[Bobboau]

I figured out what this comunity has been missing, unsubstasiated speculation of thing we cannot begin to understand, so to try to bring some sainity lets talk about what runns FS ships, heavy hydrogen cold fusion reactors. do you think it works do you think the terrans could have come up with something better, what do the shivans use.

------------------
Bobboau, bringing you products that work.............. in theory

[Carl]

Cold fusion is a myth. they use thermonuclear fusion reactors for power and so do the shivans.

[Warlock]

The way some of the bombers fly I thought it was 6 gerbils and a carrot out front  

Seriously thou it's Sci Fi,..they could use ANYthing.

------------------
Warlock
 
DeathAngel Squadron
CO

Do or Do Not,..There Is No Spoon
Ghosts of the Past Forum
Ghosts of the Past WebSite
To Fly Exotic Ships, Meet Exotic People, and Kill Them.


We may rise and fall, but in the end
 We meet our fate together

[Bobboau]

I destinctly remember them saying that the ships use Deuterium (aka heavy hydrogen) for cold fusion.

and I would think that the shivans would use something better, like subspace tap drives.

------------------
Bobboau, bringing you products that work.............. in theory

edit:  it's deuterium, and I didn't feel like making a new post

[This message has been edited by Shrike (edited 05-08-2001).]

[Bobboau]

simopost   crazy

------------------
Bobboau, bringing you products that work.............. in theory

[Shrike]

Didn't you read my post on the Beam Monologues?  That's pretty unsubstantiated.  

[Jabu]

Subspace tap? Like the Vorlon-style hyperspace tap?

Who knows, antimatter? Controlled singularity?

But I do believe the Terrans use cold fusion. It's very efficient, and fits in well with their overall tech level.

[Setekh]

 

Originally posted by Jabu:
Controlled singularity?

Quantum mechanics? Homo Superior? Eudaimonia? The will to power? Probability mechanics? Way too much SMAC for us.  

[Martinus]

I'd say that antimatter is a good candidate for a power supply, lots of bang for your buck. Magnetic field mechanics should be advanced enough by then to handle antimatter. I read somewhere that they recond that a thimblefull of antimatter would have the same "whack" as a 20K ton nuclear warhead. You have to ask yourself though, what idiot do they get to hold the thimble  

On a similar theme I think there are other possibilities for mega nasty powerful weapons. I once read an Arthur C. Clarke book that had an interesting idea for a weapon, it was a massive rail cannon that fired superheated molten heavymetals at the target making quite a mess of the hull.

That's gonna give you quite a nasty burn  

[Shrike]

Yeah, but gas miners are for the fusion drives of the fleet, remember?  It would follow that the powerplants are most likely fusion as well.

[QXMX]

On a similar note, in the .tbl files, what is the significance of Max. Power output?

It's most likely Thermonuclear reactors, since no mention is ever made of cold Fusion, and a "reactor core breach" would most likely result from heavy damage(Love the treason.....)

------------------
.....File not found....please enter password

Co-Creator, Project Omega18

[Starwing]

True. Fusion reactors don't explode. If a fusion reactor gets unstable the fusion reaction simply stops.

[IceFire]

Its the fission dealie stuffs that explode right?

Shivans seem to have the same sort of power systems as Terran/Vasudan counterparts, except for a huge increase in efficiency and power output.

[Shrike]

Actually, it depends what happens.......fission reactors shouldn't explode (see chernobyl) but fusion reactors, depending of the technology, could very well go up.  Because if you breach the magnetic containment fields, all of a sudden this ultrahot plasma at god knows what pressure suddenly can get out....

boom

[QXMX]

Yea, but with cold Fusion, there's no superhot plasma, hence no explosions.

------------------
.....File not found....please enter password

Co-Creator, Project Omega18

[Shrike]

dat's why I said depending on the tech.  

[Sushi]

Subspace Tap? Sounds like what I was thinking earlier...like using a mini-subspace gate to let high-energy subspacial particles flow into the normal universe, and either blow them up as fuel or shoot them straight out the back.  

------------------
Sushi- the OTHER white meat!
Accelerate your game-Velocity Mod

[Ace]

Shivan vessels that use shield systems require fusion based technologies to power their vessels since sub-space taps interfere with shield matrices.

We know for a fact that the Lucfier was powered by five fusion reactors that have a power output equivalent to dozens of Meson warheads.

The Lucifer, and Shivan fightercraft have fusion based drive systems thousand-fold more in efficientcy than allied systems.

However, they still require deuterium to field these craft.

Most Shivan capital ships are powered by sub-space tap systems, thus their high amount of firepower and manuverability capacity for their size class.

Some recent Terran modifications on the Faustus use a similar sub-space tap.

The alliance makes little use of anti-matter or relativistic technologies.

Namely rail weapons proved ineffective against later designs of the great war when centrifuge technologies were rendered obsolete.

Anti-matter weapons and reactors require a great deal of power to maintain containment, and are also rarely used save for weaponry or powering weaponry. (The Colossus may have used secondary anti-matter reactors for it's main cannons)

------------------
Ace
Staff member FreeSpace Watch
 http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/

[The Claw]

Now, I think it's time for me to put in my knowledge. I have done quite a bit of research into Fusion, as it interests me quite a lot.
 First off, the difference between cold and hot fusion. Hot Fusion attempts to emulate the chemical process occuring in the sun by heating hydrogen (i'm pretty sure) up to super-hot temperatures, where they shed their electrons and become plasma. These reactors need Deutarium as far as I can remember, and if one of these reactors are breached, the results could be superhot plasma spraying around in the power compartment.
 Cold fusion is no myth, it is real and it has already succeeded in passing the break even point in energy creation (produces more energy than it takes to maintain)- something that the Hot Fusion project has not yet managed, despite millions of pounds being spent on it.
 Cold fusion takes place at room temperature, and uses metals specially "loaded" with certain elements, and in a electro-chemical reaction produces energy. In fact, it has been suggested that in some variants of cold fusion, the process can be used to dispose of radioactive waste (although what type escapes me).
 The greater portion of the scientific community denies cold fusion exists, even though it has been proven to do so. People have different reasons for this, but one of the greatest is probably that they are unhappy that two scientists working on a low budget managed to do something that scientists on a multi-million pound budget had dismissed as impossible.
 I personally think the ships in FS2 use Hot Fusion reactors, due to their use of Deuterium.
 Interesting facts about fusion:
 According to einsteins formulae, E=MC2, a 1 gram raison has more power inherent in it that 20,000 tons of TNT.
 Using fusion, a glass full of water can produce the same amount of power as 100 tons of coal, without half the pollution.#
 Fusion is the process of two seperate atoms joining to produce energy, fission is basically them splitting apart. Fission is a chain reaction (thus nukes) while Fusion isn't (as far as I know).
 And for anyone who disputes these facts, please do research before you argue, do not let your own opinion taint your viewpoint.
 IMO, fusion is Humanities best hope for clean energy (but not to say the only one).

[Martinus]

The Claw: Spaceborne Chicken maniac and nuclear specialist. I'm impressed