Timeline for Why does Battle School train kids in physical combat when it's irrelevant to the ultimate goal?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 2017 at 2:52 | vote | accept | Thunderforge | ||
| Apr 21, 2017 at 8:50 | history | edited | anaximander | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 347 characters in body
|
| Apr 21, 2017 at 8:14 | comment | added | anaximander | I'm trying to find some relevant quotes. Last night was busier than expected so I didn't have time for anything more than a quick skim. | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 5:44 | comment | added | Thunderforge | Were there any more quotes that you had in mind? I wanted to see if you would add any more before selecting an answer. | |
| Apr 20, 2017 at 19:32 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | Thanks for that quote. I had no memory of it at all. That does give it a totally different meaning. | |
| Apr 20, 2017 at 19:31 | comment | added | anaximander | @MadPhysicist it's not just the inverse square law or the lightspeed propagation delay; it seems there's something in the triggering mechanism. See the quote I added from when Petra is teaching Ender to shoot. Overall, the point is that you can see the target well before you can effectively shoot it, which is often the case in hard(ish) science space combat, not just because of various kinds of energy falloff, but also because the distances involved mean that by the time your shot has reached the target, it's had ages to dodge. | |
| Apr 20, 2017 at 19:28 | history | edited | anaximander | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Added a relevant quote.
|
| Apr 20, 2017 at 18:41 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | I misunderstood your statement as meaning that the laser took longer to reach the target. If I remember correctly (not guaranteed), getting hit in the mock battles led to instant disabling of limbs regardless of the actual energy delivered. Of course you are right about losing power over distance in an actual space battle (although the vacuum would help mitigate that some). | |
| Apr 20, 2017 at 18:36 | comment | added | UIDAlexD | @MadPhysicist The beam travels at the speed of light, but lasers still suffer from inverse-square falloff. Lasers lose significant amounts of power over distance, especially small-aperture ones with limited beam coherence. | |
| Apr 20, 2017 at 15:50 | comment | added | Mad Physicist | Greate answer. My only objection is to the phrase "The lasers take longer to affect a target the further they are from you". While technically true, the effect is negligible because they propagate at the speed of light. | |
| Apr 20, 2017 at 14:17 | history | edited | anaximander | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Added some headings to help summarise and break up the wall of text.
|
| Apr 20, 2017 at 12:58 | history | answered | anaximander | CC BY-SA 3.0 |