HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: max@west.darkside.com (Erik Max Francis)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Re: Specific Impulse
Keywords: Specific Impulse
Date: 23 Nov 92 08:20:43 GMT
Organization: The Dark Side of the Moon +1 408 245 SPAM

pksuk@mothra.syr.EDU (Peter K. Suk) writes:

> What are the units for specific impulse?  Or, more to the point, what is
> it?  (I know it has something to do with the efficiency of a rocket.)

Specific impulse is, like you say, a measure of the efficiency of a 
drive.  It is the ratio of the thrust delivered to the fuel consumption.  
It's also known as the exhaust velocity; that is, how fast stuff shoots 
out of the end of the rocket.  It has units of velocity.

Naturally, the higher the specific impulse/exhaust velocity, the more 
efficient the drive.  A photon drive, the most efficient drive possible, 
would have an exhaust velocity of c.  (Naturally, you wouldn't be using 
the same equations, though, because of relativity.)  Note that this is 
_not_ the same thing as a reactionless drive.  In a reactionless drive, 
there is no reaction and there is no exhaust.

Hope that explains it for you.

----------
Erik Max Francis   Omnia quia sunt, lumina sunt.  Coming soon:  UNIVERSE _ | _
USmail:  1070 Oakmont Dr. #1 San Jose CA 95117  ICBM:  37 20 N  121 53 W _>|<_
UUCP:  ..!apple!uuwest!max   Usenet:  max@west.darkside.com   464E4F5244   |
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (T. Little)
Subject: Re: Non-nuclear explosive
Keywords: antimatter molecular containment
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 14:59:26 GMT

pksuk@mothra.syr.EDU (Peter K. Suk) writes:

[>I wrote:]
>>I don't know whether a hydrogen ion would react (it has no electrons),
>>but I would strongly suspect that it does...

>What does the net charge of the carbon atoms in a buckyball look like
>from the _inside_?  If the net charge looks negative, then an anti-proton
>could survive if the surrounding buckyballs were at a low enough 
>temperature.  However, in all likelihood the net charge is positive.  
>Anyone know for sure?

I don't think a static configuration of charges is going to keep the ion
in the center.  Normal ions would be confined mostly by Pauli exclusion of
it electrons from the vicinity of those of the carbon atoms.  Due to the
symmetry, the field at the center must be zero, but I'm not sure about the
rest.  In the case of spherical symmetry, it is zero throughout.

Hmm - this means that positive hydrogen ions shouldn't be confinable by 
buckyballs if my hypothesis is correct, a testable prediction.

Does anyone know if H+ ions are confinable?
--
T. Little   a.k.a.   u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au
From: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Re: Space Warfare Pointless? (Was: Re: Weapons systems?)
Keywords: space combat prisoner's dilemma
Date: 21 Nov 92 03:55:25 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <1992Nov14.124756.23296@newstand.syr.edu> pksuk@mothra.syr.EDU (Peter K. Suk) writes:
]----- treitel@gracie.IntelliCorp.COM (Richard Treitel) writes:
]
][Stuff about mining space being a waste of funds]
]
]>But *combat* is a vast waste of funds {:-)
]
]How about this: Space Warfare is Pointless.  (Except in newsgroups, which
]	are, of course extremely relevant.)

Are you saying we are just wasting time here? :)

]
]If we discount the possibility of meeting hostile enemy races:

Not easy to discount. We don't have enough hard evidence to do so.

]
]	o The resources of space are vast enough that this will never 
]		be a point of contention.  

<chuckle> I doubt that. There will always be those who will take the fruits
of others labors because it is easier than making (or mining) it yourself.
You may discount that as just piracy but I disagree. Piracy has been used 
before in the past as a way for one nation to increase it's wealth at the
expense of another. Look at England's support of privateering against Spain's
treasure ships coming from South America and such. Privateering, btw, is
"legal" piracy made legitimate by a letter of marque issued by the consenting
government.

This action can make the victimized nation (or corporation, or other org.)
very unhappy w/the nation supporting piracy against them. This can lead to
war. I'm oversimplifying but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. 

]
]	o The time it would take to reach an enemy with a weapon 
]		will make it obsolete when it reaches its goal.
]		(Pournelle?)

How so?

]
]	o Any technology which is advanced enough for interstellar
]		travel invariably leads to the doctorine of
]		Mutually Assured Destruction of Ecosystems.  

