Traveller-digest       Tuesday, August 3 1999       Volume 1999 : Number 915



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

FW: Ground To Space Laser Fire....
FW: Spacedocks
RE: Yet more filk
First In
First Imperium settlement patterns (was: Book Reviews Requested)
Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....
Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....
Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....
Re: Spacecreaft Combat ratings questions
Re: First In
RE: Xenobiology 101 : Ecology, Environment, and Evolution (long)
Re: RL:There's Oil in them thar Saturnian satellites...
Re: RL:There's Oil in them thar Saturnian satellites...
OT: Blair Witch Project (UK)
Re: Xenobiology 101 : Ecology, Environment, and Evolution (long)
Re: RL:There's Oil in them thar Saturnian satellites...
Re: OT: Blair Witch Project (UK)
Re: Yet more filk
Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 17:20:21 +0800
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: FW: Ground To Space Laser Fire....

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
[mailto:owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com] On Behalf Of Phil
Kitching
Sent: Tuesday, 3 August 1999 2:55
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
Subject: Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....


On 02 Aug, Nick Bradbeer <nickb@ndirect.co.uk> wrote:
> >I've always assumed that the laser "beam" was actually a pulse only a few
> >nanoseconds long, fired every couple of seconds.
> >
> >(You don't need a high ROF due to the see it, hit it principle.)


> True. The problem is that as you shorten the firing time you
> dramatically increase the power you're putting out...

<snip reasons why my idea doesn't work>

Ok, so lots of very short pulses or fewer longer ones, but I still
reckon that just turning the laser on for 3 seconds won't work
against the sort of armour and radiator tech that Trav uses (although
even this should make the Hubble very unhappy).

Hmmm, do I detect a basis for the 50MW*TL limit for lasers handwave in T4?

Phil Kitching

- --
Postmark Design Bureau, Emerging Technology Division
"Microwaving half-baked ideas from across the galaxy."
http://www.btinternet.com/~salvo/traveller/deckplans/

This may interest people, in Perth an industrial laser used primarily for
light cutting work is computer controlled.
It had a computer glitch and was powered up to more than 10x its rating.
Somehow the laser survived this but it put a nice hole through the wall of
the room it was housed in and a wall of an adjacent building.
I don't know what the power rating for the laser was, perhaps someone could
enlighten us on the actual power of industrial lasers at current tech
levels.

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 17:20:25 +0800
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: FW: Spacedocks

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
[mailto:owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com] On Behalf Of Nick
Bradbeer
Sent: Wednesday, 4 August 1999 7:17
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
Subject: Re: Spacedocks


>In the B5 film 'A Call to Arms' the two Destroyers are built off a lattice
>framed spacedock not a million miles in concept from the one in the early
>Star Trek film. This looks much more credible than the ST Enclosed
>Spacedock.


Well, the enclosed spacedock does beg the question: "What did they build the
dock in?"

<gd+r>

Nick

Probably how they are building the spacestation. A bunch of
astro-construction workers doing the assembly work with their spacecraft and
its truck driver near bye. So the answer is it would be built in space.

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 03:09:47
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
Subject: RE: Yet more filk

At 09:26 AM 8/2/99 -0500, you wrote:

>WOW!
>
>Doug, you and Kirsten are *truly* filk meisters!

Thanks to everyone who posted their praise.  I live for it.

Kirsten was obsessing about the chorus all day yesterday, and even radioed
me at work when she had a fix.  I'll post it to the Silly Era's filk
section on Wednesday.
- -- 

Doug Berry
dberry@hooked.net
http://www.hooked.net/~dberry

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 07:43:56 -0500
From: "Andrew Akins" <igor@truserve.com>
Subject: First In

I'd like to discuss First In for a moment...

I've been working on some Java software to automate First In (insert
shameless plug), and I've noticed something - the stats generated are very
non-Traveller like.

Now, several disclaimers. First, I have discussed this with John. Second, I
LOVE First In, and as an amature astronomer (minor in Astrophysics) I think
John has done the best realistic job - compared to all the other games I've
seen.

The problem is, from a Traveller standpoint, there just aren't too many
liveable planets. The vast majority of planets generated appear to be
airless rockballs, no water - including worlds in the lifezone. While this
may be realistic, it doesn't _feel_ like Traveller.

