23/05/09 [PF #65] - Look! A female!

[Jairus]

When was the last time we saw one of those in Project Future?

So, how much of what Jakob is saying is actual science, and how much is technobabble? Also, Jakob's base is starting to remind me of Death's Domain from Discworld. Like, if Jakob wasn't maintaining it, it would just collapse because physics would catch up with it and realize that it's not working right.

[Tapewolf]

When was the last time we saw one of those in Project Future?

I am so going to Hell for this:


http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/ch7_p3.png

As for Elyza, we may see her again, or not.  That's up in the air at the moment.

So, how much of what Jakob is saying is actual science, and how much is technobabble?

I have actually done a small amount of research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokolov-Ternov_effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unruh_effect

...whether Unruh radiation actually exists is controversial so I may have goofed there.  However, synchrotron light is the primary reason the machines such as the Diamond Light Source are built.

Whether you can do what Jakob is doing with them is a wholly different question.

[Jairus]

When was the last time we saw one of those in Project Future?

I am so going to Hell for this:


http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/ch7_p3.png

As for Elyza, we may see her again, or not.  That's up in the air at the moment.

*giggles maniacally* Oh, that's too good. Oh, that just made my day. Thank you, Tape.

Also, interesting that you didn't just make up some stuff. You certainly did better than a lot of Star Trek episodes did. But I'm not going to start reading, otherwise I'll be on Wikipedia for hours.

[Pagan]

I wonder if she follows the threads here still...
Regardless of how hard the science actually is, it sounds like technobabble. No offense, Tape.

[techmaster-glitch]

Excepting the egregious cases of Star Trek tropes are not bad...

[Tapewolf]

Also, interesting that you didn't just make up some stuff. You certainly did better than a lot of Star Trek episodes did. But I'm not going to start reading, otherwise I'll be on Wikipedia for hours.

Yeah.  I think of PF as hard SF - magic notwithstanding, I'm trying to make things reasonably accurate science-wise.

Also, strictly this is page 65 - last week's Question screwed up the numbering.

EDIT:

Noo... grammar errors in the caption!  Fixed now.

I wonder if she follows the threads here still...
Regardless of how hard the science actually is, it sounds like technobabble. No offense, Tape.

In a way I consider it an easter-egg if someone gets what he's saying.  I do that sort of thing a lot.  It doesn't strictly matter since the net result will be explained in a couple of pages in much more simple terms.

If you're interested, what basically happens is that if you accelerate a particle such as an electron to near-lightspeed and then make it change its course using a magnetic field, it will emit a photon of energy which is known as Bremstrahlung Radiation.  This is also why CRT monitors emit soft x-rays, by the way.

In a synchrotron it will look like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Synchrotron_radiation.jpg
(You wouldn't catch me in that room!)

Synchrotron light has uses in biochemistry, crystallography, materials science and numerous other things besides.

Anyway, while I was looking for some equations to put on the whiteboard I also discovered that Bill Unruh, a respected physicist from Vancouver, claims that the particles will also emit another photon of energy for different reasons, though this remains unproven.  Whatever happens in this universe, I'll assume that it does happen in Furrae.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

In a synchrotron it will look like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Synchrotron_radiation.jpg
(You wouldn't catch me in that room!)

To be honest, I suspect the researchers set up a remote button on a tripod-mounted camera. I'd certainly hope so - after what happened to Marie Curie and her generation of researchers, I'd expect the current crop to be downright paranoid...

[Jairus]

In a synchrotron it will look like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Synchrotron_radiation.jpg
(You wouldn't catch me in that room!)

To be honest, I suspect the researchers set up a remote button on a tripod-mounted camera. I'd certainly hope so - after what happened to Marie Curie and her generation of researchers, I'd expect the current crop to be downright paranoid...

They may not be the best example, but on an episode of Mythbusters where they tested the myth about cockroaches being the only thing to survive a nuclear war, they had remote-control cameras set up in the room where the bugs (there were three types of bugs) were being exposed to radiation in a test facility. I bring this up, because in one scene one of the 'busters points out a stripe of tape on the floor and says that they're not allowed past that line, and they do not go past that line. So, offhand, remote camera is probably what's at work.