Hmmm?

]Of course, Macro-life civilizations complicate this picture immensely.
]Also, Drexler would disagree with the first point.  [Territorial expansion
]is O(X-cubed) while population growth is O(2 to the X).  However,
]population control is generally cheaper than warfare.]


-- 
Patrick Chester            |----------------------------------------------------
wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |"The earth is too fragile a basket in which to keep
Politically Incorrect      |  all your eggs." Robert A. Heinlein
Future Lunar Colonist      |"The meek shall inherit the Earth. The rest of us
#^%$!! Militarist          |  are going to the stars." Anonymous
(Of the Sun Tzu mentality) |----------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: cfc6418@rigel.tamu.edu (chuck)
Subject: Re: Weapons systems?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Keywords: space combat weapons
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 02:46:00 GMT

In article <BxowB2.J8s@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, tbmg9061@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Thomas B MacIukenas) writes...
>treitel@gracie.IntelliCorp.COM (Richard Treitel) writes:
> 
>>Another thought: put a lot of mines in circular 23.9 hour equatorial
>>orbits around the Earth.  If enemy sets up his HQ in geosynch orbit,
>>pretty soon				KABOOM!
> 
>Make that:
> 
> pretty soon                            The enemy sees a whole bunch of
>                                        mines flying past a few kilometers
>                                        below his HQ and thinks to himself,
>                                        "This'll be a breeze..."  :^)
	So an intellegent defence would be a ring of Nuc Magnetic/guided 
mines with "steath" options (in recorded orbits of cource).
Any ship in orbit is intersepted in ohhh say 5-7 mins.  So the HQ on board
says "This'll be a.... 'click' What the hell was...." *BOOMMM*

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thantalos- aka Chuck Craig
Lord of death, protector of fuzzys, and The AGGIE from HELL!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: pksuk@mothra.syr.EDU (Peter K. Suk)
Subject: Re: Whimsical 'flat Earth' comments
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 11:52:27 EST

In article <1992Nov16.092149.6051@midway.uchicago.edu> djb6@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>Some bizarre things that occured to me:
>
>From time to time in speculative/escapist fiction of dubious
>hard-science merit authors create "flat" planets.  

[Questions on day/night, climate, gravity, etc...]

Niven covers this in his article "Larger Than Worlds" in his 
_A Hole in Space_ anthology.  Std. Nivenism disclaimers apply.

	--Peter Kwangjun Suk
From: buckland@ucs.ubc.ca (Tony Buckland)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Spin energy?
Date: 17 Nov 1992 15:13:16 GMT
Organization: University Computing Services, UBC, Canada
NNTP-Posting-Host: swiss.ucs.ubc.ca

 Some of the physics being thrown around in the "weapons"
 discussion reminds me of something I read somewhere in the
 last few years (don't you love these precise references?),
 to the effect that there's more - a lot more - energy in
 the spin of particles than in their mass.  Anybody recall
 this, and/or have opinions?  One obvious application would
 be in a drive that got its energy by "de-spinning" matter; 
 producing god knows what kind of residue.
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 13:41:50 -0500 
From: "Andrew C. Plotkin" <ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: FTL
	<Bxn7Az.9Du@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
	<BCR.92Nov15182253@hfl3sn02.cern.ch>
Distribution: rec

Excerpts from netnews.rec.arts.sf.science: 13-Nov-92 Re: FTL Thomas B
MacIukenas@uxa. (1440)

> Dr. Forward believes that if you placed a blob of negative matter
> (hypothetically -- there isn't even any *theoretical*  evidence for
> its existence) next to a blob of positive matter they would accelerate
off to infinity. 

It's terribly tricky stuff, of course. Say you have a brick of negative
matter here on Earth, and you drop it. It will fall down (m1 * m2 < 0,
so gravity repels the brick from the Earth, but the brick moves towards
a repulsion (A = m / F))

Then it hits the ground. It is repelled from the ground very sharply.
Thus, it shoves into the ground even harder. This exponentiates. I think
the result is a blast of negative cosmic rays chewing through the Earth,
emerging all over the place in all directions (since each negative
particle hits a random set of positive particles from random
directions.) Depending on how long they stay down there, they could heat
up the Earth a *lot* -- the positive particles pick up kinetic (thermal)
energy at *each* collision, and the negative particles pick up negative
kinetic energy -- thermodynamics is not violated, but things get awfully
hot. I think that exponentiates too.

