TGoaW-96

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==Chapter 96 - The Glow of a Worm inside a Child's Eye==
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Ia Drang Cabin...
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..."I wanted to be a scientist once." Liz observed. Her bodyguard detail was changed up to let Colonel Roshak participate in the next heat of the Trial, which left her bored and chatty. "I also wanted to be an explorer. Spending time with Tabiranth, I picked up some slicing chops...but this, I think, might make a mark."
"What is it?" Corpsman Third Class Gwendolyn "Lennie" Fischer was Lizzie's medical-minder for the week.
"it's a mathematical model, Lennie, but I think I saw examples of how to turn it from a mathematical model, into something physical. A Computer that can do what nobody else's computers can do...if the math translates into hard tech, and isn't like a Bussard Ramjet in being a gloriously elegant abstract that can't be achieved in the practical."
She bit her lip, and erased a set of equations, rewriting them as she spoke. "I think they did it before, but it's lost knowledge now."
"Okay...what is it?"
"Standard computing runs on DC power, it consists of on, and off. that's the basis of everything from your watch to your padd to the budget computers at Mount Asgard on Tharkad...and this doesn't do that." Liz said, "Instead, it's running on THREE possible channels for each switch. Positive, Negative, and Neutral." she turned, "This would be a computer that runs directly on alternating current-like the 220 that comes out of your wall, without needing a transformer on the power-supply...if it works. I'm going to give this-" she gestured at the whiteboard full of equations, "-to the boffins at corporate R&D and see if it makes sense to our engineers. If it does, and it looks feasible, we'll start building one to see if it can be turned into a viable product, and if it can, we'll turn it into a product and maybe revolutionize a few industries."
"What if it can't?" Lennie asked.
"Then I'll use my own funds to start a magazine and publish it as a mathematical exercise for people who like puzzles." Liz concluded, "I'm thinking a 'scientific journal' open to public submissions and review, and maybe that will help mankind crawl out of the dark ages again. the cover price should be trivial so we can get the widest distribution...hmmm..."
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