HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: urf@icl.se (Urban F)
Subject: Re: 3D-TV. How would you do it?
Organization: None. On USENET I speak only for myself.
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 17:00:36 GMT

mei172@cch.coventry.ac.uk (guru) sez:

>        in a lot of SF there's an assumption that 3D television will be as
>        ubiquitous as is 2D now, and I got to thinking, just how would you
>        make one?

How about stereo? A lot less trouble.

>        In the end I came to thinking about a foot-thick laminated LCD screen,

I think of rapidly rotating mirrors and lasers.

>        Now, the 3D camera. This is a tad more tricky, but possibly the
>        easiest way is to use a normal 2D camera with a very fine-pitch laser
>        (or similar) rangefinder to measure distances from the lens.

With just a single lens, you can't get images of what is behind
something, which you need, so at least two it is.
--
 Urban Fredriksson   urf@icl.se  (n.g.u.fredriksson.swe2001@oasis.icl.co.uk)
 Knowledge is power: Read books!
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: sdr57@cas.org ()
Subject: Re: Difference between Holograph and Hologram
Organization: Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus, Ohio
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 13:20:43 GMT

In article <1at9roINN96q@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> jtb5@po.CWRU.Edu (Justin T. Ballard) writes:
>
>With all this nitpicking going on I thought I would learn what the
>exact definition of two items in question. What is a hologram and
>what is a holograph. Thanks.
>--
>                                       Justin Ballard
>                                       jtb5@po.cwru.edu

Happy to oblige.

A hologram is a recording medium (usually a photographic plate)
containing the record of an interference pattern produced using
a split (laser) beam (the interference arises from the differences
between a reference portion of the beam and the portion of the beam
reflected from an object).

A holograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of
the person under whose name it appears.

******************************************************************************
Renegade academician. They're a dangerous breed when they go feral,
academics are...a chemist, too.
		    -(James P. Blaylock in "Lord Kelvin's Machine")

My organization hasn't agreed with any of my opinions so far, and
I doubt they'll start now.

Stanley "Ya nee speon" Roberts
From: sl25@cus.cam.ac.uk (Steve Linton)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Re: Illumination inside reflective spheres
Date: 13 Oct 92 02:35:06 GMT
Organization: U of Cambridge, England

If the light level inside the sphere started to build the sphere would
just be blown further away from the sun. You would have to balance the
leakage of energy through the sphere with the input of energy from the
sun to get the right illumination inside to support the sphere. I
suspect that a moon-mass sphere would be so thin and light that it
would have to be made largely transparent to reduce the pressure on
it. Indeed we can compute:

The moon is roughly 1.5e6 metres radius, so 1.413716e+19 (excuse
excessive precision please) m^3 in volume.

1.5AU is roughly 2.2e11 m, so the proposed sphere would be roughly 

6.082123e+23 m^2 in area, giving a thickness of  about 23 microns
(more than I thought).

The area density is thus about 0.07 kg/m^2 and solar gravity at 1.5AU
is roughly 2.5e-3 ms^-2, so the light pressure required is about

 2e-4 Nm^-2. Now the momentum of a photon is 1/c (or is it 2/c,
something about there anyway) of its energy, so if each m^2 of shell
receives 2e-4 momentum units per second, allowing for the doubling as
this is a mirror, it must receive about 28000
Joules, so we need an illumination of 28kWm^-2, or about 40 times the
normal light level of the sun. 

So I was wrong, a moon-mass sphere would need drastically increased
light levels to support itself.

I principle we could build a bubble like this, and let the light
pressure build up until it supported the shell, but the inner planets
would cook. We can alleviate this by moving out, making the shell
thinner, and getting weker gravity. Indeed I think we get an R^4 in
the pressure term, versus an R^2 in the natural illumination level, so
at some stage an absorbent sphere could be built which would not cook
the planets. It would be pretty thin and delicate though, living
quarters would have to be supported by very large areas of the sphere.


