Culture vs. YV

[NecronLord]

Ah, yes, missed that, was thinking asteroid vaping calcs then. Still, the human view simply saw a blinding flash, so you still couldn't really see the structure anyway due to the radiation, annoyingly.

Alas, CP is another one I didn't buy, but took out of the library. Grr. Arg.

You came? Hope you cleared up, mucky pup.

I have no idea what the hell happened there. I don't even remember what I wanted to write.

And yes, the DS can take out ships and planets, but as has been argued before, it's more a status symbol since that mass could be better spent on some shiny new ISDs.

Indeed. The discussion of hypermatter reactors I would put in here is completely and utterly off topic.

Mind you, as handy as that'd be like the Bolo books as well, it soon turns into textbook reading if the author starts the one-upmanship of firepower or fight speed in comparison to other stories. That'd be funny to see though.

Indeed, that's how I wrote it off, but the thing is, he's meant to be an informed character. I ignored it and got on with the book after that, but it is irritating.

So long as Banks isn't a Creationist, I'll trust his science skills are adequate enough for his writing.

Well, there are all these humanoids in the Cultureverse...

Well, if you want to get picky, the British Cobalt-60 bombs could certainly make a bigger dent by destroying our way of life in more ways than one. That's the inherent fear of nukes. They're beyond imagining for most in terms of destruction. To have a city one minute and then a firestorm covered crater the next is an eery thought.

True enough.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Blast, now I'm tempted to read all the Culture books again when I have two books on order as it is, two mangas to read and a dissertation to write. I need more time, wish I had a TARDIS.

[The Nomad]

Well, there are all these humanoids in the Cultureverse...

You know why we are here.
Digest the Galaxy's alcohol. That's a shitload of alcohol, so better a shitload of humanoid races than one .
That's one thing you lousy Necrons can no longer fullfill, so here we come .

[Rah]

Just to add something, in excession if the Excession's gridfire incursion kept on going forever it could destroy the universe. Or ate least destroy everything in the universe. Also it was going way too fast for a human to see it with the naked eye.

So you might be able to calculate it's power from there. What's the thing that requires the most output in order to vape it? A black hole? A white dwarf?

[Rah]

Also forgot to point out that in LtW the Mind points out that 1cm^3 of CAM interacting with 1cm^3 CM = 50PT.

[SHODAN]

Also forgot to point out that in LtW the Mind points out that 1cm^3 of CAM interacting with 1cm^3 CM = 50PT.

I remember nothing of such. Quote?

[SyntaxVorlon]

Blast, now I'm tempted to read all the Culture books again when I have two books on order as it is, two mangas to read and a dissertation to write. I need more time, wish I had a TARDIS.

I suggest you get them on tape and listen to them while writing your dissertation.
"The hostile bacteria Genarus Smalias is known for its habit of slicing 10 million kilometer rings apart for fun and profit."

[The Nomad]

Just to add something, in excession if the Excession's gridfire incursion kept on going forever it could destroy the universe. Or ate least destroy everything in the universe. Also it was going way too fast for a human to see it with the naked eye.

So you might be able to calculate it's power from there. What's the thing that requires the most output in order to vape it? A black hole? A white dwarf?

Yes but it's the Excession. Not the Culture... And the Excession outpowers the Culture the way the Galactic Empire outpowers the UFP, if not much worse.

Also forgot to point out that in LtW the Mind points out that 1cm^3 of CAM interacting with 1cm^3 CM = 50PT.

Well, since we don't know the volume of the average CAM ammo, this is kind of useless...

[Rah]

Also forgot to point out that in LtW the Mind points out that 1cm^3 of CAM interacting with 1cm^3 CM = 50PT.

I remember nothing of such. Quote?

Saddly I don't have the book with me. It's not an exact quote either, but from 2 or 3 passages of the book you can get to that conclusion. IIRC it specifically gives us a Million ton M/AM reaction as the base for that conclusion.

[Rah]

Yes but it's the Excession. Not the Culture... And the Excession outpowers the Culture the way the Galactic Empire outpowers the UFP, if not much worse.

Gridfire is the energy from the grid. The size, velocity, way it moved, etc... was what the Mind was impressed about. Output remains the same.

[The Nomad]

Saddly I don't have the book with me. It's not an exact quote either, but from 2 or 3 passages of the book you can get to that conclusion. IIRC it specifically gives us a Million ton M/AM reaction as the base for that conclusion.

SPOILER WARNING
Sadly, this basis is a pure hypothesis from Quilan, who has little true knowledge of the Culture. And the dialogue is between him and Huyler, who is a Culture agent... therefore I would take everything coming from him with a grain of salt

Therefore, this calculation is largely suspicious, since it is based on subjective assumptions.

[Rah]

While Quilan has little knowledge on how Culture technology works, he was informed on the basis on the weapon system he was talking about. Which is on par with Culture tech.

[The Nomad]

While Quilan has little knowledge on how Culture technology works, he was informed on the basis on the weapon system he was talking about. Which is on par with Culture tech.

SPOILER WARNING
Hmm he was informed that it was a Displacer weapon, he had no knowledge of what was going to be Displaced.

[SyntaxVorlon]

The weapon was going to displace some small bomb into a secluded corner of the Hub from some bit of Quilan's things or IIRC from inside his own brain case where it would sit undetected by culture sensors because of the assumption of their respect for a persons private thoughts. It could not have been very big bomb. And I don't remember it being a CAM weapon, but its been a while since I read it.

[XaLEv]

First, about the Excession's Gridfire:

Assuming there was what it knew as reality to come back to at all, of course (for it was starting to think: What if the Excession's expansion was equidirectional, and never stopped; what if it was a sort of new big bang; what if it was destined to take in the whole galaxy, the whole of this universe?).

