
Traveller-digest      Sunday, October 24 1999      Volume 1999 : Number 1253



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

RE: The Baron Population Bomb
RE: The Baron Population Bomb
Re: WTF- "vingean singularity"
Re: Drive destruction sequencing
Re: Type B/C atmospheres
Re: WTF- "vingean singularity"
Re Nobility
Re: Space Opera?
Re: TML Members as resources...
Re: Freezing in the Aleutians 
Re: Freezing in the Aleutians
[none]
TML'ers as resourtces
Re: honoring J.Andrew Keith
Re: Space Opera?
Re: Type B/C atmospheres

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 15:29:19 +0100
From: "Trevor, Peter" <Peter.Trevor@rb.cwplc.com>
Subject: RE: The Baron Population Bomb

Jon F. Zeigler wrote:
> So, to rephrase my question -- "How many barons is the Emperor
> likely to need on a given world?"  Even a rough rule of thumb
> (assuming the audience can agree on one) would be useful to me.

I always saw the local Baron or Marquis as fulfilling the role of
the "Emperor's Ambassador" to the local planet.  Apart  from  not
really needing one for low population worlds, in general  a  high
population world doesn't need any more "representatives"  than  a
medium population world.



Regards PLST
"Rome wasn't burned in a day"

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 08:09:51
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: The Baron Population Bomb

At 03:29 PM 10/24/1999 +0100, you wrote:
>Jon F. Zeigler wrote:
>> So, to rephrase my question -- "How many barons is the Emperor
>> likely to need on a given world?"  Even a rough rule of thumb
>> (assuming the audience can agree on one) would be useful to me.
>
>I always saw the local Baron or Marquis as fulfilling the role of
>the "Emperor's Ambassador" to the local planet.

Also filling the role of "planetary advocate".  I've always thought that
noble families would have their income tied to the economies of their
holdings.  This would encourage them to work to improve their holdings.

Nobles might also be charged for the expenses of Imperial Interventions if
they fail to contain problems.
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 09:18:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Craig Berry <cberry@cinenet.net>
Subject: Re: WTF- "vingean singularity"

> Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 22:11:10 PST
> From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
> 
> People are scared of changes. Usually because we aren't taught how
> risks *really* work. 

And, to be fair, because they've been fed so much BS and wrong information
that they've learned to be more cautious about what the technocrats tell
them.  "DDT is safe," "PCBs are safe," "Union Carbide will be good for
Bhopal," "Cassini can't hit Earth because NASA/JPL never ever blow their
nav calculations"...after a while, you can't blame people for having a
twitch-level "no!" reaction when they hear about some "harmless" new
technology in something as fundamental as the food supply.

And, by the way, transgenic crops are fundamentally different from
previous methods of genetic crop improvement.  Hybridization can produce a
far more limited range of results.  Transgenics have been far less
extensively studied.  None of which is to say that transgenics aren't
safe, which is a different argument -- it's simply to point out that
arguing "we've been doing it for centuries" is misleading, and indeed part
of the PR problem.

- -- 
   |   Craig Berry - cberry@cinenet.net
 --*--  http://www.cinenet.net/users/cberry/home.html
   |   "They do not preach that their God will rouse them
      a little before the nuts work loose." - Kipling

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 09:51:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Craig Berry <cberry@cinenet.net>
Subject: Re: Drive destruction sequencing

> Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 13:29:16 +0100
> From: Phil Kitching <postmark.design@btinternet.com>
> 
> With a Trav ship, how about mixing some of the hydrogen from the tanks
> with the air plus whatever reserve oxygen there is lying around.
> 
> At optimum mix, you ought to be able to make a mess of the interior at
> least.

Actually, this does surprisingly little damage.  Hydrogen and oxygen
burning turn into water, for a net volume *decrease*.  The temperature
incrase helps compensate for this, but not enough to make this a 'good'
explosion.  An H/O explosion at 1 atm doesn't create an overpressure wave
big enough to crack bulkheads or damage tough equipment.  It will ignite
combustibles, though, which is why I included this step in my "How to
Trash a Ship" recipe. 

