From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V00 #148 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: <blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se> archive/volume00/148 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 00 : Issue 148 Today's Topics: Re: [B7L] Orbit Re: [B7L] Orbit Re: [B7L] Orbit [B7L] Funnel? [B7L] Funnel? Re: [B7L] Sarcophagus (was Titles Say It All?) Re: [B7L] Funnel? Re: [B7L] Sarcophagus (was Titles Say It All?) [B7L] Fearless Leader [B7L] Anyone We Know? [B7L] Fearless Leader + Big Budget Blake [B7L] Orbit + One Word Titles Re: [B7L] Fearless Leader + Big Budget Blake Re: [B7L] Orbit Re: [B7L] Sarcophagus (was Titles Say It All?) [B7L] Funnel [B7L] Funnel Teaser ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 21:23:53 +0100 From: "Alison Page" <alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk> To: "lysator" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: Re: [B7L] Orbit Message-ID: <002201bfc8e3$7e02b020$ca8edec2@pre-installedco> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Is anyone keeping a tally of the number of plot holes in Orbit? I still like it a lot though. An said - >Does anyone have an idea why - instead of going through all the trouble of >getting rid of all the unnecessary weight in the shuttle - Avon and Villa >don't just use the tachyon funnel to blow up the planet? After all, if the >planet would be gone, the gravity problem would be gone too... It's a damn good suggestion, but it rather depends what happens to the annihilated thing - I can't remember off hand. Does it just disappear? Or is it exploded into energetic debris or what? Unless it just quietly flickers out of existence, you might end up worse than you started off. >I also thought that Avon, who is usually such a suspicious character, was >very easily convinced of the genuinety of the tachyon funnel I think that makes thirty six Alison ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 22:05:22 +0100 From: "Andrew Ellis" <Andrew.D.Ellis@btinternet.com> To: <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: Re: [B7L] Orbit Message-ID: <002301bfca7b$19e09500$9b52073e@leanet> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Does anyone have an idea why - instead of going through all the trouble of >getting rid of all the unnecessary weight in the shuttle - Avon and Villa >don't just use the tachyon funnel to blow up the planet? After all, if the >planet would be gone, the gravity problem would be gone too... Er. Not NECESSARILY. If the planet is simply vaporised, all of the matter still exists, but in little fast moving fragments. The centre of mass will be moving through space with the combined momentum of the original planet (likely to donimate) and the tachyon (if this momentum is significant, the recoil effect on the shuttle would be absolutely massive). SO the shuttle will still be drawn towards the centre of mass. Rather than being jellified in the swamp, the shuttle would have most likely hit a fragment of planet in Scorpio-asteroid fashion. If the mass is turned to energy of some form to remove the gavitational field, it is highly likely that the nearby vacinity of the planet (its atmosphere and the shuttle) would also be so affected. Also, and probably most importantly, the funnel wasn't plumbed in. If you remember, Pinder had to disconect it, and I'll lay odds that was not just extracting a 240 Volt, 50 Hz main socket with a 13 A fuse. >I also thought that Avon, who is usually such a suspicous character, was >very easily convinced of the genuinity of the tachyon funnel. I mean, I >could also make a machine like that, with TV and a VCR, and a video of a >planet blowing up. Even the BBC could manage that, but they convinced me for 20 years ! I like the solution that appeared on this list several months ago (not mine, apologies for not remembering who), ...... land the shuttle........ Gnog ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 13:44:52 -0700 From: mistral@ptinet.net To: B7 List <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: Re: [B7L] Orbit Message-ID: <39318543.83B1E1BD@ptinet.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Andrew Ellis wrote: > I like the solution that appeared on this list several months ago (not mine, > apologies for not remembering who), ...... land the shuttle........ Ah, but it takes a certain amount of fuel to land safely, as well. Perhaps they were past that point by the time they realised they couldn't lose enough weight. Mistral -- I won't get to get what I'm after till the day I die.