So I guess I have a few questions -
    One: has anyone else noticed this? 'Cause if you haven't, maybe there's
a bug in my software.
    Two: Is this something that should be changed for a "Traveller-esqe"
campaign?
    Three: How could it be changed? What tables/rolls/DMs can be fiddled
with to get a few more planets with atmospheres and hydrospheres as
mainworlds?

Andy


+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Andrew Akins                                                       |
| Home: igor@truserve.com - http://www.truserve.com/~igor/           |
| Work: andya@cms-gt.com - http://www.cms-gt.com/                    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
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|       b+++ DI+ D-- G e++ h---- r+++ y++++                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 00:46:37 +1200
From: "Andrew Moffatt-Vallance" <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz>
Subject: First Imperium settlement patterns (was: Book Reviews Requested)

From:           	Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Date sent:      	Mon, 2 Aug 1999 22:51:03 +0100

> On Mon, 02 Aug 1999, you wrote:

> - the settlement tables make it quite difficult for a planet to have been
> settled in the First Imperium. Was the First Imperium so sparse?

Quite probably. From all information it seems that the Ziru Sirka was rather
weak on the biological sciences. Consequently alot of the more marginal
worlds would have been effectively closed to them. Thus it seems likely
that the ZS would have had to restrict it's settlement to worlds with
"freindly" environments.


Andrew etc
http://users.netaccess.co.nz/amv/
    Listening to way to much Dave Brubeck

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 10:13:37 -0300
From: Michel Vaillancourt <misha@empire.atlantic-online.ns.ca>
Subject: Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....

At 08:55 AM 7/31/1999 PST, you wrote:
>To *incinerate* something (actually "vaporize") you need to figure the
>mass and "average" composition. Then look up the specific heat of the
>material. That's the amount of energy it takes to raise one gram (or is
>it kilo?) one degree C. So figure what it takes to heat it from the
>starting temp to the melting temp. Now you need to look up the "heat of
>liquefaction". That's how much energy it takes to change one unit of the
>solid at melting temp to one unit of *liquid* at melting temp. Then you
>use the specific heat again to figure out how much energy it takes to
>raise the liquid to boiling. The you use the heat of vaporization to
>see how much energy it takes to change a unit of liquid at boiling to a
>unit of vapor at boiling. 
>
>In general it takes *hideous* amounts of power to vaporize anything.
>

        Hi, Leonard!
        Thanks very much.  Somewhere in that pile of arcane knowledge of
yours, you wouldn't happen to know what those numbers (specific heat) are
for stainless steel and aircraft aluminum?  Thanks.

        --Michel
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Michel R. Vaillancourt	misha@atlantic-online.ns.ca
				ICQ # 31172292
	"Reality Error in Progress....
			....Do Not Adjust Your Penguin"	
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Into Cyberpunk?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/cp2020"
	Into Traveller?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/traveller"
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	***REMEMBER - Always virus-check your emails ***
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 10:13:41 -0300
From: Michel Vaillancourt <misha@empire.atlantic-online.ns.ca>
Subject: Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....

At 06:38 PM 8/2/1999 +0100, you wrote:
> MIRACL, the USA's satellite-whacking laser
>uses ten mid-IR lasers on different bands firing out of the same hole to
>help offset this, but there's a limit to how clever ou can get there before
>the different wavelength beams start to behave differently.
>
>Nick

        Hi, Nick!
        What is the output on MIRACL?  Just out of curiousity;  the scenario
is a TL~8 world where the players have a situation where a rival stellar
government has replaced a shut down weather sat with a mutli-projectile
massdriver battle-sat...  which, of course, is about to slag most of the
population centers of the planet.  Which, of course, the players have found
out and are trying to stop.  They hit the battle-sat with a ground-based
laser;  I had WAG'd it at around 100MW, and figured that would be enough to
at least disable it if not blow it to pieces.

>Engineer in this universe,
>Gearhead in the others.

        I *like* it!
        
        --Michel
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Michel R. Vaillancourt	misha@atlantic-online.ns.ca
				ICQ # 31172292
	"Reality Error in Progress....
			....Do Not Adjust Your Penguin"	
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Into Cyberpunk?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/cp2020"
	Into Traveller?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/traveller"
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	***REMEMBER - Always virus-check your emails ***
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 10:32:32 -0300
From: Michel Vaillancourt <misha@empire.atlantic-online.ns.ca>
Subject: Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....