> A related thought - from "Death Traps" by Belton Y. Cooper. It seems you
> could repair most things that happened to a Sherman tank - unless it
> caught fire. If the tank burned, then it would anneal the armour back to
> mild steel and the tank could not be repaired.
> 
> So, could a Hydrogen/Oxygen fire described above do a similar thing to
> spaceship armour? Clearly it might cause crystaliron to recrystalise as
> mild steel (give or take the alloying) but how stable is superdense?

No, again, the temperature and pressure achieved in a 1 atm H/O explosion
aren't high enough.

- -- 
   |   Craig Berry - cberry@cinenet.net
 --*--  http://www.cinenet.net/users/cberry/home.html
   |   "They do not preach that their God will rouse them
      a little before the nuts work loose." - Kipling

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 12:37:52 +0100
From: Martin Hardgrave <martin@deira.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Type B/C atmospheres

In message <991022.025401.5W2.rnr.w165w@krypton.rain.com>, Leonard
Erickson <shadow@krypton.rain.com> writes
>
>
>Titanium has lots of nasty problems if it absorbs H. It can be almost
>as brittle as *glass*. Titanium metal that has been shaped in certain
>ways (mostly "cold", ductile forming) will tend to try to revert to
>it's unformed state. 
>
>It's an extreme case. But *most* metals get brittle with enough
>absorbed H.

That must be why they supply hydrogen gas in plastic cylinders!
>
>Planets with lots of Helium or Hydrogen in the atmosphere will be rare.
>And, as you can see, they *deserve* the "insidious" rating.
>
>
>But things like fine dusts can also be insidious. For example, a planet
>with a lot of fine dust in the air, where the dust either contains
>beryllium (a very toxic light element) or some heavy metals (lead,
>arsenic, gold, etc) is just as dangerous. Especially since these metals
>tend to stay in the body unless special treatments are used to remove
>them. And in the case of beryllium, I don't *know* of any means of
>getting it out of the body. 
>
Many metal dusts would be pyrophoric.  If the planet didn't have an
oxygen atmosphere and you take a sample of dust into your ship - boom.

>Another nasty chemical type "insidious" agent is mercury vapor. Get
>much of that in the air and you'd better pray you've got *good*
>filters. 
>
"An exploding mercury vapour diffusion pump will kill or poison everyone
in the vicinity"  an old chemistry department safety handbook.  I
suppose it should be straightforward to freeze it out of the atmosphere.
If you had the equipment.

- -- 
Martin Hardgrave

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 10:50:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Craig Berry <cberry@cinenet.net>
Subject: Re: WTF- "vingean singularity"

> Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 11:51:04 +1300
> From: "Frank Pitt" <frankie@mundens.gen.nz>
> 
> > This gets into the area that fascinates me -- the intersection of
> > intelligence and motivation.  Niven's _Protector_ got me started on this,
> > long ago; I still highly recommend the book to anyone interested in this
> > area.  What he points out is that high intelligence is only a tool, an
> > "enabler", which is independent of motivation.  So for example his Pak
> > protectors are quite a bit smarter and faster thinkers than humans, but
> > *all* of that intelligence is focussed entirely on protecting their
> > bloodline.
> 
> And it was interesting that it was only those Protectors who no longer
> had any "herd"  that could effectively carry out research and invent new
> things, and then only when they could avoid dying due to the loss of
> their herd and replace the motivation of protecting a single herd with
> the concept of somehow protecting the entire race. 

Actually, Protectors with intact families could do research -- remember,
the balance of power shifts that left Phthssspok childless were due to an
arms race between nuclear damper and bomb technology -- but only childless
protectors could do "blue sky" basic research, stuff with no clear link to
protecting the kids, or killing the ones in the next valley.

