[Nexus] OoC 39: OoCside

[Darkcomet]

That's my phrase.

[Terumitsu]

Oh right..

*Pays royalties for it's usage*

[Lady Serpentine]

TE: Sent you things, but I'm trying to resolve it, as I believe there was a misunderstanding as to how the 'psychic static' would work.

Teru: The teleporting wasn't meant to do anything other than get it caught in the teleblock field and away, I believe. I mean, if we can get it elsewhere, lovely, but we just wanted to get it out, IC and OOC.

[BasketOfPuppies]

I don't think I've ever posted with you before? And I don't own any shops in Mallside.

Right, sorry. I keep gettin people mixed up. Go about your day to be happy and eat good food.

[Devixer]

You know, that psychic static thing was used by my character. You could always ask me how it works, I even have a near-empty inbox.

Puppies: It's cool, I posted for you anyway. I do have a character at the store you went to.

[Lady Serpentine]

You know, that psychic static thing was used by my character. You could always ask me how it works, I even have a near-empty inbox.

Puppies: It's cool, I posted for you anyway. I do have a character at the store you went to.

...Crap, Operative did use one, didn't he?

This was a different thing that TE did, though, or I would have asked you.

[Devixer]

That's fine. I've just kind of felt like I'm out of the loop with this whole MagCave mess. Which might be because I'm in a relatively isolated part of it, but whatever.

[Zefir]

*pokes Zefir to Atriol*

Also, my internet is finally back up, after two days of being down. I'll get to posting stuff tonight/tomorrow.

*Counterpoke*

*Pokes TE to Mallside Dream Shop*

[GrandDM]

Oh, my. GDM, you described it as sprawling. This guy must have the fastest, most quiet excavation crew ever!

But that's not the point. The point is you missed Rein's post in the DFI. A certain scientist's tendencies of paying late are being addressed.

The point is also to *poke Orchestra to Home.

Artistic license.

And... paying late for what..?

I suppose I'd better check.

[Deathkeeper]

Artistic license.

And... paying late for what..?

I suppose I'd better check.

I believe it was when you had Mastermind offer a reward for finding Harald. Around that time even if that wasn't it.

[Earl of Purple]

Deadtime now. Goodnight, sleep tight and don't aggravate the Calingi.

Also, I might be unavailable to post tomorrow.

[The Bushranger]

*pokes Alexandrean to HALO*

[Beans]

Birthday brought a 3DS and the new Animal Crossing game, which means lots of mayoring and not lots of anything else ever. If I slow down a bunch, that's why.

[happyturtle]

*prods TE to Outside/TARDIS adventures*

[ThirdEmperor]

I do not believe Felandria has posted?

[happyturtle]

In that case,

*prods Felandria to Outside/TARDIS adventures*

[Terumitsu]

Given the time extension things set down, I think that the Mad Hatter has about another two hours to churn out a post for the MagCave. Maybe more if he at least says he's posting and just needs some time to get it all out.

After that, well, it'll have been over two days at that point so I guess we move on?

[ThePhantom]

Poke Violist to Trogs, please.

[Terumitsu]

Hey Hatter? I think you may have missed the latter bits of my post for the outside bit of the Magcave what with the Puddin landing and such?

Also are they long or short wave lasers?

[ThirdEmperor]

I'm not a laser scientist, but from what little I know I thought only long wave lasers could be effectively weaponized?

[Terumitsu]

It really varies with what you are trying to do with the laser is all. Different lasers do different things.

[Lord Magtok]

OBJECTION!

[ThirdEmperor]

Well, for the non laser scientists among us, could you explain what the differences between the two are? Because now I'm wondering myself.

[happyturtle]

One type goes "Pew Pew" and the other goes "Bzzt Bzzt".

[Lady Serpentine]

...I just realized the scene I was supposed to post for in HALO was the one at the transport, wasn't it?

[Felandria]

...I just realized the scene I was supposed to post for in HALO was the one at the transport, wasn't it?

We're at the beach now in Seaside, so you can respond there.

[Lady Serpentine]

We're at the beach now in Seaside, so you can respond there.

Had thought we were going up to the HALO beach to run into Beans's pod, but okay. *shrugs*

Also, have space for you to reply now.

[Beans]

If you were interested in the pod thing, I was keeping it in the HALO thread since it was right near the HALO transports... or should I move there?
*wibbles*

[Hawkflight]

@Beans: My post will be slightly delayed due to a number of reasons. I should have a post up tomorrow.

[Terumitsu]

I was only awake enough to churn out a last post last night before passing out so here is a bit of cool stuff about Lasers!

Spoiler

Show

The different wavelengths of light are highly important based upon a huge variety of factors. First off, here is a nifty chart that covers a bit more than I will but it is some stuff that I think is just really cool. This should help with some understanding of the material or so I hope.

