen >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Urth Mailing List >> To post, write urth at urth.net <mailto:urth at urth.net> >> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net >> >> >> >> >> -- Dan'l Danehy-Oakes >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Urth Mailing List >> To post, write urth at urth.net <mailto:urth at urth.net> >> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Daniel Otto Jack Petersen >> >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> Urth Mailing List >> To post, write urth at urth.net >> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net >> > > ______________________________**_________________ > Urth Mailing List > To post, write urth at urth.net > Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net > -- Daniel Otto Jack Petersen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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