--Pete Townsend ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 22:46:38 +0100 From: "Claire Robinson" <fortyfab@yahoo.co.uk> To: "Blakes7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: [B7L] Funnel? Message-ID: <010b01bfc8ee$44c201c0$0c84063e@crobinson> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0106_01BFC8F6.955EEF00" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0106_01BFC8F6.955EEF00 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_001_0107_01BFC8F6.955EEF00" ------=_NextPart_001_0107_01BFC8F6.955EEF00 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I'm new to the list and was wondering what this 'funnel' is that = everyone's talking about at the moment? Is it relevant to a particular = episode or the series generally? Claire ------=_NextPart_001_0107_01BFC8F6.955EEF00 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>I'm new to the list and was wondering what this = 'funnel' is=20 that everyone's talking about at the moment? Is it relevant to a=20 particular episode or the series generally?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Claire</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_001_0107_01BFC8F6.955EEF00-- ------=_NextPart_000_0106_01BFC8F6.955EEF00 Content-Type: text/x-vcard; name="crobinson.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="crobinson.vcf" BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 N:Robinson;Claire;;Miss FN:crobinson TEL;HOME;VOICE:01372 805644 ADR;HOME;ENCODING=3DQUOTED-PRINTABLE:;;Flat 2, Ebbisham = Court=3D0D=3D0A34 Dorking Road=3D0D=3D0A;Epsom;Surrey;KT18 7NN;En=3D gland LABEL;HOME;ENCODING=3DQUOTED-PRINTABLE:Flat 2, Ebbisham = Court=3D0D=3D0A34 Dorking Road=3D0D=3D0A=3D0D=3D0AEpsom, Surrey KT18 = 7N=3D N=3D0D=3D0AEngland X-WAB-GENDER:1 BDAY:19730301 EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:fortyfab@yahoo.co.uk REV:20000528T214638Z END:VCARD ------=_NextPart_000_0106_01BFC8F6.955EEF00-- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 22:53:01 +0100 From: "Claire Robinson" <fortyfab@yahoo.co.uk> To: "Blakes7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: [B7L] Funnel? Message-ID: <013201bfc8ef$1f5a1700$0c84063e@crobinson> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_012E_01BFC8F7.79850020" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_012E_01BFC8F7.79850020 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_001_012F_01BFC8F7.79850020" ------=_NextPart_001_012F_01BFC8F7.79850020 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sorry, I've just realised by the headings of the recent messages with = reference to the 'funnel', I presume the relevant episode is Orbit. = Still, can someone explain to me what the funnel is, or is it too = technical? Claire ------=_NextPart_001_012F_01BFC8F7.79850020 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Sorry, I've just realised by the headings of the = recent=20 messages with reference to the 'funnel', I presume the relevant episode = is=20 Orbit. Still, can someone explain to me what the funnel is, or is = it too=20 technical?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Claire</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_001_012F_01BFC8F7.79850020-- ------=_NextPart_000_012E_01BFC8F7.79850020 Content-Type: text/x-vcard; name="crobinson.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="crobinson.vcf" BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 N:Robinson;Claire;;Miss FN:crobinson TEL;HOME;VOICE:01372 805644 ADR;HOME;ENCODING=3DQUOTED-PRINTABLE:;;Flat 2, Ebbisham = Court=3D0D=3D0A34 Dorking Road=3D0D=3D0A;Epsom;Surrey;KT18 7NN;En=3D gland LABEL;HOME;ENCODING=3DQUOTED-PRINTABLE:Flat 2, Ebbisham = Court=3D0D=3D0A34 Dorking Road=3D0D=3D0A=3D0D=3D0AEpsom, Surrey KT18 = 7N=3D N=3D0D=3D0AEngland X-WAB-GENDER:1 BDAY:19730301 EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:fortyfab@yahoo.co.uk REV:20000528T215301Z END:VCARD ------=_NextPart_000_012E_01BFC8F7.79850020-- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 14:36:30 PDT From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com> To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Sarcophagus (was Titles Say It All?) Message-ID: <20000528213630.44040.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Marian wrote: <It has some delightful revelations about the feelings of the crew that we can usually merely guess at. Under the influence of the blue egg Tarrant is telling Avon exactly what he thinks of him. [And don't we get the feeling he's been yearning for ages to do just that? :-)]> Don't see why he should feel frustrated - he got to thump Avon within twenty minutes of *meeting* him, *and* then claim it was for Avon's own good. I can imagine a lot of other people would have liked to do that at one time or another. <What I don't understand though, is the end, with those long close ups of Cally and Avon. Are they supposed to reveal their feelings?