		Steve Linton
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: artn@bert.eecs.uic.edu (Stephan Meyers)
Subject: Re: 3D-TV. How would you do it?
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 19:06:05 GMT

pepke@ds1.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) writes:
>In article <1992Oct6.134530.17333@cas.org> sdr57@cas.org writes:
>>Just a nit-pick.  The plastic-covered color pictures which give a
>>three-dimensional appearance are not holographs - they are
>>XOGRAPHs (tm). XOGRAPHY (tm) is a process developed in the
>>sixties by Cowles Communications and Eastman Chemical.
>One good nit deserves another!  XOGRAPH is a trade name, not a descriptive
>word.  They are also correctly called "holographs."  NOT "holograms," but 
>"holographs."

	Two good nits deserve a third.  The images in question
are accurately called "lenticular autostereograms."  The terms hologram
and holograph mean "whole writing" (or "whole message" or something
like that)
	While a hologram stores in some deep way "all" the information
in a scene, a lenticular type image does not even come close.
	Eric, you should know better!

			Stephan

-- 
--
Stephan Meyers | artn@uicbert.eecs.uic.edu
(Art)^n Laboratories, inventors of the Stealth Negative PHSCologram
(312) 567-3762
From: sah@castle.ed.ac.uk (Juggler)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Re: Virtual Reality and Nanotechnology
Date: 8 Oct 92 10:15:12 GMT
Organization: Black Star

urf@icl.se (Urban F) writes:

>My "minimum action" would involve introduction of a set of genes
>that provide immunity to some very common diseases, or maybe let
>us digest food more efficiently. It is sad that people suffer from
>genetic diseases, but in numbers they are relatively few.

	As the average lifespan of humans increases, more and more 
genetic "diseases" are being discovered. Many of these (such as sickle
cell anaemia) have evolved in order to prolong short term life
expectancy. Ultimately, we are genetically designed to die, because 
almost *all* of our genes are imperfect. Even if we could wipe out all 
the defects that are currently considered to be genetic deseases, I
reckon that medical science is going to continue improving, and
processes that are at the moment considered as natural aging  will in
the future be treated as genetic defects resulting in eventual death.
This will only stop if (more probable) we reach a technological limit
beyond which we cannot advance, or (inconceivable in the short or 
medium term) we eventually wipe out all such "defects" and are 
effectively immortal  - albeit not invulnerable! 

	TTFN,
	  Simon.




-- 
S.A.Hovell,Electrical Engineering dept,University of Edinburgh,U.K.
(+31) 650-5655	 			  (Juggler@castle.ed.ac.uk) 
-----							     -----
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Re: asteroid impact
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 00:05:56 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.102322.6660@arbi.Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE> Onno.Meyer@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de (Onno Meyer) writes:
>I read a newspaper notice concerning an asteroid (or some other
>kind of rock) passing the earth with ... million miles distance.

This would be Toutatis.   It's about 1/2 the diameter, or 1/8 the
mass of the dinosaur killer.  It's been said that if that asteroid
had killed off only 99% of the individual plants and animals, it
wouldn't even have shown up in the fossil record.

Toutatis will approach earth this December, in 2000, and 2004.  The positions 
of the 2000 and 2004 flybies will not be well known until after December 
due to earth's perturbations which enhance the uncertainty.  According to 
a very crude calculation based on current uncertainties, you have five times 
the chance of being killed by Toutatis in 2000 as you have of being killed 
in an airline crash that year.

>The paper said that a rock that would hit the earth could be deflected
>with nuclear arms.

A couple problems.  First, our warning time is less than 8 years. 
Second, asteroids may be rubble piles rather than one big rock.  
A nuclear bomb would disperse the pieces, but not deflect them
to any signficant degree.  I doubt we could launch the nuclear
energy needed to actually vaporize the asteroid, or at least 
pulverize it into harmless-sized chunks. In general, though, we just 
don't have enough information about the various types of asteroids 
to know how to deflect them.

A couple projects if funded could remedy our ignorance.
These projects would cost only $70 million apiece, or in total
1/10 of 1% -- one-one-thousandth -- the cost of NASA's space
station.  The first is Spacewatch, to find and track all dangerous 
earth-approaching asteroids.  The second would be a survey to use big 
telescopes and spectroscopy to determine the composition of these bodies.  
These projects are also critical to getting raw materials from these 
asteroids in the future, so we kill two birds with one stone (so to speak :-)


-- 
Nick Szabo					 szabo@techboook.com
Hold Your Nose: vote Republocrat  ////////  Breathe Free: vote Libertarian
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: urf@icl.se (Urban F)
Subject: Re: Virtual Reality and Nanotechnology
Organization: None. On USENET I speak only for myself.
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 16:59:16 GMT

mei172@cch.coventry.ac.uk (guru) sez:
>
>        Still, as a thought-experiment, I'd prefer to see a "minimum action"
>        policy taken up, whereby genetic disorders are removed from the genome.