> Remarkably similar to humans really, huh ? <grin>

Yeah...what a co-inky-dink. :)

> > ** SPOILER **
> >
> > What I found most interesting was that a human who became a protector
> > experienced the change as a loss of free will; for any given situation,
> > the right course of action was immediately apparent, inevitable, obvious.
> 
> Well, personally, I found that bit a little sillly.
> 
> Sure the Protectors could be wired to think that way as they were very
> conservative creatures and instinct driven , but in order for the _right_
> course of action to be apparent to anyone, even a highly intelligent person,
> they would have to have perfect knowledge,  as well having a confirmed set
> of ethics that allowed them to decide what was "right"

I saw this as quite reasonable.  As Patton remarked (paraphrasing), a
half-formed plan executed immediately and violently will succeed over a
brilliant plan mulled over for a week.  The Pak, being bred for war, would
evolutionarily favor the sort of mind that reaches a firm conclusion
quickly, based on whatever evidence is available, and acts on it *right
now*.  And being superintelligent, they would be right (enough) more often
than not.

In other words, a Pak never hesitates due to self-doubt or indecision or
the like.  Whether or not it is 'right' in some external sense, internally
it always 'knows' it is right and thus can act without reservation.

> I read the Protector as being wired to always choose the _optimal_
> solution, and optimal meant least number of damaged breeders in the
> forseeable future. 

Exactly.

> It was a loss of free will, but though the choice was wired to _seem_
> like being the _right_ course to the Protector, anyone with a more
> active mind than a Protector (for all it's intelligence and capability a
> Protector is a pretty stupid and predictable creature to a similar level
> intelligence without the hardwired "Protector" instincts ) would realize
> that it was really only the most optimal course given certain
> constraints (in this case limiting damage to breeders) , and that they
> had no way of determining if it was the best or the right course of
> action, and as such they might come up with a better, though not
> necessarily optimal, solution

But to a Protector, protecting the breeders *is* the definition of
optimal.  No other criterion matters.  And the point Niven is making (as I
see it) is that *any* intelligence is similarly wired for what constitutes
a 'good' decision, perhaps with more possible goals and at least the
illusion of choosing between them, but wired nonetheless.

> Not sure if I can explain the difference between the "best" solution and
> the "optimal" solution, but I'l try. I think it has to do with the fact
> that without perfect knowledge, a solution that may seem optimal is not
> really the most optimal, and it is possible, if you are not hardwired to
> chose the _most_ optimal, you may choose the better solution for reasons
> other than logic. 
> 
> Sorry, that was a bit rambly.

Yeah, you'll have to run that one by me again. :)

> It does however bring up a far more interesting concept with relation to
> a God or "Protector" who _does_ have perfect knowledge. With perfect
> knowledge, and "perfect" intelligence, then, yes, your every action
> would become utterly constrained and you would indeed lose all free
> will, and all your actions would be forever be set (or alternatively you
> would be unable to act ) 

Given perfect knowledge *and* defined goals, yes.

> Taking _this_ "Protector" concept a wee bit further, we reach the
> Herbert solution to the quandary of a God with perfect knowledge, as
> detailed in "God Emperor of Dune" , try and breed your subjects so that
> you _can't_ have perfect knowledge of their actions. In other words, try
> and create something you can not "see" with your omniscience, and which
> they cannot "see" either, thereby giving _them_ free will, and
> incidentally introducing a measure of free will for yourself, due to
> your now less than perfect knowledge... 

I love the scale Herbert thought on...

> This, of course is remarkably close to certain theological arguments
> espoused several centuries ago by (I think) Thomas Aquinas ..... <grin>

Several Jesuits at the high school I attended loved Frank Herbert. :)

- -- 
   |   Craig Berry - cberry@cinenet.net
 --*--  http://www.cinenet.net/users/cberry/home.html
   |   "They do not preach that their God will rouse them
      a little before the nuts work loose." - Kipling

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 14:36:01 -0400
From: "Terry Carlino" <carlino@home.com>
Subject: Re Nobility

>Canon doesn't specify the nature or size of fiefs. A fief is a parcel of
>land that is associated with a noble patent.