> Cally might be ... but I don't think so. And given that this is the first episode after Rumours, I can't see Avon being in any state to *have* any. I like to think it's a sort of closure of their bitter period, from Auron through Rumours and the earlier bits of Sarcophagus (yes, they were friendly right at the start, Avon making a heroic effort at sympathy, but then there's that nasty little alien-induced stab of hers after they come back from the pod-thing). They both saved each other, in a way, and this is Cally just saying "friends again?" and Avon giving silence as assent. After this, the acidic traces between them seem to disappear until Terminal, where Avon behaves appallingly (not that I blame him for one minute, though <g> but then I think Fearless Leader is just as important as *Avon* does). That last look she gives him as they leave is not at *all* friendly, and I can't help wondering if she was still angry and unforgiving when she died (hey, I like angst). ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 17:55:38 -0400 From: "Christine+Steve" <cgorman@idirect.com> To: "B7 Mailing List" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: Re: [B7L] Funnel? Message-ID: <003301bfc8ef$89bd80a0$92249ad8@cgorman> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Claire Robinson wrote : >I'm new to the list and was wondering what this 'funnel' is that everyone's talking about at the >moment? Is it relevant to a particular episode or the series generally? Welcome to the list! The funnel refers to the "Tachyon Funnel", a weapon created by Egrorian in the episode "Orbit". Tachyon's are, to quote Avon, "Theoretical particles that travel faster than the speed of light." Although in this episode, they are no longer theoretical. I would guess a large amount of these particles are fired at the target, destroying it instantly. Distance from the target didn't seem to be a problem, so the operator could destroy any target in complete anonimity. Egrorian built it to use in revenge against the Federation, but now wants to exchange it for Orac, who would help build his other projects. Hope this helps! Steve Dobson. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 08:39:02 EST From: "J MacQueen" <j_macqueen@hotmail.com> To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Sarcophagus (was Titles Say It All?) Message-ID: <20000528223902.77708.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: "Marian de Haan" <maya@multiweb.nl> >What I don't understand though, is the end, with those long close ups of >Cally and Avon. Are they supposed to reveal their feelings? Avon looks as >inscrutable as ever to me. What am I missing? Yes, what am I missing? I've always interpreted that exchange of looks as Avon: "Are you all right now? If so, can we get this ship moving again?" and Cally: "Yes, I'm fine now, thank you for asking; and yes, I'm not going to be taken over by aliens again immediately, if that's what you're worried about". Random thought: Zen must've worked overtime on those consoles zapped by the alien so the crew could go back to them so quickly. Regards Joanne ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 21:55:41 EDT From: B7Morrigan@aol.com To: freedom-city@blakes-7.org, blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Fearless Leader Message-ID: <38.6870cf8.2663281d@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I was reading about the upcoming big picture remake release of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" starring, among others, Robert DeNiro (Fearless Leader), Jason Alexander (Boris) and Rene Russo (Natasha). One quote, which I am copying from AOL's review cracked me up. >De Niro, meanwhile, loosens up as the diabolical Fearless Leader, even mocking >his ''You talkin' to me?'' routine from ''Taxi Driver.'' I always thought the B7 Fearless Leader was definitely more Bullwinkle material, Avon being Rocky of course. Trish SCHOOL "Auron may be different, Cally, but on Earth it is considered ill-mannered to kill your friends while committing suicide." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 23:16:46 -0400 From: "Dana Shilling" <dshilling@worldnet.att.net> To: "b7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: [B7L] Anyone We Know? Message-ID: <002a01bfc91c$7126d1e0$1eac4e0c@dshilling> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is from a Hewlett-Packard ad: "It is not okay to rely on your computer more than you trust it. It is not okay for your computer to create more work than it eliminates. It is not okay for your new computer to not get along with your old ones." -(Y) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 20:44:07 PDT From: "Jason de Rooy" <jjderooy@hotmail.com> To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Fearless Leader + Big Budget Blake Message-ID: <20000529034407.87227.