Be sure to archive them! Some of them may actually have some
beneficial properties.

>        Interestingly, this would only need to be done for a relatively short
>        period of time, since only a few generations would be needed before 
>        the disorder was wiped out.

Only if you screen everyone. And with us beeing 5+ billion and
increasing, an enormous task indeed.

My "minimum action" would involve introduction of a set of genes
that provide immunity to some very common diseases, or maybe let
us digest food more efficiently. It is sad that people suffer from
genetic diseases, but in numbers they are relatively few.
--
 Urban Fredriksson   urf@icl.se  (n.g.u.fredriksson.swe2001@oasis.icl.co.uk)
 Knowledge is power: Read books!
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: c89ponga@odalix.ida.liu.se (kand. Pontus Gagge)
Subject: Re: A nuclear question...
Organization: CIS Dept, Univ of Linkoping, Sweden
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 04:07:19 GMT

vadim@bolvan.ph.utexas.edu (Vadim S. Kaplunovsky) writes:

[Savage deletion]

>Prior to the 19th century, most engineering advances were indeed ahead of the
>scientific theories that explained them.  Many of the 19th century inventions
>followed the same pattern, but not anymore.  Most electric and later
>electronic devices were invented based upon a sound scientific theory.
>Of the top of my head, I can think of very few 20th century engineering
>inventions that were put to practical use before the scientists figured
>out how they work.

I can think of a big one. Computers. Of course, the physical side of them
was well understood, but the mathematics!

--
/-------------------------+--------------- DISCLAIMER -----------------\
| kand. Pontus Gagge      | The views expressed herein are compromises |
| University of Link|ping | between my mental subpersonae, and may be  |
| c89ponga@und.ida.liu.se | held by none of them.                      |
\-------------------------+--------------------------------------------/
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: sbooth@lonestar.utsa.edu (Simon E. Booth)
Subject: Re: Illumination inside reflective spheres
Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 02:03:01 GMT

In article <1992Oct12.212806.7848@netcom.com> dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) writes:
>be726@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joseph A. Ellis Jr.):
>>Ummm.... hey, guys? Are you SURE you want to build that reflective Dyson
>>sphere? You see, all that reflected energy goes back to the focal point,
>>right? And at the focal point is the sun, right? And what happens when you
>>start pouring all this energy BACK into the sun?
>
>Actually, a sphere doesn't have that precise a focal point, though this
>is somewhat of a nitpick.  More to the point...
>
>>Can you say "Supernova"? I knew you could!  <<grin>>
>
>I don't think you'd actually get a nova for a long time, even if you're
>talking about a perfectly reflective inner surface.  But if you *are*
>talking about a perfectly reflective surface, having the sun nova one
>day will be the least of the inhabitants' worries.
>
Withall this talk of making the sun go nova, I've got a theory:

Remember the planet-blaster weapon the equipped both Death Stars in the
Star Wars films??  Now, imagine somthing like that being fired at a star
instead of just a planet.  :)

Simon
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: singley@helix.nih.gov (Erick Singley)
Subject: Re: asteroid impact
Organization: (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 14:35:13 GMT

I'd think that conservation of mass would still apply and 'it' would still
hit- though small chunks would 'burn up' faster due to the larger surface area
of smaller chunks.  Then we'd have radio-active bits of dust coming down too
(donno if that's hype or truth).  Still better than what they conjecture
happened to Siberia those many decades ago. (Didn't some humungo rock hit there
and knock down trees for miles?). Messy either way- atomic bombs don't 
'disintegrate' things- but might 'knock off course'.  Hard to say.
Though not my field. :)
Erick
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Subject: Re: Illumination inside reflective spheres
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 21:28:06 GMT

be726@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joseph A. Ellis Jr.):
>Ummm.... hey, guys? Are you SURE you want to build that reflective Dyson
>sphere? You see, all that reflected energy goes back to the focal point,
>right? And at the focal point is the sun, right? And what happens when you 
>start pouring all this energy BACK into the sun?