Given the mercantile nature of the 3I and the canonical assignment of stocks
to Imperial Nobility I would expect that a "fief" translate to an income
source of some type: stocks, bonds, real estate, company ownership, etc.
After all, historically that's what the purpose of a noble's holding were
for, to allow them to squeeze income out of the commoners.

Terry C

All that is Gold does not glitter
Not all who travel are lost

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 14:38:09 -0400
From: Juliean Galak <jg42@cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Space Opera?

At 05:52 PM 10/22/99 -0800, you wrote:
>In mail you write:
>
> > Personally, my definition of Space Opera has always been the need for
> > fighters to bank in space :)  Thus, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica are
> > space opera.  Star Trek, in all it's incarnations, doesn't have fighters,
> > hence it's not space opera.  B5's fighters don't bank in space, so it's 
> not
> > sepace opera either.
> >
> > :)
>
>Alas, the two *classic* example of Space Opera don't have fighters that
>bank either. The Lensman series and the Skylark series. The first is
>back in print and worth reading, if only for some nasty ideas.
>
>Trenco is such a *lovely* planet. So is Delgon. And I want to see the
>reaction of your players to a visit to Rigel IV. Or Lyrane.

I've unfortunately never read Skylark.

Lensman is grandfathered into the Space Opera category just because.  :)

           -- Juliean Galak (a.k.a. Falcon)

- --
jg42@cornell.edu        "I do not agree with a word you say, but I will
                          defend to the death your right to say it."
                                              -- Francois Marie Voltaire
#include <disclaimer.h> "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
                          			     -- Albert Einstein
for PGP public-key and
more quotes, http://gerfalcon.tzo.com/plan.htm
WWW Page: http://gerfalcon.tzo.com/                

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:51:04 -0500
From: "Andrew Akins" <igor@truserve.com>
Subject: Re: TML Members as resources...

Here I am...

Ex Flyer, Ex Student, Scientist
Second Lieutenant (ex-flyer)
859AB9                                        Age 30 (almost)


Computer-4, Brawling-2, Instruction-2, Scuba-2, Sword-2, Admin-1, Combat
Rifleman-1,
Leader-1, Medical-1, Naval Architect-1, Physics-1, Pistol-1, Survey-1,
Ground Vehicle-0,
Helicopter-0, Watercraft-0

The color text:

    I'm of average strength, decent endurance, but a clutz. I'd like to
think that I'm intelligent and well educated, but there are certainly those
smarter than I. Nothing too special about my family, although my father
hobnobs with some political big-wigs.

    I spent almost three years in the Air Force in intelligence, primarily
in image analysis (computer, admin, rifleman, pistol, leader, and survey).
After a medical discharge, I entered college as an aerospace engineer (naval
architect) - but found it too difficult. Switched to computer science with a
minor in astronomy, specializing in operating system design and distributed
systems (more computer and physics). I've held a few odd jobs over the
years, including an EMT/Rescue Diver  (medical, helicopter, scuba,
watercraft). Right now I am a programmer/analyst working in distributed
architectures (more computer) and a teacher at a local community college
(instruction). I've only got a BS, but a ton of practical education.

    The brawling and sword are from marital arts training in Aikido and
Kenjutsu. If I wasn't so clumsy, I'd be pretty good, as I've had several
years of formal training.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Andrew Akins                                                       |
| Home: igor@truserve.com - http://www.truserve.com/~igor/           |
| Work: andya@cms-gt.com - http://www.cms-gt.com/                    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| IMTU: tg++(**) tc+ ru+ ge 3i+ jt- st au ls+ kk++ hi+ as+ va+ dr++  |
|       so+ zh+ vi+ da+                                              |
| Geek: GCS d- s+:+ a- C++ W++ w+++(-)$ PS+ PE t- 5++ X+ R+++ tv+    |
|       b+++ DI+ D-- G e++ h---- r+++ y++++                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 03:41:32 -0400
From: "Daniel Phelps" <phelpsd@gate.net>
Subject: Re: Freezing in the Aleutians 

