Everything Makes Sense in BZ2

[Ded10c]

If you want to be picky about the science you're in the wrong franchise. Handwave it and say "but biometal" like the rest of the story.

[MrTwosheds]

At this point understanding anything beyond three dimensions is next to impossible to anyone without a theoretical physics doctorate, much less proving them.

4 AH! everyone does 4. (possibly even 5 if you include the one nobody likes to talk about)

So what if your scifi physics are proven wrong. Unicorns don't exist and stories still have those.

Precisely my point really. Nobody has proven that Unicorns didn't or cannot exist. We just know we made em up
It doesn't really matter in the context of BZ2, got wormholes, got teleportation (of scrap and scions) somehow too. Blimey you could easily go the whole way and set up an interplanetary portal railway service and stop all this mucking about in space altogether.

Edit.
Your probably right AH! 3 if you sensibly assume 1 & 2 cannot actually exist and thus are in fact both 0.
Infinity, volume and *time (*if you are alive to know about it).

[Nielk1]

Tachyons exist in 3 dimensions of time and 1 dimension of space, meaning that if they do exist time and space are different dimensional sets.

[MrTwosheds]

Hmm, I believe these days tachyon is just used as a description of any particle or event that manages to exceed the speed of light.
From my perspective as an amateur astro-philosopher I can't think of any good reasons why a particle should not be able do that. I never really understood the fixation physicists have with c. After all eyeballs and brains are a considerably later development than the supposed formation of the Universe, I can think of no sensible reason why it should have to behave in a way that conforms to our perceptive abilities.

[Ded10c]

The fixation with c is likely a result of special relativity (the "time goes slower the faster you move" one)

[Nielk1]

The speed limit of C is an illusion. The truth is that the equation we use for velocity is wrong, but accurate enough at all speeds we experience.

[Ded10c]

The same goes for most equations in our physical model, to be honest - close enough for anything we're likely to need them for, but not necessarily 100% spot on.

[Nielk1]

As for BZ2's scrap system, the solution might simply be to say that they ARE working in parallel but they they all use the same limited set of energy. As such, faster extractors are more efficient with that energy and would thus all go first. The only niggle with this is the way a new extractor on the bottom of your stack can result in a scrap flow stall, but it might simply be a case that the energy is needed for a setup cost instead of production. In that case, you could say that by having you scrap already filled past that point and thus not incurring the startup delay you are simply allowing for a "supercharged startup" by the presence of biometal in the tanks.

[Andykarta]

So what if your scifi physics are proven wrong. Unicorns don't exist and stories still have those.

Unicorns don't exist??? Lies. The only way this topic could become geekier is if all the posts had been written in Klingon. At least its nice to know people besides me think about this stuff.

[MrTwosheds]

"Geek Factor 6 Captain!"

The fixation with c is likely a result of special relativity (the "time goes slower the faster you move" one)

Always had a problem with that. The perception of time is conditional on being alive. So unless those theories where backed up by experiments accelerating live people, then I don't see how it is possible to distinguish between the two.
Lets face it, they were trying to measure stuff without any fixed points of reference. So they nailed c to the fabric of space... even though they couldn't find it...then time starts stretching...even though your actually imagining it in the first place. Well I suppose it sort of works to a point. Travel away from the Earth at near c speeds for 10 years, turn around go home again and 20 years have passed while it was only 10 for you....1 little problem, Earth is no longer where you though it was! its been round the sun 10 more times and the whole solar system has moved. I figure it would still take you another 10 years to get home.

These days we have strings, super strings, Mbranes and quantum field theories etc and a lot of blank looks from anyone who tries to make sense of it. That's good, it means they are actually trying to do it the hard way rather than just picking a random property and shouting "don't move!" at it. I just hope they remember to include the Brain as a part of their calculations, it is where time starts to exist.

[Red Devil]

http://www.geek.com/science/geek-answer ... r-1563103/

[Ded10c]

The experiment they used to prove it was thus:

Two atomic clocks are synchronised; one is placed on a plane and the other one is left stationary. The plane is flown around the world several times, and when the clocks are checked afterwards the one on the plane is behind beyond the its tiny error margin.

[MrTwosheds]

Which proves that electrons orbit very slightly differently when they are moving (in a circle). The assumption that they are always consistent and that it must be the elusive non existent thing "time" that has changed is to decide that time is the orbit of an electron. A clock is a clock, its a device that moves, it only tells the time when someone looks at it and understands it.
We are The Clocks, without the understanding its all just motion. We do more than perceive time, we create the only context in which it appears to exist.

[Nielk1]

Which proves that electrons orbit very slightly differently when they are moving (in a circle). The assumption that they are always consistent and that it must be the elusive non existent thing "time" that has changed is to decide that time is the orbit of an electron. A clock is a clock, its a device that moves, it only tells the time when someone looks at it and understands it.
We are The Clocks, without the understanding its all just motion. We do more than perceive time, we create the only context in which it appears to exist.

There were numerous addition tests.
Also, you seem to lack an understanding of how atomic clocks work.

[MrTwosheds]

They measure the frequency and intrinsic width of electronic transition in the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms. They can be used to make extremely precise measurements that are useful to living beings. Computational devices can also process this data, but these devices have yet to develop the ability to conceive the concepts that give this data meaning.