Scott Kellogg:
> at least *I* do.
Conceded. I do too. I also assume that what we know is the BEGINNING of
the
level of knowledge of Traveller (or any other future game), not the end of
it.
> And in my book, a particle that can travel through the entire mass
> of the sun
> and the earth without so much as a blink is going to laugh at any
> sort of
> shielding available at TL 15.
So, how do they detect them? At TL15, they have a neutrino sensor that can
(presumably) detect a 10KW neutrino source at a range of a light second or
more. Neutrinos are producd as a result of the interaction of VERY high
energy photons converting to positrons and electrons and then to lower
energy
photons and neutrinos (at least so the Navy Nuclear Power program said).
This
happens to a small extent in fission and fusion, but neither fission nor
fusion produces enough neutrinos to make a MODERN (mutli ten-thousand
gallon)
neutrino detector show anything. SO how is it done? Obviously, if the
neutrino sensors in MT work, the technology of the period must have
SOMETHING
that can stop a neutrino with reasonable (50%? 10%? 90%?) certainty. If
you
assume that neutrinos are unstoppable, then MT's neutrino sensors are
unworkable, and the problem of avoiding detection by them is moot.
As you may have noticed, I prefer working on the assumption that existing
elements of the game IMPLY the level of knowledge of the game universe. I
only throw things out when they are IMPOSSIBLE. And I don't define
impossible
by OUR level of knowledge today. I don't like the "We can't do it, so it
can
never be done" attitude.
Though why we are arguing about this I will never know, since I
consider
the subject silly, and you obviously do too. Alas...
Later...
- -- Via DLG Pro v0.991
[email removed]
I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution.
--W. von Braun