Was written:

>>The navy folks here in Pcola don't say bad things about Adak

Never been to Adak the furthest out the chain I got was Dutch Harbor,  of
course from there we met the boat and went north to work off the Seal
Islands.  I did 5.5 weeks for a Brit consulting company on a Panamanian
registered boat owned by a dummy corporation out of the Grand Caymans.   Say
that fast three times if you can.  We ran out of potable water 3 weeks into
the job, given the choice of brushing your teeth in Coke or beer take my
advice use beer.  Regarding the special risks encountered such
circumstances, for gaming purposes, if you are not in an immersion suit and
go over the side in normal clothing hypothermia will put you down in
approximately 5 minutes.  In an immersion suit you can last maybe 6 to 8
hours.  Anyone got statistics on heat loss through vac suits and battle
dress under such circumstances?  My call is that if you were in a vac suit
you would float but if you were just in battle dress you would sink what's
the verdict?


>The Army has the Korean DMZ.  My one trip there, in 1986, the temperature
>was -30, and the winds were 50mph+  The South Koreans had gone home.  The
>North Koreans had gone home.

Regarding Korea my dad was at the Chozen Reservoir with Blitzen Litzen's
Marines in 1950.   For years when asked about the experience he would only
say "It was cold."  When pressed for more his response was "It was damned
cold."   He frost bit his hands, feet and portions of this thighs but except
for nerve damage didn't lose anything to the cold.   They fought their way
out and didn't leave either their equipment or their dead behind.

Regarding the above how about a Hammer's Slammers type operation which
combines elements of the Inchon landing, the Chinese entry  of troops and
the siege of Bastogne/Peking with a breakout and fighting withdrawal back to
a favorable extraction point.   It could be played as an intelligence screw
up, complete with miscalculations regarding the opposing force's strength,
tech,  and local weather extremes.   Put the PCs on the ground in a very
cold very target rich environment trying to pull togeather disparent
friendly forces and the equipment for a breakout.

Could be a very interesting campaign.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:05:15 -0700
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu>
Subject: Re: Freezing in the Aleutians

Daniel Phelps wrote:
> 
> Was written:
> 
> >>The navy folks here in Pcola don't say bad things about Adak
> 
> Never been to Adak the furthest out the chain I got was Dutch Harbor,  of
> course from there we met the boat and went north to work off the Seal
> Islands.  I did 5.5 weeks for a Brit consulting company on a Panamanian
> registered boat owned by a dummy corporation out of the Grand Caymans.   Say
> that fast three times if you can.  

Sure I can:

'Tax Evasion'
'Tax Evasion'
'Tax Evasion'

;-/

> We ran out of potable water 3 weeks into
> the job, given the choice of brushing your teeth in Coke or beer take my
> advice use beer. 

Well, _either_ is better than tequila that's been baking in the sun for
a day or two, believe me! Oh, yeah, that's the _other_ reason they like
to register ships out of Panama and Liberia...something about lax safety
inspections and regulation.

Now, I only hope that the ships owners were foresighted enough to at
least pack enough beer, if they didn't pack enough water...a mutiny led
by ships crew hopped up on drinking nothing but Coke would be a scary
thing indeed...

> Regarding the special risks encountered such
> circumstances, for gaming purposes, if you are not in an immersion suit and
> go over the side in normal clothing hypothermia will put you down in
> approximately 5 minutes.  In an immersion suit you can last maybe 6 to 8
> hours.  Anyone got statistics on heat loss through vac suits and battle
> dress under such circumstances?  My call is that if you were in a vac suit
> you would float but if you were just in battle dress you would sink what's
> the verdict?

In a Vacc Suit, you would likely float. IN BD you would sink, at least
until you kicked in the grav belt...of course, depending on the water
depth, you _could_ just sink down 'till you hit bottom, then walk out,
like in that scene in "Highlander" ;-)

- -- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:13:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: [none]

>So, to rephrase my question -- "How many barons is the Emperor
>likely to need on a given world?"  Even a rough rule of thumb (assuming
>the audience can agree on one) would be useful to me.