This was mere speculation on the part of Sleeper Service, not a definitive statement on what would happen.

The weapon was going to displace some small bomb into a secluded corner of the Hub from some bit of Quilan's things or IIRC from inside his own brain case where it would sit undetected by culture sensors because of the assumption of their respect for a persons private thoughts. It could not have been very big bomb. And I don't remember it being a CAM weapon, but its been a while since I read it.

What Quilan carried were wormholes, through which the actual weapons would be delivered.

[Prozac the Robert]

The bomb in a brain was a plan someone else had tried at some point. It didn't work because the minds can look down on a 3d object like a brain from a 4d perspective. Or something like that.

Of course something like an x-ray machine could also spot something inside someones head without reading their mind.

[Rah]

First, about the Excession's Gridfire:

Assuming there was what it knew as reality to come back to at all, of course (for it was starting to think: What if the Excession's expansion was equidirectional, and never stopped; what if it was a sort of new big bang; what if it was destined to take in the whole galaxy, the whole of this universe?).

This was mere speculation on the part of Sleeper Service, not a definitive statement on what would happen.

Speculation on the fact of size, not of power. The output of Gridfire remains the same, what varies is time, size, and what the impeller can do to the incursion.

Gridfire is the energy barrier between the universes in Cultureverse cosmology. A gridfire incursion is that energy being forced to "cross" over to normal space.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Also forgot to point out that in LtW the Mind points out that 1cm^3 of CAM interacting with 1cm^3 CM = 50PT.

I remember nothing of such. Quote?

Saddly I don't have the book with me. It's not an exact quote either, but from 2 or 3 passages of the book you can get to that conclusion. IIRC it specifically gives us a Million ton M/AM reaction as the base for that conclusion.

I think you're interpreting it wrong. The nanomissiles in LtW were able to destroy a large, fortified building, but that's nowhere near that power level.

Though in tSotA, it is stated that bombs smaller than the eye can see can be displaced into a planet's core and blow it to pieces easily.

[SirNitram]

First, about the Excession's Gridfire:

Assuming there was what it knew as reality to come back to at all, of course (for it was starting to think: What if the Excession's expansion was equidirectional, and never stopped; what if it was a sort of new big bang; what if it was destined to take in the whole galaxy, the whole of this universe?).

This was mere speculation on the part of Sleeper Service, not a definitive statement on what would happen.

Speculation on the fact of size, not of power. The output of Gridfire remains the same, what varies is time, size, and what the impeller can do to the incursion.

What an interesting statement. Despite statements that the Grid above and below normal space has definate features, you claim it must be uniform. I would like to see proof.

Gridfire is the energy barrier between the universes in Cultureverse cosmology. A gridfire incursion is that energy being forced to "cross" over to normal space.

What a remarkably un-informative statement. This tells us nothing of the energy density or even it's potential time until it radiates it's energy away from itself and reaches equilibrium with it's enviroment.

[Rah]

I think you're interpreting it wrong. The nanomissiles in LtW were able to destroy a large, fortified building, but that's nowhere near that power level.

I'm not talking about the EDust's missiles or the Combat Drone's missiles either. I'll try and get a hold of the book and search for the relevant quotes.

[Rah]

What an interesting statement. Despite statements that the Grid above and below normal space has definate features, you claim it must be uniform. I would like to see proof.

What a remarkably un-informative statement. This tells us nothing of the energy density or even it's potential time until it radiates it's energy away from itself and reaches equilibrium with it's enviroment.

The energy density is stated to be able to destroy the universe. It does not need to be uniform as long as the lowest output it can have can destroy the hardest thing to destroy in the universe.

[SirNitram]

What an interesting statement. Despite statements that the Grid above and below normal space has definate features, you claim it must be uniform. I would like to see proof.

What a remarkably un-informative statement. This tells us nothing of the energy density or even it's potential time until it radiates it's energy away from itself and reaches equilibrium with it's enviroment.

The energy density is stated to be able to destroy the universe. It does not need to be uniform as long as the lowest output it can have can destroy the hardest thing to destroy in the universe.

Incorrect. A suicidal ship wonders about the nature of the phenomenon he is approaching. At no point does it state the energy density is sufficient to 'destroy the universe'. Indeed, that you believe simply a high energy would 'destroy a universe' is quite telling about how much you don't know about what you babble.

[Mikk]

What a remarkably un-informative statement. This tells us nothing of the energy density or even it's potential time until it radiates it's energy away from itself and reaches equilibrium with it's enviroment.

Doesn't matter as far as I can tell if whatever is exposed to gridfire gets annihilated into energy. Even if something can withstand the resulting radiation what is destroyed by annihilation can't do anything about it.

No?

[SirNitram]

Gridfire is the energy barrier between the universes in Cultureverse cosmology. A gridfire incursion is that energy being forced to "cross" over to normal space.

What a remarkably un-informative statement. This tells us nothing of the energy density or even it's potential time until it radiates it's energy away from itself and reaches equilibrium with it's enviroment.

Doesn't matter as far as I can tell if whatever is exposed to gridfire gets annihilated into energy. Even if something can withstand the resulting radiation what is destroyed by annihilation can't do anything about it.

No?

What matters is whether the energy density is high enough to overcome any matter's thermal capacity. The closest thing to an examinable circumstance was against an impossible metal with utterly unknown thermal capacity.

[Mikk]

Well my point was that coming in contact with antimatter is a bad day for anything. Think that's how it was supposed to work.

Also if the supernense material of the orbitals is supposed to hold together under such enourmous stresses it is subject to it probably can take quite a lot of temperature aswell... whatever this has to do with anything.