        Thanks to everyone who has answered me.  This list is an amazing
resource.

        --Michel
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Michel R. Vaillancourt	misha@atlantic-online.ns.ca
				ICQ # 31172292
	"Reality Error in Progress....
			....Do Not Adjust Your Penguin"	
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Into Cyberpunk?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/cp2020"
	Into Traveller?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/traveller"
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	***REMEMBER - Always virus-check your emails ***
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 11:48:59 -0300
From: Michel Vaillancourt <misha@empire.atlantic-online.ns.ca>
Subject: Re: Spacecreaft Combat ratings questions

At 10:05 PM 8/2/1999 +0100, you wrote:
>>   The grumbling and headscratching had something to do with the
>>breeze generated by all the handwaving I did. I'm more
>>comfortable with the 1 Billion credit per SDB squadron fudge
>>factor, but 2 billion works just as well if not better.
>
>
>I'd go for the 2 billion. Four 400dt SDBs are almost worthless as a fighting
>unit. Even with half as many squadrons, eight is a decent sized unit, able
>to engage most opponents if using the right tactics. Or at least, that's my
>view.
>
>Nick
>
        Anything less than 1000dton is a criticals-magnet, waiting for some
lunatic with several rows of USP9 lasers and missles to alblatize the armor
belt and convert it to a smear of plasma.

        --Michel
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Michel R. Vaillancourt	misha@atlantic-online.ns.ca
				ICQ # 31172292
	"Reality Error in Progress....
			....Do Not Adjust Your Penguin"	
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	Into Cyberpunk?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/cp2020"
	Into Traveller?  Check Out:
		"http://www.atlantic-online.ns.ca/traveller"
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-
	***REMEMBER - Always virus-check your emails ***
	-+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+-

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 11:04:58 -500
From: "Jeff Beeler" <jabeeler@sleepy.ebtech.net>
Subject: Re: First In

> I'd like to discuss First In for a moment...
> 
> I've been working on some Java software to automate First In (insert
> shameless plug), and I've noticed something - the stats generated are very
> non-Traveller like.
> 
> Now, several disclaimers. First, I have discussed this with John. Second,
> I LOVE First In, and as an amateur astronomer (minor in Astrophysics) I
> think John has done the best realistic job - compared to all the other
> games I've seen.
> 
> The problem is, from a Traveller standpoint, there just aren't too many
> liveable planets. The vast majority of planets generated appear to be
> airless rockballs, no water - including worlds in the lifezone. While this
> may be realistic, it doesn't _feel_ like Traveller.
> 
> So I guess I have a few questions -
>     One: has anyone else noticed this? 'Cause if you haven't, maybe
>     there's
> a bug in my software.
Yes I have noticed this.  On my first try I had to start over and 
fudge to get a habitable without high technology world in the life 
zone.

>     Two: Is this something that should be changed for a "Traveller-esqe"
> campaign?

Yes it could reflect terraforming done by the Ancients and during 
the first and second imperiums.

>     Three: How could it be changed? What tables/rolls/DMs can be fiddled
> with to get a few more planets with atmospheres and hydrospheres as
> mainworlds?
> 
Not sure.
Jeffrey Allan Beeler jabeeler@sleepy.ebtech.net

"The truth is out there you just have to know where to look!"

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 11:13:00 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Xenobiology 101 : Ecology, Environment, and Evolution (long)

Robert O'Connor writes:
<snipped>
>Most soils are complex mixtures of organic and inorganic compounds. Their
>fertility or carrying capacity varies with their ability to retain
>nutrients - or toxic materials e.g. clay soils and aluminium salts.

	Soils are also the location of extremely complex and important 
	communities, made up of arthropods, worms, fungi, etc. These
	communities tend to overlooked as they are mostly invisible to
	us.

<snipped>
>Producers can be further divided into point and area subgroups. Point
>producers are typically single large organisms (trees, creosote bushes),
>area producers groups of many small organisms (grass, bacteria). This
>division is a consequence of scaling laws and niche competition (see >below).

	I don't follow this distinction. Any organism may be large or
	small, may be solitary or live in groups, etc.

<snipped>
>At each level, energy is consumed in metabolic activity. Each level of
>a food pyramid is 10% the size of the level below i.e. 100kg of producers
>(plants, etc.) supports 10kg of primary consumer (herbivore) supports 1kg
>of secondary consumer (carnivore), etc.