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I read this >I was reading about the upcoming big picture remake release of "Rocky >and >Bullwinkle" starring, among others, Robert DeNiro (Fearless >Leader), Jason >Alexander (Boris) and Rene Russo (Natasha). and started to imagine Blake's 7 as a big budget American movie, with De Niro as Avon, Jason Alexander as Vila, Rene Rousso as Cally etc etc. I alternated between laughing and shivering. Anyone care to put forward some further nominations? Jason ps - anyone care to imagine Paul Darrow doing De Niro's Taxi Driver role? The slow declaration of 'You talking to me?' ... ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 20:47:42 PDT From: "Jason de Rooy" <jjderooy@hotmail.com> To: alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk, blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Orbit + One Word Titles Message-ID: <20000529034742.45306.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >Is anyone keeping a tally of the number of plot holes in Orbit? Going back to discussion about the cleverness or obscurity of one word episode titles, perhaps Orbit could be renamed 'Funnel', as in the name of the weapon, what Avon thought about throwing Villa down, and as a description of where the series was heading with this particular ep? Jason ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 23:50:13 EDT From: B7Morrigan@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Fearless Leader + Big Budget Blake Message-ID: <4e.625a502.266342f5@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jason wrote: > > ps - anyone care to imagine Paul Darrow doing De Niro's Taxi Driver role? > The slow declaration of 'You talking to me?' ... > Sure, that pretty much sums up Season 4 in a nutshell (or in a nuthouse). Travis Bickle was reincarnated as Kerr Avon. Any I break out in hives anytime anyone casts a modern B7 movie. Shudder, shudder (and if you're going the DeNiro route, you might as well cast Paul Darrow - they're in the same age range and he knows the role) Trish SCHOOL "Auron may be different, Cally, but on Earth it is considered ill-mannered to kill your friends while committing suicide." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 09:04:02 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com> To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Orbit Message-ID: <20000529.090408.-89873.1.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sun, 28 May 2000 13:44:52 -0700 mistral@ptinet.net writes: > > > Andrew Ellis wrote: > > > I like the solution that appeared on this list several months ago > (not mine, > > apologies for not remembering who), ...... land the > shuttle........ > > Ah, but it takes a certain amount of fuel to land safely, as well. > Perhaps they were past that point by the time they realised > they couldn't lose enough weight. > They nearly had enough to reach escape velocity. 75 kilograms on a ship that size - had to be at least a couple tons at that size, even if they used light weight future materials instead of herculanium (which seems to have been common in ships, given Dawn of the Gods, although Liberator obviously had an unusual percentage in the hull) - is next too nothing (actually, just to point out minor plot flaws, the amount of weight they need to eject would have been increasing as the shuttle flew. Every second they fly is more fuel burned up, leaving less to achieve orbit with. By the time Avon found Vila, throwing him off might not have made a difference. Had he been with Cally, as one person suggested, her lighter weight might have saved enough fuel that Orac would never have come up with the idea of discarding the other passenger). Given the time and distance suggested, I think they had enough to land. But I could be wrong. It also might make a difference what kind of gliding ability the shuttle had.... But Avon never even asked Orac about this option. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 09:02:03 -0600 From: "Ellynne G." <rilliara@juno.com> To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Sarcophagus (was Titles Say It All?) Message-ID: <20000529.090408.-89873.0.rilliara@juno.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sun, 28 May 2000 14:36:30 PDT "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com> writes: > Marian wrote: > > <It has some delightful revelations about the feelings of the crew > that we > can usually merely guess at. Under the influence of the blue egg > Tarrant is > telling Avon exactly what he thinks of him. [And don't we get the > feeling > he's been yearning for ages to do just that? :-)]> > > Don't see why he should feel frustrated - he got to thump Avon > within twenty > minutes of *meeting* him, *and* then claim it was for Avon's own > good. Tarrant suffers from what someone called "testosterone poisoning." He has a constant need to assert his place in the pack. Thumping Avon for his own good was fine, but what had he done to assert himself _lately_? > > <What I don't understand though, is the end, with those long close > ups of > Cally and Avon. Are they supposed to reveal their feelings?