Actually, a sphere doesn't have that precise a focal point, though this
is somewhat of a nitpick.  More to the point...

>Can you say "Supernova"? I knew you could!  <<grin>>

I don't think you'd actually get a nova for a long time, even if you're
talking about a perfectly reflective inner surface.  But if you *are*
talking about a perfectly reflective surface, having the sun nova one
day will be the least of the inhabitants' worries.

-----
Dani Zweig
dani@netcom.com

   The inability of snakes to count is actually a refusal, on their part,
    to appreciate the Cardinal Number system. -- "Actual Facts"
From: wixer!cactus.org!wixer!pro-smof.cts.com!rfletcher@cactus.org (Robert Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Re: Mapping Problem
Date: 9 Oct 1992 12:29:00 -0500
Organization: The SMOF-BBS: Science Fiction Online Since 1985 [512-467-7317]
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

  If you get your answer by echo-mail I would like to see it. The problem
you put uup is a interesting one.
----
ProLine:  rfletcher@pro-smof
Internet: rfletcher@pro-smof.cts.com
UUCP:     crash!pro-smof!rfletcher
ARPA:     crash!pro-smof!rfletcher@nosc.mil

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: sdr57@cas.org ()
Subject: Re: asteroid impact
Organization: Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus, Ohio
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 15:04:10 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.102322.6660@arbi.Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE> Onno.Meyer@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de (Onno Meyer) writes:
>I read a newspaper notice concerning an asteroid (or some other
>kind of rock) passing the earth with ... million miles distance.
>The paper said that a rock that would hit the earth could be deflected
>with nuclear arms.
>I always thought this is science fiction. Any comments?
>--

NASA did some studies on deflecting large rocks away from earth
impact many moons ago - very preliminary stuff, as I recall.
The idea was you could change the course of a rock enough
to keep it from hitting the earth if you hit it far enough away
with a big enough bomb. The idea resurfaced when the speculation
about dinosaur extinction being caused by a meteor impact
hit the popular press. I have no idea if there is any funding
for any ongoing studies now, but it would probably work *if*
you hit the rock far enough out and *if* it didn't just break
up into a lot of medium sized rocks. The real problem is detecting
it and accurately determining its course far enough away to
get the intercept started.

We've had some very near misses in the past - one provoked a lot of
UFO sightings plus some neat movie film back in the 60's as a big
rock grazed the atmosphere - long smoke trail - would have made a big
hole if it had come in, but fortunately it went away.

******************************************************************************
Renegade academician. They're a dangerous breed when they go feral,
academics are...a chemist, too.
		    -(James P. Blaylock in "Lord Kelvin's Machine")

My organization hasn't agreed with any of my opinions so far, and
I doubt they'll start now.

Stanley "Ya nee speon" Roberts
From: dnibby@asylum.UUCP (Dana Nibby)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: WTBWAW more
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:46:41 GMT
Article-I.D.: asylum.479
Organization: Epilogue Technology Corp.

Would the Buddha Wear a Walkman: Table of Contents

(1) Welcome to Consciousness Tech
(2) Macine Dreams)
(3) Superbrain: the Quest for Intelligence
(4) Dream Tech: Working in Your Sleep
(5) Living in a Post-Freudian World: (Fifty Way to Leave Your
    Shrink... Or be Your Own)
(6) Artificial Realities: Using Your Computer to Expand Your Mind
(7) Instant Nirvana: Enlightenment in an Impatient Age)
(8) Nouveau Cheops: East Meets West Amazon Basin
(9) The Thinking Man's Guide to Brain Renovation and Repair

8 1/2 X 11, 255 pages, published by Simon and Schuster

A company called Tools for Transformation sells this book for
$16.95 (cover price), plus approx. $5 for shipping and handling
in the U.S. (more for overseas shipping)
To order a copy, send $9.50 check or money order to:

   Dana Nibby
   POB 366
   Durham, NH  03824-0366
 
For orders outside the U.S., send $12.50 rather than $9.50.
From: msk@espresso.boeing.com (Michael Kerstetter)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: Attention Dennis Cuy!!
Date: 7 Oct 92 17:04:00 GMT
Reply-To: msk@espresso.boeing.com
Organization: Boeing Computer Services


Dennis,

I can't seem to get mail through to you.  I've got your Nourse book.
Please contact me with a US mail address and a phone number.  Email
isn't going to do it.