A more complete analysis would need to take into account the atomic
structure (electrons attracting/repelling negative electrons, and so
forth.) However, we'd need a model of negative atoms first -- simple
reversal of normal atoms doesn't work. (With negative matter, opposite
charges still attract, so a proton and an electron move away from each
other...) And if you consider the subatomic level, I don't think nuclei
hold together the same way either. What a mess.

It might turn out that negative antimatter is safer to handle than
negative matter. :-) Or maybe no negative mass can be stable unless it's
a mixture. 

--Z



"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.science
From: m23364@mwunix (James Meritt)
Subject: Spin energy
Organization: MITRE Corporation, McLean VA
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:19:20 GMT

obert Forward did an article called something like "Far-Out Physics" that was published
in Analog a few years ago that would be applicable to the discussion.
From: zen@max.u.washington.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: "help with a costume"
Date: 18 Nov 92 10:33:25 GMT
Article-I.D.: max.1992Nov18.023325.1


      I will be attending a Fantasy based con. in mid Jan. and I need
help with a costume.  Just your basic wandering mercenery type complete
with leather armor, leggings, calf-high boots, and a hooded cloak.
My problem is that I can't find.
      a: a catalog which sells this type of merchandise
      b: a book detailing how to make your own.
Any one out there who can point me in the right direction?
   
Zen
                                                                           
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
| Ron Critchfield              | No more boy meet's girl, boy loses girl.| 
| ZEN@U.WASHINGTON.EDU         | More like, man tries to understand      | 
| University of Washington     | what the hell went wrong.- Love Junk    | 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mmartin@wpi.WPI.EDU (Matthew Wayne Martin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: Alan Dean Foster/Star Wars book
Date: 15 Nov 1992 21:30:36 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: wpi.wpi.edu


	I'm looking for the following Star Wars book by Alan Dean Foster:

			SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE	

	Condition is'nt real important....I just want to read it.  E-mail
price and condition info to:
				mmartin@wpi.wpi.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
From: "colin mcgregor" <colin.mcgregor@canrem.com>
Subject: fen sources
Reply-To: "colin mcgregor" <colin.mcgregor@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: rec
Date: 20 Nov 92 09:14:47 EST

I love how some conferences carry listings of where find the good stuff,
the items that you will not normally run across. This is my first
attempt at a list like that, where to find the odd items fen want. I
have had good to excellent dealings with all of the firms listed below,
BUT be warned I have not dealt with some for several years. If you know
why any of these firms should not be listed, or know of a firm that
MUST be listed in a list like this, let me know.

Books - New/Used:

   Bakka, 282 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2A1 (416)
   596-8161

Canada's largest/oldest SF bookstore. They do have a mail order
service.

Buttons - Parts/Equipment:

   Badge A Minit, 348 North 30th Road, Box 800, LaSalle, IL, 61301,
   U.S.A. (800) 223-4103, (815) 224-2090

They seem to be the largest button maker. They only support 2.25" buttons.
Machines start at about $30 and go up. They also sell button parts, paper
cutters, and other button making accessories.

   Mr. Button Products Inc., 5739 W. 85th St., P.O. Box 68355, Indianapolis,
   IN, 46268-0355, U.S.A., (317) 872-7000

Support for over 10 different button sizes. Their machines cost more than
B-a-M, but parts are less than B-a-M. Unlike B-a-M, Mr. Button parts do NOT
have advertising on them! The Mr. Button 2 3/8" parts will fit Badge-A-
Minit machines.

Buttons, pre-made:

   Nancy Lebovitz, 400 Wollaston Ave., C6, Newark, DE, 19711, U.S.A.

Nancy Lebovitz has put together the largest collection of cute/clever/
etc. button saying that I've seen. It's a delight just to sit and read
her catalog. She does custom work.

Convention listings:

   The SF Con Register, Box 3343, Fairfax, VA, 22038, U.S.A. (703) 273-3297

Assembled by Erwin S. ("Filthy Piere") Strauss this is THE convention
listing, EVERYTHING gets listed. Indexed by guest, place, name and date.
Cost: $10 (U.S.)/yr. (4 issues) in N. America, $12/yr. overseas. $2+
S.A.S.E. for a sample issue.

Toys:

   Isher Artifacts, 530 W. Walnut Street, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, U.S.A.