> > > Cally might be ... but I don't think so. Just IMHO (which I've said before and will say again [and again, and again....]), I think the alien was very much aware of Cally's true feelings for Avon. I think she was also reasonably aware of Avon's feelings for Cally. I think, between that and the steps Avon took to save her, Cally doesn't have any real doubts about Avon's feelings for her. I also think Avon would sooner surrender to the Federation and give Servalan a very blunt instrument soaked in lemon juice to cut his throat than admit any such feelings at this point (and several other points, actually). I think Cally realizes this and is ready to wait it out, comfortably certain of the ultimate outcome. > >I > can't help wondering if she was still angry and unforgiving when she > died I think Cally was usually too forgiving for her own good, so I can't quite see this. I also think the reasons Avon had done this, to find Blake while keeping the others out of what he recognized was a probable trap, was the kind of thing to make her let bygones be bygones. Of course, I don't think she died there (I'm actually a bit more certain of it than most PGP scenarios I come up with. She had too many unresolved plot elements), so it's not an issue. > (hey, I like angst). > 100% agreement. Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 17:14:05 +0100 (BST) From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Claire=20Robinson?= <fortyfab@yahoo.co.uk> To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Funnel Message-ID: <20000529161405.6815.qmail@web1901.mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Steve Thanks for the explanation of the funnel which doesn't make that much sense at the moment as I'm not sure I own a copy of Orbit. I probably saw the original episode but I was only 8/9 yrs old at the time! Right, I'm off to search through my video collection.... Claire ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 21:46:47 +0100 From: "Andrew Ellis" <Andrew.D.Ellis@btinternet.com> To: "B7 Mailing List" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se> Subject: [B7L] Funnel Teaser Message-ID: <004a01bfcb41$9f8e9e60$8767073e@leanet> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Claire Robinson wrote : > >>I'm new to the list and was wondering what this 'funnel' is that everyone's >talking about at the >moment? Is it relevant to a particular episode or the >series generally? Steve replied...> >The funnel refers to the "Tachyon Funnel", a weapon created by Egrorian in >the episode "Orbit". Tachyon's are, to quote Avon, "Theoretical particles >that travel faster than the speed of light." Although in this episode, they >are no longer theoretical. Quite right Steve. In fact we don't need to even quote Avon. According to the New Collins Concise English Dictionary, a Tachyon is "a hypothetical elementary particle capable of travelling faster than the velocity of light." The Oxford Concise Science Dictionary goes further (it would wouldn't it) and explains that the SPECIAL (my capitals) theory of relativity only precludes travel AT the speed of light because the energy of the particle becomes infinite, and that a particle travelling faster than the speed of light has negative energy. So taking the traditional definition of funnel as something which directs a flow of particles roughly in one particular direction, we have a flow of a large number of particles of negative energy. These particles encounter part of the target. Positive energy plus negative energy = no energy = no mass. So PART of the planet just ceases to exist (but a negligible small part), perhaps emitting anti matter particles and all sorts of stuff. You now get a chain reaction of matter / anti matter and energy / negative energy reactions, and basically a big bang, with loads of radiation and high energy stuff. Science can be much more fun than fiction. I wouldn't use a funnel because of the poor beam quality but I guess Tachyon Emission and Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation (TEASER) was just a bit to far for SciFi to go. Incidentally, In the section on Tachyons the OCSD mentions the emission of Cerenkov radiation. Was Pavel Cerenkov related to Hoffel ? (Cerenkov radiation is typically blue, so Hoffel's radiation could well be different, being green and red). Gnog -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V00 Issue #148 **************************************