I noticed an article in the Orlando Sentinel-The newspaper of record
for my area- buried back on page 14 where a Brit-Scot science team
have a working magnetic levitation system working that is capable of floating
just about any type of material. In the demonstration they magnetically
floated a frog for several minutes with no ill effects to the frog. Apparently
the way they did it was by magnetically distorting the orbits of the frog's
electron shells surrounding it's atomic nuclei so that the electrons literally
dragged the nuclei with them, suspending the frog within the field at a height
where gravity and field strength cancelled one another's effects. They
indicated that the field was several million times the magnetic field strength
of earth's own and that they could suspend "anything conceivably.
> From frogs to sandwiches" Assuming the recent advances in magnetic
I can see those Indonesian gunskimmers now.......
I've been using size class 4 Grav MICVs (Stealthed to size 1) with reactive
armor full of PA infantry. Hideously expensive, but last game of my two 3 MICV
groups, I only lost 1 MICV! (Enemy used LOTS of GMS fire) I evaded to point
blank, debarked my infantry and
overran his firebase.;-)
Mike sez... (among some snippage)
> I can see those Indonesian gunskimmers now.......
For once, so can I. My mother sent me that clipping from the paper. I may have
to rethink my attitude about 'Grav' vehicles, now magrep or repulsorlift or
somesuch seems less nonsensical. Grav vehicles are usually the first
things to go in my altogether gritty, relatively lo-tech near future.
Gene
> Mike sez... (among some snippage)
I've always thought along the same lines, and originally the grav bits in DSII
and SGII were mainly for completeness and to keep it generic, as some
backgrounds that we anticipated people wanting to play in had very prominent
antigrav (SW for one). [OK, grav crept into the "official" timeline, though I
sometimes wished it hadn't...:)].
However, these reports (assuming they are correct - they weren't
published around the 1st of April by any chance, were they...?) certainly give
rise to some interesting thoughts. In game terms, I still tend towards making
grav tech expensive and even unreliable (as in needing lots of high-tech
support backup) simply as a mechanic for limiting its over-use on the
tabletop. Grav is great for the units that REALLY need it
(rapid-response
forces, first wave interface assaults etc) but is too costly to use in
situations where a good old wheeled/tracked carrier will do instead.
> I've always thought along the same lines, and originally the grav bits
I'm OK with gravitics in games with a more Science Fantasy flavor, but to my
mind DS2 lends itself much more to the 'Sweat stained Nemourlon Armor and
rugged Combat rifle based on
the century-and-a-half old Kalashnikov action'
type of game. I also think that things like cold fusion,
room-temperature superconductivity, and magrep/ anti-grav would
utterly change the face of war as we imagine it. All depending on it's
price tag/ reliability of course.Traveller was the first SF game I
played, so gravitics are 'grandfathered' in, same with the Bellum Stellari
stuff...
> However, these reports (assuming they are correct - they weren't
Yep, makes sense to me. In the Campaign Universe I'm working on, most planets
within a given Interstellar Entity are given the basic MilSpec on say,
Howitzer Ammo and are given free reign from there. Just don't let the Imperial
Government Auditing Corps find out that those 155mm Shells are actually
157mm.... By and large defenses are governed by the
ability of a planet to muster what it can. On one world, Horse-Mounted
Infantry is the standard High-Mobility force, on another troops tool
around in MHD powered GEV Armored Cars. On another Leg Infantry and Towed
Weapons are the norm. As long as the Interstellar Government can find suitable
ammo and replacements for their Federal 'Supermilitary' they could care less.
The job of the Planetary Forces is to buy time while the 'Real' troops (the
Imperials) get their act together, along with protecting government interests
and policing. If these folks are actually modern fighting units, more the
better.....
Later,
Gene
> [quoted text omitted]
> At 10:53 AM 4/22/97 +0000, you wrote:
First off, I'd just like to point out that Scots ARE "Brits." What we AREN'T
is English.
Second, is that the only coverage you saw? Up here in Toronto it got coverage
on TV as well as the newspapers. They showed pictures of a levitating frog. I
thought they also did it with a mouse. I suspect that a lot of people didn't
quite catch the implications, but I thought it was quite exciting. The
apparatus is huge and clunky, though they mentioned that one of their next
steps is to build a machine big enough to levitate a human.
First the Mars rock, then cloning, then the suggestion that there might be
life on Europa. Now anti-grav frogs. Maybe Jon should redo his timeline
in
the GZG rulebooks. It may be a little too conservative... :-)
> [quoted text omitted]
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
I was slightly disapointed with the Grav Vehicles in SGII/DSII. I felt
that They would be a step up in VTOL technolagy (able to do pop up attacks and
still have heavy armour).
