Cancer Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 Re: The Last Word I give two midterms; this first one is being pushed back an extra few days from its' "nominal" date becuse of some topic slippage and the collision with the holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Ah. Stupid religious holidays, in the middle of the term . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Hey, I'll take the day off, heathen scum though I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Holidays tend to be more of an inconvenience than a break for me, though. I usually end up working on them, anyway, then discover on my way home that the errand I wanted to run can't be done, because the office is closed. Arrrrgh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word With two jobs, it's not quite that I get the day off; rather, I get to do catch-up hours at the other site without losing home time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Another solid technobabble entry: "Global Three-dimensional Magentohydrodynamic Simulations of Galactic Gaseous Disks. I. Amplification of Mean Magnetic Fields in an Axisymmetric Gravitational Potential" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word . . . Query: How many Americans have to work two jobs to make ends meet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Um . . . My mom. I used to, too. I dunno about the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word I don't; I have other reasons for working two jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Why on earth would someone work two jobs if they didn't have to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word . . . They like them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word They like both; both employers are flexible; wanting to keep multiple career paths open; ... Yes, it's a hassle in some ways.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Re: The Last Word Ah. I was working one full-time and a part-time to help pay off stuff and help ends meet. All I really remember about that point in time was being very, very, very tired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted April 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word All I really remember about that point in time was being very' date=' very, very tired.[/quote']I can imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted April 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word Cancer: I was wondering what the effect would be on using magnetics as an offensive weapon. Not the typical telekinetic metal objects effects, more along the lines of "heavy magnetics" -- direct rather than indirect. Lightning is well known offensive type weapon used directly, but magnetics seem more used subtle ie non direct. Also in near a black hole, what is the effects that magnetics play here. This is more along the lines of the offensive weapon/effect I'm imagining. And how would it scale as a weapon. The genre I thinking of using this in is a typical fantasy spell/power effect versus a dragon. Any help appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word Cancer: I was wondering what the effect would be on using magnetics as an offensive weapon. Not the typical telekinetic metal objects effects, more along the lines of "heavy magnetics" -- direct rather than indirect. Lightning is well known offensive type weapon used directly, but magnetics seem more used subtle ie non direct. Also in near a black hole, what is the effects that magnetics play here. This is more along the lines of the offensive weapon/effect I'm imagining. And how would it scale as a weapon. The genre I thinking of using this in is a typical fantasy spell/power effect versus a dragon. Any help appreciated. Living matter is about the worst target for a direct magnetic weapon. Just about anything else is more susceptible. It's not very conductive (electrically); it has very little magnetic permeability. Attacking living matter purely with magnetic fields is like trying to remove countersunk screws with a crescent wrench. It's just the wrong tool. Yes, I've seen the picture of the mouse being magnetically levitated ... so the effect isn't zero, but it's grossly inefficient. In a fantasy world, you're free to postulate nonstandard physics. If you say that, oh, the soul or spirit or some other essential noncorporeal portion of a creature exists and can be affected by magnetic forces and thus strong magnetism becomes (in effect) an NND attack, you can do that ... but it's not real physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word I know they test stress in most psychology experiments by testing the skin's conductivity . . . a person under more stress conducts electricity more efficiently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word They're a-sweatin'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word Ditto if you're sick ... your electrolyte balance is altered. But the magnitude of the effect is small. The change is a fraction of the normal overall resistance. I think I'd put this another way. If I was a member of a race of metallic critters against whom magnetic weaposn were exceedingly potent, and I was trying to handwave up an alien invader species for my FRPG that was just about entirely immune to magnetic weapons, I could do much worse than come up a race of creatures made of fats & proteins, with an endoskeleton of porous calciferous nonconducting rocklike stuff, whose metabolic internal circulation was done by a suspension of tiny protein units drifting in a solution of impure and only weakly polar water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted April 12, 2006 Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 Re: The Last Word I love it when you talk science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted April 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Re: The Last Word Living matter is about the worst target for a direct magnetic weapon. Just about anything else is more susceptible. It's not very conductive (electrically); it has very little magnetic permeability. Attacking living matter purely with magnetic fields is like trying to remove countersunk screws with a crescent wrench. It's just the wrong tool. Yes, I've seen the picture of the mouse being magnetically levitated ... so the effect isn't zero, but it's grossly inefficient. In a fantasy world, you're free to postulate nonstandard physics. If you say that, oh, the soul or spirit or some other essential noncorporeal portion of a creature exists and can be affected by magnetic forces and thus strong magnetism becomes (in effect) an NND attack, you can do that ... but it's not real physics. I think I can explain myself a little better. The effect I'm thinking of using magnetism as a crushing attack. I want to be able to crush your typical fantasy dragon'with sheer magnetic force. Normally magnetism is pretty weak, as we normally percieve it, but I guesstimate that it is much stronger and potent near a black hole. I further hypothise that magnetic fields would crush and rip apart the structural integrity of a 'typical starship'. Going back to the fantasy genre, say for instance I'm a wizard casting a spell that creates a huge influx of magnetic fields in a localised area, about 10x or 100x more than nornal, what would be the fall out effects? Some I can think of are: - stability of the ground would earthquake - all nearby metal would be attracted to the spells focus, the dragon - the localised air would feel 'heavy', possibly making breathing difficult, choking fellow party members Any other fallout effects? (hopefully this explains it better) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Re: The Last Word (snip) If you say that, oh, the soul or spirit or some other essential noncorporeal portion of a creature exists and can be affected by magnetic forces and thus strong magnetism becomes (in effect) an NND attack, you can do that ... but it's not real physics. You liar! Take it back! TAKE IT BACK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Re: The Last Word I think I can explain myself a little better. The effect I'm thinking of using magnetism as a crushing attack. I want to be able to crush your typical fantasy dragon'with sheer magnetic force. I just thought of the other most common trait associated with dragons - fire breathing. As you know, plasma can be controlled with magnetic fields. You may not be able to crush the dragon, but you could certainly cook it with its own breath. Bazza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted April 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Re: The Last Word I just thought of the other most common trait associated with dragons - fire breathing. As you know, plasma can be controlled with magnetic fields. You may not be able to crush the dragon, but you could certainly cook it with its own breath. No I didn't know that plasma can be controlled by magnetic fields. can you provide more info or a web site I can read up on. very interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Re: The Last Word Wikipedia is your friend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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