	This is a very good rule of thumb. I would just add that a given
	organism is not necessarily restricted to one "trophic level."
	For example, bears can be considered primary, secondary, and
	sometimes even tertiary consumers.

<snipped>
>A synonymous term for ecosystem is biome.

	Biome is usually reserved for larger-scale divisions, while
	a small pond may be an ecosystem.

<snipped>
>Koppen classification and example ecosystems <edited>
>* A : hot, mean monthly temperature > 18 C
>* B : dry (average rainfall less than 300mm/yr)
>	Variants : h (average temp > 18 C) or k (average temp < 18 C)
>* C : temperate, mean temperature of coldest month -3 to 18 C
>* D : cool, mean temperature of coldest month < -3 C
>* E : cold climates, mean temp of hottest month < 10 C
>	Variant : H > 1500m above sea level

	I'm not familiar with the Koppen system, but these divisions
	seem a little awkward. For example, B overlaps with the other
	biomes. Typically, biomes are identified on Terra without any
	attempt to generalize the system (so that it might include 
	other biospheres). The nearest biology text book here 
	identifies 12 biomes (the term is usually reserved for
	terrestrial systems): tundra, boreal forest, temperate 
	deciduous forest, grassland, cold desert, hot desert, 
	Mediterranian, thorn forest, tropical savanna, tropical
	deciduous forest, tropical evergreen forest, and montane 
	forest. These divisions are not always clear-cut (pardon the 
	pun) and each may include numerous ecosystems.

<snipped>
>A 'niche' can be defined as 'the functional role of an organism within
>its community'.

	This is possibly a useful definition of a niche, but bear in
	mind that organisms do not exist to fill a role in the 
	community. My old biology text defines "ecological niche"
	thus: "The place occupied by a species in the community 
	structure of which it is a part; the way in which an organism
	utilizes the resources of its ecosystem."

<snipped>
>Types include :-
>- -Predation :- plant is eaten by herbivore is eaten by carnivore.
>- -Competition :- use of similar resources - e.g. herbivores in a given 
>ecosystem
>- -Allelopathy :- inhibition of competitors e.g. fungi and bacteria 
>making antibiotics, pine trees acidifying the soil around them.

	This might be seen merely as one particular tactic in 
	Competition.

>- -Parasitism :- dependence of one organism upon another (the latter 
>may or may not benefit from the association). E.g. tapeworm and man
>(amensalism) or remora and shark (commensalism).

	Parasitism is usually considered to be detrimental to the
	"host." Amensalism refers to a relationship in which one
	organism is harmed while the other is unaffected.
	Commensalism refers to the case where one organism benifits 
	while the other is unaffected. Tapeworms are definitely
	parasites, as the host loses resources to the tapeworm (in
	western societies, we have so much food that the negative
	effects of the tapeworm are negligible). The remora/shark
	relationship is probably a commensalism, but true 
	amensalisms and commensalisms are probably rare.

>- -Protocooperation :- a mutually beneficial but non-obligate
>relationship e.g. goby fish and pygmy shrimp (the latter digs a 
>burrow for the former who catches the food).
>- - Mutualism :- symbiosis : mutual benefit, mutual dependence (lichens
>are communities of algae and fungi).

	We can look at the effects of any relationship between 
	organisms as + (benefit), - (detriment), or 0 (no effect)
	on species A/species B:
	+/+  Mutualism
	+/0  Commensalism
	+/-  Predation or Parasitism (the distinction can get a
			little fuzzy)
	-/-  Competition
	-/0  Amensalism
	0/0  no interaction

<snipped>
>Consider flight as an example. There are many theories as to how flight
>began. Given the long history of life on Earth, it was probably
>discovered independently several times throughout the animal kingdom.

	This brings up the notions of "homologous" and "analogous"
	structures. Homologous structures have evolved from the
	same ancestral structure (e.g. human arms and bird wings),
	while analogous structures evolved from different structures
	but serve the same function and may be superficially
	similar (e.g. bird wings and insect wings).

>Wings may have begun as radiators for insects ; as the insects grew
>larger over evolutionary time, their radiators grew too - eventually
>attaining a critical wingspan. Halteres or wing stubs still persist on
>flies, but act as control surfaces during flight.