Michael S. Kerstetter
16219 S.E. 137th Pl.
Renton, WA 98059

hm - (206) 228-2760
wk - (206) 865-3589
E-mail: msk@espresso.boeing.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
From: u894184@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (yellooW ynohtnA)
Subject: FOR SALE: STAR FLEET INTELLIGENCE MANUAL (ST:RPG)
Keywords: Star Fleet Trek
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 23:43:33 GMT



FOR SALE 
   One copy of "STAR FLEET INTELLIGENCE MANUAL", produced by the FASA
   Corporation to use with "Star Trek The Role Playing Game".
   There are two manuals, a GM Book and an Agent's Source Book both still
   shrink wrapped and in very good condition (though the shrink wrap is
   torn at one of the corners, but the books themselves are not damaged).

   I am asking $20 Australian for it (which at the exchange rate that was
   in todays paper of $1US = $0.7169Australian, works out to be approx.
   $14.30US, no guarantees though), you pay for postage.
   
   I will consider the nearest offer to the asking price.

   If you are interested, then just email me at :

          u894184@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au
    
    Thanks.
   
               Anthony Woolley...
From: gt8657a@prism.gatech.EDU (Shawn Preston Cannon)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: Comic for sale...
Date: 9 Oct 92 17:48:48 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

I must sell my best comic book to date.  All you Star Trek comic collectors 
that are looking for Star Trek Gold Key #1, I have it and I must sell it in
order to upgrade my computer!  It is in VG condition.  I can sell it for no
less than $230.00.  If interested, e-mail me at gt8657a@prism.gatech.edu.
Thanks...

Shawn Cannon

-- 
Shawn Preston Cannon
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp:	  ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt8657a
Internet: gt8657a@prism.gatech.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
From: tyg@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Tom Galloway)
Subject: Re: First editon Dangerous Visions for sale
Organization: Interleaf, Inc.
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 21:07:43 GMT

>Jim Mann replies:
>> This is NOT the first edition. It is the first SIGNET edition, I
>> imagine. Dangerous Visions dates from the 60s (I think 1967).
>> The original paperback was, in fact, two paperbacks as the 
>> publisher (Berkley?) decided it was too thick for one book.

Definitely '67, as the article by Harlan that was supposed to appear
in the first issue of SF Age was about the 25th anniversary of the 
collection.

I think Jim is mixing up the paperback for DV with the one for Again,
DV, the later sequel, which was broken up into two paperbacks for at
least one paperback edition. I'm not as sure on this, but I think the
British paperback of DV was broken up into three books. I've never
heard or seen a split US paperback edition of DV.

tyg   tyg@hq.ileaf.com
From: mmartin@wpi.WPI.EDU (Matthew Wayne Martin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: WANTED: STAR WARS ITEMS
Date: 12 Oct 1992 15:00:41 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: wpi.wpi.edu


	I'm looking for the following Star Wars items.  I'm willing to pay 
reasonable prices, and might be willing to pay more if they are in the
original boxes and/or have all the accessories.


Boba Fett, 13.5" large action figure : gray and green outfit, cape, rifle,
				       backpack, 2 "Wookie-scalps", belt

Darth Vader, 15" large action figure : Black finish with helmet, black cape,
				       red lightsaber


Please e-mail any responses to :   mmartin@wpi.wpi.edu
From: gpatton@infopls.chi.il.us (Gavin Patton)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: Powers Book
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 92 17:17:45 CDT
Organization: INFOPLUS support, Wheeling, IL

Hi!
I'm currently in the market for a copy of Tim Powers' "Drawing of the 
Dark" in either paper or hardcover.  Let me know what you want for it, 
will trade, got lots.
------------Gavin


--
gpatton@infopls.chi.il.us (Gavin Patton)
Infoplus BBS, +1 708 537 0247, v32bis. Home of Infoplus.