And given that Fast Grav gives almost the same abillities at 40% discount....
> >have a working magnetic levitation system working that is capable of
> First off, I'd just like to point out that Scots ARE "Brits." What we
As a Welshman, I have to agree with the sentiments here :-)
> Second, is that the only coverage you saw? Up here in Toronto it got
I'm not getting in that thing! I've heard some worrying things about the
effects of strong magnetic fields
on the human brain - it seems that they can cause some VERY weird
subjective experiences.
Hmm, there's a thought - how about some rules that cause human operated
magrep vehicles to go crazy every so often...
> First the Mars rock, then cloning, then the suggestion that there
Life on Europa? Is this the idea that there *could* be a liquid ocean under
the ice, which *might* be able to support life, is is there any new evidance?
Actually, I've been itching to do a Renegade Legion rules patch for DSII to
allow similar playing. Among the things that would get modified would be
making RenLeg grav vehicles be built as VTOLs (but without the ARMOUR
maximum), giving them the abilities of VTOLs but functioning as Fast Grav in
NoE mode. This really helps model the way
they're used as dual-role vehicles in the RenLeg universe.
SNIP
> First off, I'd just like to point out that Scots ARE "Brits." What
As another Scot, I do too- until we free (not Wee Free!) ourselves under
the benificent rule of President Connery...
> I'm not getting in that thing !
This reminds me of one of my undergrad textbooks, which had a section on brain
waves. One of the waves, I forget which, is measured on a subject "with his
eyes closed and his mind wandering". It proceeded to compare the
similar waves of humans, monkeys, cats and guinea-pigs. What I want to
know
is HOW DID THEY KNOW THE GUINEA-PIG'S MIND WAS WANDERING???
> First the Mars rock, then cloning, then the suggestion that there
It's the usual NASA physicists who know almost enough biology to recognise a
tree, but knowing that alien life puts bums on seats, making a
bid for a bit of funding. What they've found is the _possibility_ of a
good place to look. It isn't certain, for example, that the "ocean" is other
than occasionally slushy ice, as I can see you realise.
It would be fun, though, wouldn't it? :-) I wonder if the
public would be disappointed in a Europan "black smoker" community? (For
non-biol.
readers, these mainly consist of bacteria, wormy things and a few shrimps,
independent of sunlight thanks to the output of volcanic vents)
Cheers,
> On 23 Apr 1997, Alun Thomas wrote:
> > First the Mars rock, then cloning, then the suggestion that there
Being probably the only Oceanographer on this list, I thought I'd better jump
in. Over here this is a pretty exciting subject, especially considering we
have a couple of the researchers on this topic here (John Delaney and John
Baross, if there names have come up in your local broadcasts).
Basically, there is strong evidence of two important consistuants in current
theories of how to make life (besides the theistic
theory--please
don't flame me;). First is liquid water under the surface ice. Many of the
structures on the ice surface suggest that the ice has moved over time. They
look alot like how ice buckles together under pressure, or the way water fills
in when ice flows apart in the ice fields of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Now, if there is liquid water below the surface, this implies that Europa is
internally heated. The 2nd environmental necessity for life to develop is heat
(again, in theory). It also looks like there has been volcanic activity on
Europa at some point, which also suggests internal heating. This is most
likely caused by the strong tidal influences it experiences.
We know that life can exist without light (from hydrothermal vents on the
ocean floor), so that further suggests the potential for life to exist there.
All you need is some help from amino acids being injected into the water (via
comets) to spike the punch and there is some real potential. However, I must
interject that this is all very hypothetical, but it seems alot of science
fiction has become fact as of late.
Greetings All, My only question is: how do you get the mass driver mounted
onto the frog??
John Kinder Jkinder@worldnet.att.net
"Never wish an infantryman a good day" Charles Schultz
> At 10:56 AM 4/23/97, Alun wrote:
I take it that Alun is the Welsh spelling? Allan is the Scots spelling. Just
curious.
> I'm not getting in that thing !
That was the first thing I thought of. Mind you, it should be possible to
build a suit that could with stand the effects. I wonder how many practical
uses there are for this. I suspect that it could help out with fusion
reactors.
> Life on Europa ? Is this the idea that there *could* be a liquid ocean
As far as I know that's where it stands. The current questioning seems to be
more along the lines of whether or not the water on Europa is liquid or fully
solid, not whether or not there is water there at all.
> At 12:52 PM 4/23/97 +0100, Rob Paul wrote:
> It would be fun, though, wouldn't it? :-) I wonder if the
That's the big kicker. If there is life on Europa, and there is/was life
on Mars, it seems to suggest that life will develop almost anywhere. That
greatly increases the possibility that there is intelligent life somewhere
"out there." Currently we have no proof one way or the other, only a
statistical sample of one life bearing planet out of nine (and umpteen moons).