My rough rule of thumb is that there is one Baron per 10-25 thousand people.
I typically have a knight or three per thousand...

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:26:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: TML'ers as resourtces

>Glenn St-Germain	764A86-0	Terms: 4.75
>
>The skills are going to be difficult... The easy ones:
>	Admin - 1
>	Computer - 2
>	Ground Vehicle - 1
>
>But what skills would cover the world of Library Science? (In both
>GURPS and Hero, I could just come up with Professional Skill: Librarian...)
>
>:)
Research 2 or so?

Myself: 688CB6-1 Terms: many (see detail)
	Admin 1
	Computer 3
	Bureau 1
	Science 0
	Gr Veh 0
	FW Aircraft 0
	Jack-o-a-T 2
	Research 1
	Pistol 2
	Combat Rifleman 1
	Swimming 0, maybe 1
	Writing 1

age 17: 1Y wash out of US Army, after having total 6 years cadet time in
CAP and NJROTC... PFC Hostman goes home reverting to Private F***ing
Civilian...
Age 18-27: College and part time projections/av tech
27-29: Archival Technician
29-30: Assistant to the CEO

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 16:33:04 EDT
From: Sethkimmel@aol.com
Subject: Re: honoring J.Andrew Keith

Here's an idea for honoring Mr. Keith.:

 J Andrew Keith designed the "Beltstrike" adventure module for GDW (1984). It 
took place in the Bowman system (Bowman/District 268/Spinwards Marches). I 
originally thought that maybe we should change the name of the star (and 
hence the entire system) to "Keith", but I decided that a lot of people 
probably wouldn't want to have to write on their Spinwards Marches maps. So I 
decided why not change the name of the system's only planet instead. This 
wouldn't screw up maps, and "Keith" sounds a lot better than "Bowman Prime". 
It's just a pity the planet's a gas giant, and not an inhabited world...

Here's a sample TNS article to announce it:

FLASH FLASH FLASH
282/1117 Glisten/Glisten/Spinwards Marches

    Today it was announced by the Glisten Institute of Planetological studies 
in cooperation with Ling Standard Products, LIC, and his grace Duke Loren of 
Glisten (whose fief also administers District 268), that the Bowman system's 
(Bowman/District 268/Spinwards Marches) solitary planet, the gas giant Bowman 
Prime would be renamed "Keith", in honor of the late historian.

    Dr. Sir J. Andrew Keith, who died four months ago was famous throughout 
the Spinwards Marchs and the Solomani Rim for his two seminal works on the 
antebellum (pre-5FW) history of the Marches, and the history of the IISS. Dr. 
Keith was knighted last year by the Archduke of Deneb for these two works, 
and since then has chaired the GLIPS history department. 

    Dr. Keith was born on Terra (Sol/Sol/Solomani Rim) where he earned his 
doctorate at the University of Terra. His doctoral dissertation on the role 
of the IISS in the Solomani Rim War was highly received by both Vilani and 
Solomani intellectual circles on Terra. He transferred to the Glisten 
University of Planetological Studies as a visiting fellow in 1107. Dr. Keith 
is survived by his brother, Dr. Sir William H. Keith Jr., who is also a 
member of the GLIPS history department staff, and who will probably succeed 
to his brother's chair at the next meeting of the University regents. In a 
joint statement released to the TNS, the President of the GLIPS and the 
seneschal of his Grace, the Duke of Glisten both said "that the Imperial 
academic community, and the people of the third Imperium have lost a great 
mind and a great soul, and we will all be diminished by Dr. Keith's absence". 
The TNS also wishes to extend it's condolences to the late Dr. Keith's family 
and colleges. Ad Astra Dr. Keith. This transmission ends..................

I hope that you all will find this a satisfactory obituary for Mr. Keith. I 
hope I didn't offend anyone.

Seth

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:22:44 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Space Opera?