"Expensive but worth it" could be this firms motto. Isher makes a range
of ray guns, sonic screwdrivers, Dr. Who scarves and other SF toys. Most
are beautify machined out of acrylic and/or aluminum. They offer ray guns
that contain a low power laser. They do custom work. Catalog $1.00 (U.S.).
---
  DeLuxe 1.12 #5634  colin.mcgregor@canrem.com
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
Organization: Freshman, MCS general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 18:19:59 -0500 
From: Krysztof Emil Kamieniecki <kk49+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: borderland

i am looking for what i heard are called the borderland books involving
the coexistence of magic and technology
		
		-I was only a bit tipsy and it was the pickles that did it.-
							-Da BEAST-
From: kuvamp@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: BLAKE'S 7 MONTHLIES FOR SALE
Date: 16 Nov 92 14:40:00 CST
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

I have in my grubby little mits a complete run (minus specials) of the British
magazine: "Blakes 7 Monthly".  I will send them off to the highest bidder, or
best trade.  E-mail me an offer.   All copies are in Very Good Condition (tm),
bagged and boarded, with all pin-ups and inserts intact.

					-----Gareth (kuvamp@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu)
From: heinlein@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (The tired one)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: Looking for cheap used SF and Fantasy books?  Read this.
Date: 16 Nov 1992 17:31:44 -0600
Organization: Kansas State University
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: matt.ksu.ksu.edu

Hello all... this is my first post to this newsgroup...  I am selling
off a large number of paperback SF books at 50% of their cover price
plus S+H...  I have too many to list here, so if you are looking for a
particular book, give me a yell, and I will likely have it.  All books
are used, but in good condition.

email requests to me at:

heinlein@matt.ksu.ksu.edu

thanks

Mike
-- 
Gee, I finally made a .sig file. Isn't it grand?
Chris Green is way cool. :)   My idols are camels.  OH! You wanted sarcasm,
well, just go read my .plan then. :)  - Mike Monthey heinlein@matt
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
From: enthrall@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Andrew Wolf)
Subject: Looking for ST figures person...
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 21:27:44 GMT

I am looking for the person with the original ST:TNG figures for sale. 

We agreed upon a price, and I sent the check to someone who I
*thought* was you, but it wasn't.  It was someone else who sent me an
address.  However, you never sent me yours.  So, if you would do that,
I will send you a check ASAP and we can finish our transaction.

Thanks,
From: cg533@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James Eugene Alloway)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: WANTED: Limited Edition Neuromancer hardback
Date: 16 Nov 1992 21:51:06 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


I am interested in getting the Phantasia Press Limited edition hardback
Neuromancer by William Gibson.  There were only 1750 made.
  Thanks for your help.
   Gene
Organization: Computer Repair, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace,rec.arts.startrek,rec.arts.startrek.misc,cmu.misc.market
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 14:38:14 -0500 
From: "David M. Bartlett" <db0s+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Early Star Trek Books


I have volumes 2 and volumes 4 thur 10 of James Blish's Star Trek short story
collections:  these are adaptations of the original series episodes,
about 5-7 stories per volume.  $2.00 each.
 
In addition, I Have
 
"Spock Must Die!", , also by James Blish, as far as I can tell the first
Star Trek Novel.  $2.00
 
"The World of Star Trek" by David Gerrold, a non-fiction book about Star
Trek as series, myth, and fandom.  $2.00
 
"The Making of Start Trek" by Gene Roddenberry, a non-fiction book about
making the series itself.  $2.00
 
"Star Trek:  the New Voyages", a collection of short stories, the first
pastiches of Star Trek after James Blish.  $2.00
 
If interested in one, some, or all, send me email.
 
Dave Bartlett
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
Subject: Ro-Lan Info Still Wanted!!!!!!!!
From: jajohnston@ualr.edu
Date: 18 Nov 92 10:15:25 GMT
Organization: University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Here it is again.  Wanted: Any Information On Ro-Lan Series By Mike Sirota.
Respond To:
jajohnston@ualr.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.marketplace
From: tp0001@srilanka (Terry Pinotti)
Subject: TNG Tin 4 sale
Organization: Medtronic, Inc.
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:35:51 GMT

I have two extra TNG Tins for sale. These are similiar to the 25th
anniversary tins put out last year except this time they are only
producing 10,000 numbered tins instead of 15,000.

If interested, let me know.