I saw a Discovery Canada programme (from the US Discovery channel) about the
Mars meteor. The NASA scientists had to give a briefing to a Congressional
committee. The chairman of the committee said something like, "Considering
that many of my constituents believe strongly in the Bible, this
[possible
proof of Martian life] poses some difficult questions. Do any of you want to
tackle this issue?" The NASA scientists laughed en masse...
> Seriously, I haven't heard of any of these events (except
Ain't it the truth! I LIVE near Kennedy Space center and see shuttles go up
from my backyard or office all the time and we STILL get almost no science
news. Sad and depressing...
:) Allan Blasphemes thusly:
> I saw a Discovery Canada programme (from the US Discovery channel)
about the
> Mars meteor. The NASA scientists had to give a briefing to a
I'll tackle it (even though I ain't no rocket scientist...) It seems that
there's life on pretty much every world. Each of these life forms was created
(molded from clay in our case) by our god (one unique to each planet BTW)
lovingly nurtured, painted, organized and set out upon the battlefield of
space to fight for supremacy using GZG's cool rule systems.....
> From the Gaseous inhabitants of Jupiter and their long lost Rebel
The battle for Mars, and the _real_ reason for the monolithic 'face'
thereon. the Plains of Nazca and 'Chariots of the Gods' The Fungi from
Yuggoth......
Gene
> [quoted text omitted]
Hello All...
Anti-Gravity... Free Electron Lasers... The possiblity of
life on other planets/moons... All we need know is a working hyperdrive
and we're in business. Seriously, I haven't heard of any of these events
(except the stuff about Callisto) on the news. Goes to show that the media
doesn't share our interests. It great time to be a sci-fi fan!
Later,
> At 10:51 AM 4/24/97 -0700, you wrote:
Hey, I didn't blaspheme, I only reported...
> I'll tackle it (even though I ain't no rocket scientist...) It seems
Nah, I believe that GZG's rules are the result of natural selection, and
survival of the fittest. Rule system Darwinism, rather than rule system
creationism. Hmmm. I'm not sure, but I think we just deified Jon...
> The Fungi from Yuggoth......
Have you seen _Delta Green_ yet? The Fungi are a lot cooler (and more
sinister) than we once believed...
> On Thu, 24 Apr 1997, Allan Goodall wrote:
by
> >our god (one unique to each planet BTW)...
> From the statement at the top, it looks like all you have to do to get
> Seriously, I haven't heard of any of these events (except
Not into one-ups-manship things, but here I succumb: I work in the
Science Ops Center of the Hubble project, and so much data goes through here I
only see a small fraction of it...and when something IS put out for public
release (ie, it's on the news, in the papers, etc) I typically don't know
about it 'til a friend or relative calls me up a week later to ask me about
it...and
I sit on the phone stupidly saying 'wha..?'
I get asked about all kinds of other space projects/missions all the
time,
too. And have no clue about most of them. :-( No more than anyone
else, anyhow.
<sigh> And they call this the 'information age'...
Mk
I'm not sure, but I want to see the next step so instead of levitating the
frog,
they create a railgun that shoots frogs ;-) []=== >#
> I'm not sure, but I want to see the next step so instead of levitating
Why would you want a railgun that can only shoot the French....? On the
other hand...... ;)
> Why would you want a railgun that can only shoot the French....? On the
> Jon (GZG)
Wouldn't Sharpe have loved this fire indiscriminately into a mellee and only
be able to hit the enemy!
> Hey, I didn't blaspheme, I only reported...
I just wanted to make sure that in the event the Almighty monitors this list
for content (and If he or she exists, being omniscient, does) that blame is
spread equally around. I figure it this way, if'n we all go to
hell, there'll be some good pick-up games of FT at least, and my die
rolling can't possibly be ANY worse, even in the infernal pits.
> Nah, I believe that GZG's rules are the result of natural selection,
Now I never said Jon created the universe, only gave us a playable, fun
model of the workings of it....... Although I _am_
willing to sacrifice a goat or two in his name, but hey, I'm that kinda guy:)
IA! IA! GeeZeeGee Ft'hagn! IA! J'onTee Ft'hagn!
> Have you seen _Delta Green_ yet? The Fungi are a lot cooler (and more
No, never heard of it, what's the deal.......
Jeez _more_ sinister ?!? So, surgically removing human brains and flying
them through space in lunchpails, exposing the fragile minds within to the
nameless horrors beyond the void.... I shudder to think of it.
Gene
> [quoted text omitted]