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The Technobabbler
Topic Started: Jul 1 2008, 09:20 PM (229 Views)
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This is where technologies are generated. I may not have a degree in aerospace engineering (yet...) but I do know a thing or two about physics. Since this RP aims to be more realistic than average most if not all technology will have to be based on real science. If you have some new technology you want to implement post it here and I'll see if I can come up with a way for it to work (possibly a set of strengths and weaknesses at the same time).

Here are a few things which are entirely inescapable.

  • Thermodynamics. You can't win, you can only break even. You can only break even at absolute zero. You can not reach absolute zero. Basically this means that no system is 100% efficient and will generate waste heat. You can not harness more than a small percentage of that energy for increased efficiency.
  • Conservation. Matter and energy can never be created or destroyed. If you want to get energy you need a power supply, obviously. On the flip side, once your engine generates waste heat you can't make it disappear; all you can do is send it somewhere else. Between this and thermo, stealth in space is virtually impossible for anything aside from a drone running on Duracell batteries making no attempts to maneuver; a manned ship near Earth that is warm enough to prevent death by crystallized water will be detectable from Jupiter. There are no "low signature" drive systems you can use.
  • Relativity. You can not accelerate any mass to the speed of light. Tachyons, which are particles that always travel faster than light, are permitted under special circumstances... but the only known tachyon type (generated by warp drive and deep space communications systems) has properties similar to those of a neutrino, making it useless as a weapon or for travel. On a side note, warp drive is a shortcut; you do not exceed the speed of light within your own frame of reference.


Since some of the things we will be using require a few properties we haven't discovered yet it would be reasonable to fill in the gaps a little bit. Fictional materials would be the most common version, though there are limits to what it is physically possible for a material to do. Try not to defy the laws of physics. The first person who mentions nadion particles will be scientifically flogged and Spartan kicked.
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PsychoPyth
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What about nadion particles? :D

But yeah, thank you for offering your scientifically literate services. XD
Edited by PsychoPyth, Jul 2 2008, 12:10 PM.
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