[Tapewolf]

To be honest, I suspect the researchers set up a remote button on a tripod-mounted camera. I'd certainly hope so - after what happened to Marie Curie and her generation of researchers, I'd expect the current crop to be downright paranoid...

True.  Also it's likely to be highly directional.

Anyway, if anyone's interested, here's a 1:1 closeup of yon demon lady:
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k216/tapewolf/projectfuture/elyza.png

Truth be told I'm not entirely happy with the eyes.  I might ask Keaton about that.

[SpottedKitty]

A blue demon-tigress? Looks nice. Interesting that all her fur is typical Creature weird colours, but her hair isn't. And those horns must make things awkward when it comes to hard hats — just when you thought ears would be tricky...

Edit: And I just noticed: Jakob and Elyza are wearing earmuffs, but the others don't need to, do they?

[Tapewolf]

Edit: And I just noticed: Jakob and Elyza are wearing earmuffs, but the others don't need to, do they?

Indeed.  Though partly that was laziness - originally they were all supposed to have radio headsets, but Ren forgot about it completely.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to do a good job of adding them to Josh in panels 1 and 3 so I just added them to Elyza and Jakob and left it at that.
The only problem comes if Jakob needs to hear what they're saying 

[Jack McSlay]

Countdown to resonance cascade...

[Pagan]

She's a demon? Huh... That's interesting. I don't think I've ever seen a non-hoofed demon before.

[Amber Williams]

MOAR CHICKS!

[Tapewolf]

She's a demon? Huh... That's interesting. I don't think I've ever seen a non-hoofed demon before.

I'm not honestly sure what she is:
http://missmab.com/Demo/demon.php
...but she doesn't look like a herd animal to me.

EDIT:
To clarify, I feel that Demons get a bit of a bad rap in PF - they killed Azrael and Joshua, for example.  However, Jakob isn't prejudiced - Jayhawk Cybernetics is an equal opportunities employer.

MOAR CHICKS!

Looks like we have our orders here, Ren...

[Jairus]

MOAR CHICKS! D:

The great and power Amber Williams has spoken! *strikes gong*

[Ren Gaulen]

MOAR CHICKS! D:

The moar the merrier!

[Pagan]

She's a demon? Huh... That's interesting. I don't think I've ever seen a non-hoofed demon before.

I'm not honestly sure what she is: http://missmab.com/Demo/demon.php ...but she doesn't look like a herd animal to me.

Eh, you make a good point.

And hey, look, it's an Amber.

[techmaster-glitch]

And hey, look, it's an Amber.

Wild AMBER appeared!
Wild AMBER used ART DEMANDS!
...It didn't affect TAPEWOLF!
It was super effective against REN GAULEN!

[Jairus]

And hey, look, it's an Amber.

*in hushed tones* And here we see the very rare Ambericus Williamenis, formerly known as Ambericus Panykosis. This shy creature only rarely leaves its den, where it surrounds itself with the materials necessary to create some of the most stunning forms of primitive art ever encountered! Now, be very quiet, or you might scare it away. Let's see if we can get in closer...

*the documentary crew were never found*

EDIT:

And hey, look, it's an Amber.

Wild AMBER appeared!
Wild AMBER used ART DEMANDS!
...It didn't affect TAPEWOLF!
It was super effective against REN GAULEN!

Never mind, that's much better than what I came up with.

[techmaster-glitch]

Never mind, that's much better than what I came up with.

Actually, yours is pretty good too.

[Tapewolf]

This may amuse some people:

http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/pf64b.png

[Jack McSlay]

This may amuse some people:

http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/pf64b.png

system shock?

[Sprocketsdance]

  The females are coming!! 

And hey, look, it's an Amber.

*in hushed tones* And here we see the very rare Ambericus Williamenis, formerly known as Ambericus Panykosis. This shy creature only rarely leaves its den, where it surrounds itself with the materials necessary to create some of the most stunning forms of primitive art ever encountered! Now, be very quiet, or you might scare it away. Let's see if we can get in closer…

*the documentary crew were never found*

very nice.

And very nice job on the female by the way 

[Ren Gaulen]

This may amuse some people:

http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/pf64b.png

system shock?

Deus Ex.

The females are coming!! 

*"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden plays*

And very nice job on the female by the way 

Thanks.