	Halteres are thought to have evolved from fully developed
	wings in the ancestor of the "Diptera" (two-winged insects).

<snipped>
>Interestingly, the genes that code for overall eye development are
>tightly conserved across species ; there is not very much difference
>between those of a fruit fly, mouse or man.

	This implies some homology. Our common ancestor probably
	already had some sort of light-sensitive structure that
	independantly evolved in each lineage.

>Succession can be seen as a form of ecosystem evolution.

	<cringe> I would avoid the term "evolution" here, to
	avoid confusion with organic evolution. The processes are
	entirely different.

>Sucesssion can be divided into three stages :- pioneer, intermediate
>and climax.
>In the pioneer stage, diversity of species is low as the supporting
>plants are small and sparse.
>Over the course of years, species diversity expands greatly as more
>plants arise ; this intermediate stage is the 'richest' one in terms of
>diversity and plant density.
>In the climax stage, the environment has matured. Trees dominate and
>support a wide range of animal life.

	Early successional plants are usually good dispersers, sun-
	tolerant, poor competitors, and fast-growing. As succession 
	continues, more plants are slow-growing, competative, and
	long-lived. I would note that the maximum species diversity is
	usually at the edge of a field (or any other ecosystem).

	Another great post, Robert! Thank you for taking the time to
	put all this together. What's next?

Peez

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 11:19:44 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: Re: RL:There's Oil in them thar Saturnian satellites...

Bruce Macintosh writes:
<snipped>
>exotic organic compounds occuring. In some ways, Titan is the most
>earthlike place in the solar system right now...
<snipped>

	Does that mean that you've given up on the third planet?

:-)
Peez

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 09:57:51 -0700
From: "Bruce Macintosh" <bruce.macintosh@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: RL:There's Oil in them thar Saturnian satellites...

>All told, though, an easily transportable petrochemical feedstock...once
>a _little_ infrastructure gets built it should be cheaper to drop it in
>system from Titan than boosting it up from Earth

Maybe with Traveller technology...but not with most plausible
reaction drives. (Especially at current oil prices, but even in the moderate
term,
until we run out of oil down here completely.)

On the other hand, it's quite possible there are more exotic organic
molecules present - the kinds that don't form in the presence of oxygen but
can
occur in bizzare reactions in the nitrogen/methane atmosphere. One can
imagine those being too expensive to manufacture on Earth, and building a
device in Titan's seas to sift them out for shipping home.

>twice now you've mentioned 'tholens'... maybe I was sleeping that day in
>organic chem, but I've never heard  the term...what are they?
"Tholen" is really astronomer-speak for the general class of solid organic
gunk you get when you run electricity through methane/ethane and let the
results condense. I think the term was coined by Carl Sagan (though I don't
have the reference handy) when he was a working scientist. It generally
signifies a mix of bizzare solid organic H/C/N combinations that are solid
at room temperature and pretty black. Much more an astronomer term than
a chemist term.

Bruce

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 18:13:46 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: OT: Blair Witch Project (UK)

FWIW, bearing in mind the level of discussion here on the list, UK TMLrs
may be interested to know that the Blair Witch Project is to be on general
release here over the Halloween weekend. Apparently there may be some
previews at the Edinburgh Fringe too.

After Doug's advice I won't be taking my teddy bear to see it in case he
gets too scared!

Dom

- ----------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com------------
"In the End I found beginnings, not a vision, a wake up call.
Raised from the dead by a beating heart and at last I can
  see it all. And my eyes were opened to the darkness.."
                  Fish /Raingods with Zippos/
Rob Prior's Mac software @ http://www.bits.org.uk/ 

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

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 12:21:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: jmaclean@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Re: Xenobiology 101 : Ecology, Environment, and Evolution (long)

On 08/02/99 09:08:51 Robert O'Connor wrote:
>At each level, energy is consumed in metabolic activity. Each level of
>a food pyramid is 10% the size of the level below i.e. 100kg of 
>producers (plants, etc.) supports 10kg of primary consumer (herbivore)
>supports 1kg of secondary consumer (carnivore), etc.
>
>This 'biomass' relation is universal.

	Didn't you say in an earlier post that ecosystems based on 
reptiles or other low-metabolism critters passed a larger fraction
of energy on to the next level and therefore could support more
consumers?