In mail you write:

>>Alas, the two *classic* example of Space Opera don't have fighters that
>>bank either. The Lensman series and the Skylark series. The first is
>>back in print and worth reading, if only for some nasty ideas.
>>
>>Trenco is such a *lovely* planet. So is Delgon. And I want to see the
>>reaction of your players to a visit to Rigel IV. Or Lyrane.
>
> I've unfortunately never read Skylark.
>
> Lensman is grandfathered into the Space Opera category just because.  :)

You really *need* to track down copies of the Skylark Series:

"The Skylark of Space"
"Skylark Three"
"Skylark of Valeron"
"Skylark DuQuesne"

All by E.E. "Doc" Smith.

The escalating power levels are fun. And the series has *the* single
most interesting villian ever concieved. Dr. Marc C. DuQuesne. He's
amoral, but charming. He keeps his word, but to the letter. He's smart
enough to realize when revenge is a waste of time. And he's willing to
work alongside the good guys if there's a danger to humanity. 

OBTrav:
Since the last we see of him, he and his girl friend are heading off to
find a nice, isolated branch of humaniti to become benevolent despots
of, you could easily justify a pocket (or larger) empire somewhere run
the way DuQuesne was planning to run his. (You'll see what I mean after
you've read the books)

It'd make things interesting for the players.

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 13:09:46 PST
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: Type B/C atmospheres

In mail you write:

>>Titanium has lots of nasty problems if it absorbs H. It can be almost
>>as brittle as *glass*. Titanium metal that has been shaped in certain
>>ways (mostly "cold", ductile forming) will tend to try to revert to
>>it's unformed state. 
>>
>>It's an extreme case. But *most* metals get brittle with enough
>>absorbed H.
>
> That must be why they supply hydrogen gas in plastic cylinders!

Actually, the big shipments are in metal (steel, I presume) cylinders.
But you'll easily recognize a truck set up to carry high pressure
hydrogen. Instead of one big tank, it'll have a bunch of long narrow
cylinders running in parallel. They aren't a lot thicker than your
typical 4-5" gas cylinder, but they are about 15-20 feet long. 

>>But things like fine dusts can also be insidious. For example, a planet
>>with a lot of fine dust in the air, where the dust either contains
>>beryllium (a very toxic light element) or some heavy metals (lead,
>>arsenic, gold, etc) is just as dangerous. Especially since these metals
>>tend to stay in the body unless special treatments are used to remove
>>them. And in the case of beryllium, I don't *know* of any means of
>>getting it out of the body. 

> Many metal dusts would be pyrophoric.  If the planet didn't have an
> oxygen atmosphere and you take a sample of dust into your ship - boom.

Well, I was thinking more of fine (nearly mono-molecular) dust of
compounds of the metals. Oxides, sulfides, chlorides, whatever is
appropriate to the atmosphere.

>>Another nasty chemical type "insidious" agent is mercury vapor. Get
>>much of that in the air and you'd better pray you've got *good*
>>filters. 
>>
> "An exploding mercury vapour diffusion pump will kill or poison everyone
> in the vicinity"  an old chemistry department safety handbook.  I
> suppose it should be straightforward to freeze it out of the atmosphere.
> If you had the equipment.

Mercury vapor is another of those monatomic "molecules". So it
pentrates things *way* too well. One lovely shot in an article about it
showed the vapor rising from an open container of mercury. Then they
poured in some water (it used to be thought that storing it underwater
cut the vapor emissions to a safe level). The vapors weren't as thick,
but there were *still* way too many of them.

Also, for our poor explorers, mercury forms amalgams on contact with
many metals. So exposed metallic surfaces on equipment would pick up
mercury outside and might release it inside. Oops!

I will note that getting high levels of mercury vapor in the air would
required some unusual geology. And it'd be *likely* to only affect
"small" areas. But inside those areas....

On the other hand, if we are going to allow chlotine or fluorine
atmospheres, I supposed a planet wide mercury taint is ok. Just keep it
*rare*.

- -- 
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1253
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