--
   Terry L. Pinotti       |  Compuserve = 76357,746 
Pinotti Consulting, Inc.  |  uunet tp0001@medtronic.com
    2832 Laport Dr.       |   Collector of cards
Mounds View, MN 55112     |   sport and non-sport
Organization: Computer Repair, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
From: wilhelmf@MICROSOFT.COM
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc
Subject: Diamond Hard SF
Date: 19 Nov 92 23:02:10 GMT


szabo@techbook.com writes:
>I second this, and go further.  Characters and plot are the exemplar
>components of mundane fiction.  I do not care to see them at all, unless
>they are important to the technology or to the artistry of the story and
>almost always these days the artistry of the story is defecated upon by the
>introduction of mundane characters or plot elements, polluting the
>potentially fertile vast tracts of the SF landscape with the toxic reek of
>an inferiority complex to mundane genres.

Fascinating post!  I too enjoy reading SF that does not force me to winch
everytime "technology happens."  But by the same token, a book full of the
most exciting and radical ideas, compently and technically well presented,
can be ruined by embedding them in a novel full of lifeless characters and
hackneyed plots.  Better just to have presented the ideas in the context
of a non-fiction book!

Any *good* SF writer must be master of TWO disciplines, both a scientist
AND an artist.

The thing that an SF Novel can do that a non-fiction science book can't is
to show us the impact of way cool technologies, and mind-blowing ideas on
people and societies.  And to do so accurately and convincingly, you have
to have believable characters, with plausible motivations.  Not empty
shell characters who exist to carry/be acted upon by various cool gadgets.
I believe Asimov wrote an essay to this point.  He said that in order for
an SF Novel to be truely great, it must be great fiction (apart from the
science) and great science (apart from the fiction).  If the book fails
in EITHER category it fails completely...

I offer up Michael Swanwicks "Stations in the Tide" as an example of a book
that couples a great plot and awesome character development with a truckload
of mind-shattering ideas.

I encourage your comments on my comments!

Wilhelm Fitzpatrick
wilhelmf@microsoft.com

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc
From: mvp@netcom.com (Mike Van Pelt)
Subject: Re: (so-called) Diamond-Hard SF
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 07:37:30 GMT

In article <9211182053.AA00156@audrey.lmf.org> mike@AUDREY.LMF.ORG (Mike Kring) writes:
>Maybe it's just me, but this entire screed seems a bit too, ummmm,
>"over-the top" to be real.  Do the people in this group play these
>subtle put-ons often?

I am shocked, *shocked*, that anyone here would be accused of a
put-on.  Where's Doug Merritt; he could set this straight.

Seriously, though, "Diamond-Hard SF" is, to some extent, in the eyes of
the beholder.  Nick claims to decry everything since Hugo Gernsback.
Some people will accept as "hard SF" stories with faster-than-light
travel or communication, or time travel, or teleportation, or even psi
powers.  Others are more restrictive.  The latest Analog (Mid-December
issue) has a really nice story ("Poles Apart") by a writer (G. David
Nordley) who is very scrupulous to do nothing which violates the laws
of physics -- and he knows his physics.  No FTL, no time travel.  Psi
powers give him hives.  He has been known to do nanotech, though.

He also does a good bit of that icky character development that
Nick decrys, and some of his other stories contain space colonies
and lunar colonies.  He has an unpublished novel making the rounds
that (IMHO) is very much the kind of thing Heinlein would have
written if Heinlein was just starting to write today, and had a
heavy physics background.
-- 
Mike Van Pelt          | It was a typical net.exercise -- a screaming
mvp@netcom.com         | mob pounding on a greasy spot on the pavement,
mvp@hsv3.lsil.com      | where used to lie the carcass of a dead horse.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc,rec.arts.sf.fandom,alt.music.filk
From: pciszek@nyx.cs.du.edu (Paul Ciszek)
Subject: Got Leslie Fish Lyrics; Who wanted a copy?
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix @ U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 92 05:15:41 GMT

Thanks everyone, I have received two complete transcripts of "Hope
Eyrie" by Leslie Fish.  Earlier, someone had written asking for a
copy, but this system crashed and deleted the mail.  So, whoever it
was, please write back!


Paul Ciszek pciszek@nyx.cs.du.edu | When planning for posterity, we ought to
                                  | remember that virtue is not hereditary.
                                  |     --Thomas Paine