- ------------------
Jim MacLean
Economist, Traveller Fan
Co-Author GT: Far Trader

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 10:21:40 -0700
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu>
Subject: Re: RL:There's Oil in them thar Saturnian satellites...

Bruce Macintosh wrote:
> 

> >twice now you've mentioned 'tholens'... maybe I was sleeping that day in
> >organic chem, but I've never heard  the term...what are they?
> "Tholen" is really astronomer-speak for the general class of solid organic
> gunk you get when you run electricity through methane/ethane and let the
> results condense. I think the term was coined by Carl Sagan (though I don't
> have the reference handy) when he was a working scientist. It generally
> signifies a mix of bizzare solid organic H/C/N combinations that are solid
> at room temperature and pretty black. Much more an astronomer term than
> a chemist term.

Ok, so it's what chemists call 'gook'. As in "$#%@$!# it! I can't clean
this %%$@$!# gook out of the bottom of this $500 reaction flask!"

It was curious, since I did a search for tholen on the web, and one of
the first hits turned up one David Tholen, a planetary scientist who got
his degree here at the UA, who is working at the U Hawaii Institute of
Astronomy...

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

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

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 12:06:42
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
Subject: Re: OT: Blair Witch Project (UK)

At 06:13 PM 8/3/99 +0100, you wrote:
>FWIW, bearing in mind the level of discussion here on the list, UK TMLrs
>may be interested to know that the Blair Witch Project is to be on general
>release here over the Halloween weekend. Apparently there may be some
>previews at the Edinburgh Fringe too.

Good news for the independant filmakers of the world: in it's first weekend
of general release, BWP took in S28 million at the box office.  The only
film that beat it was _Runaway Bride_, which did 34 million on three times
as many screens!  (Dollars per screen is what the industry really watches,
so BWP kicked some serious butt.)

Not bad for a film with a total cost of US$ 60,000.


- -- 

Doug Berry
dberry@hooked.net
http://www.hooked.net/~dberry

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

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 19:54:51 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Yet more filk

>>WOW!
>>
>>Doug, you and Kirsten are *truly* filk meisters!
>
>Thanks to everyone who posted their praise.  I live for it.


Well, it even got me emotional, and I wasn't *alive* at the point the song
starts...

Nick

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

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 20:05:48 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Ground To Space Laser Fire....

>        Hi, Nick!
>        What is the output on MIRACL?  Just out of curiousity;  the
scenario
>is a TL~8 world where the players have a situation where a rival stellar
>government has replaced a shut down weather sat with a mutli-projectile
>massdriver battle-sat...  which, of course, is about to slag most of the
>population centers of the planet.  Which, of course, the players have found
>out and are trying to stop.  They hit the battle-sat with a ground-based
>laser;  I had WAG'd it at around 100MW, and figured that would be enough to
>at least disable it if not blow it to pieces.


Uhh.....I'd have to look it up. It's theoretically classified, but it's been
interpolated by lots of military analysts. IIRC the smart money's on 2.2 MW,
or thereabouts. That may be totally wrong, though (2.2 GW, 1.1MW, the
possibilities are endless) - there's a lot of useless crap floating around
in my head and sometimes numbers jump from one thing to another.

2.2MW will slag solar panels almost instantly, and will melt external
fittings (comms and sensor antennae) in a few seonds. The body of the sat is
probably armoured (gold foil, ablative coatings* etc) so it probably won't
get a hard kill. That's what happened to the USAF 'target' sat. Stopped
working (or transmitting, anyway) but stayed in orbit.

100MW on the other hand, is a damned hefty weapon. That's 10 megajoules in a
tenth of a second (about as fast as you can flip a firing switch up and then
down again). Obviously, a stellar-tech sat could be armoured against that,
but if it was a small simple job that wasn't intended to get shot at it
might very easily not have been.

Your 100MW laser could have a wide range of effects, from instant boom
(rapid penetration of a propellant/coolant tank leading to explosive
decompression) to slagging (even just by overheating) vital electronics, to
melting part of the structure, to slagging vital bits on the outside. It
depends on how well armoured the sat is, how long the beam stays on target
for, and a bunch of other stuff you can make up to get the result you want.

>>Engineer in this universe,
>>Gearhead in the others.
>        I *like* it!


You just try playing Ars Magica with a gearhead. Or AD&D. *Then* see how you
like it...<g>

Nick

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #915
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