rrw4rusty

Hi, Anyone see this??? We had company and I only caught glimpses... they showed a spiral of gas from some binary system where one star was a super giant due to go nova soon (soon being relative). They talked about GRB (Gamma Ray Bursts) that might take place when it went super nova and said the stars axis was pointing at us and showed how the GRB might hit Earth. Did anyone see this... know what star they were talking about... know how far away? Yeah... well, in any event (pun intended)... just how big of a diameter would this GRB beam have? They show a beam a little less then the diameter of the Earth hitting Earth. I can't believe that a beam that size would smack Terra from that distance! Aren't we a moving target (you know, like orbiting around the sun is nothing else). I kind of think that the diameter of the GRB beam is 'much' larger by the time it gets to Sol and that it'd probably hits most of our solar system. That little animation of a beam hitting Earth had to be for 5th graders, yes? Wish I'd see more of the show. Anyone know how gamma rays kill? Anyone know if anything can shield one from these things? Maybe tin foil on the head? Seriously, just curious. Rusty

Atheist, Thanks for your reply! By infinite mass I mean a singularity of a black hole. By absolute vacuum I mean the absence of space/time. Neither state is possible within our universe (I guess this is dependent on your views). By single state I mean the absolute uniformity (the same everywhere) that one would presumably find within a singularity or an absolute vacuum if it were possible to get inside and look around. Edit: I do not know what you mean by 'degrees'. Cheers, Rusty

Thanks for replies!!! I think my query is answered! Ron

Hi, Is it considered a possibility (by ANY current theory) that the basic building blocks of all matter (all sub-atomic particles) is the super string? Also is the definition of a super string (by ANY current theory) include a space/time wrinkle vibrating into the 10 dimensions of existence (or what part of this definition is not correct)? Thanks, Ron Science Fiction Writer Amateur science buff (all but especially physics, cosmology, quantum mechanics, astronomy)

Hi, My first post outside of the 'intro thread' -- not entirely sure this is the correct sub-forum. Question: Are the properties of Infinite Mass exactly the same as the properties of an absolute vacuum? That is: the same everywhere, one state, no events, no time, no temperature, ... what else? I asked this question in '92 and got a 'yes' but, I'm behind the curve and out of date now. Thanks! Ron

Hello! This forum is ‘new country’ for me and I’m not sure how my membership and posts will be viewed for… I am a science fiction writer* in need of a sounding board. However, I do have ‘some’ redeeming qualities. For instance… 1. About 10% of my reading is ‘Arm chair’ physics, cosmology, quantum mechanics, astronomy, other sciences. I’ve read (studied) Einstein’s general/special TOR; everything by Hawking, by Sagan and so on. At least between the mid 70s and early 2002. I am about 7 years behind right now. Oh, I am an avid reader devouring at least two books a week -- other reading was 80% Science Fiction; 10% other. 2. I haven't watched TV in 30 years except for scientific documentary type shows. 3. For 20 years I was a programmer/systems programmer/system administrator/software architect (designer; XML, design patterns, rational rose)/MIS. 4. All my sci-fi stories are science based and even if its ‘future’ science (as in ‘science fiction’) it must be plausible. I do use my literary license and I guess that might be my contracting and expanding definition of plausible. In my current ‘work in progress’ (The Spiral Slayer) I go out on a twig and actually build a futuristic model of the universe with regards to what the future might hold for cosmology, physics, quantum mechanics and… a few other little things like… * What the universe does before its birth and after its death, * The answer to “Why are we here?” * Medicine man, alchemists, scientists, then… <replacement>, <replacement > * How you can learn everything that can be known and, how you can understand all this. * How you travel between super clusters, * How you journey across the universe while observing the speed of light barrier by beating out the accelerating expansion of the universe by… Lets go surfing now… on the wave of space/time creation (or skipping across virtual particle pairs). * A second way that the universe expands (or probability*probability*probability… …) * How to juggle black holes and even make them vanish and reappear * How you replace dark matter and dark energy with absolute (space/time) vacuums and hollow shells of plasma called stars... without anyone noticing I'm not looking for any replies on any of the above yet. I’m ready to be stomped, flamed and ridiculed but… not yet. My question: besides the ‘trash can’ (LOL I hope), where would I post sci-fi science proposals like the above except with more info like my logic or how this might happen or be? As stated, I need a sounding board. Cheers and sorry for taking so much bandwidth, Ron Williamson *I’m a writer of IT Technical Articles (circa 1985-90; Computerworld, Datamation) who is working on his first science fiction book. Edit: As always, I will search/research for a resonable amount of time before posting.