Anyway:

What Does Wavelength Influence?

A bit of background, wavelength is determined by the quotient of the speed of light divided by the frequency of oscillation. Another way to look at wavelength is to see how much distance it covers with one oscillation or basically one full sinusoidal circuit (a.k.a. one of these things). One circuit is called a 'cycle' and the number of cycles in one second is how we find Hertz (Hz)

As show from the chart up there, this means that everything from radio waves to gamma radiation (part of the category of ionizing radiation) is light and all are subject to this wavelength rule. Also shown is that only certain forms of photon radiation (fancy phrase for light here. A bit more correct but now we're getting into the wave/particle duality bit which isn't necessary for now) can penetrate the atmosphere and some cannot. Now, what that really means is if the wave can meaningfully propagate through the medium of our atmosphere without any notable degradation of the signal. Other forms of radiation there can travel some distance as well but simply not as efficiently and they eventually become too diffuse to be seen as anything more than ambient background radiation. Still, this is why we can use things like X-rays or heat sensors as this degradation does not mean 'no propagation whatsoever.' This is also why one of the main rules to reducing radioactive exposure is putting distance between you and the thing spewing out deadly gamma radiation. Also alpha and beta radiation but those things are actually particle based or at least more recognizably atomic in nature than photons (Being full atoms and electrons respectively).

In summary, wavelength influences what kind of 'light' something is producing.

Okay! So, Why Is That Important?

So many reasons! Primarily, though, is that a wavelength of light carries with it an inherent amount of energy. Or, maybe put better, the same amount of energy but more or less concentrated depending upon how short or long the cycle is. Think of it like this: Would it be easier to put a hole in a bit of paper with something blunt or something sharp if you used the same force to try and poke through it? Longer waves spread their energy out throughout the cycle and that can be many meters to even kilometers in length for the longer waves so their energy is 'diluted' over distance. Shorter waves could be thought akin to small bullets as they pack all their energy into a very small area. (Note that this is going to be slightly wrong in practice as I'm trying to illustrate things in as close to layman's terms as I am able.)

Anyway, so you have a.. Let's say a green source of light. That's around the 510nm (that is nanometers or what they use to measure things inside bacteria and is measured at being one billionth of a meter long.) range or so. Green light is kinda special as it's the color that the human eye is able to pick out the best as well as being one of the most used colors of sci-fy energy and also the color of Luke Skywalker's second lightsaber. Now, green light carries with it a certain amount of energy that it can use to 'excite' atoms or molecules. However, different materials excite at different levels of energy. This is why we have so many different sensors in our eyes to detect different colors as each sensor has a different threshold that it becomes excited at and thus our eyes translate that level of excitation into color.

So, in short, you can't excite the same things with one wavelength as you might be able to with another. This is why we aren't able to see things like microwaves or radio waves or what have you because the threshold of the sensors in our eyes are too high for them to reach.

Another reason more pertinent to why this is important, though has to deal with how atoms absorb and release energy. This video (nd maybe this one too) explains things more in depth than I will (assuming I don't ramble too much) but the gist is that atoms absorb energy and their electrons are bumped up one or more levels, or 'bands' in their orbit around their respective atoms. These energy bands are set points for each atom and there is a specific amount of excitation that is needed for an atom to jump the gap between these bands. This is called the 'band gap.' When an atom has been bumped up an energy band, it is in a new state of equilibrium as long as it is able to keep receiving energy to keep it in that state. However, if not, then the electron releases that energy in the form of radiation. The radiation's wavelength is going to be the same wavelength needed to excite the atom in the first place and if it is in a wavelength our eyes can see then we will see the object as that color. Assuming enough atoms to be seen on macro-scale. White things are when there is a lot of different wavelengths all at once while black things are when the object is not releasing any energy at all. Basically, the color White is akin to radio static while black is effectively 'nothing there to see.'

Dammit Terumitsu! What Does This Have To Do With Lasers?!

Well, a laser is basically comparable to a gun. Normally, light works like ripples on a pond and radiates outward in an omnidirectional pattern from a source. Now, as a gun focuses the explosive energy of a shell to fire a bullet, so is the same for a laser with all the light focused unidirectionally (fancy pants way of saying 'in one direction'). Now imagine the energy of a light bulb focused into a small area. A simple way to show this is to take any flashlight and shine it on the wall when you have the lights on. You should be able to see the difference in illumination as the flashlight is focusing all that light into a much smaller area rather than spreading it out.

However! If we take what we know about how wavelengths affect and are affected by matter, we will know that there are things which simply will not be excited no matter how powerful the laser being used is. This means that while you can make lasers out of even radio waves, you won't exactly be shooting some super sci-fy gun. You will have the best dang signal quality ever if you can manage to aim it at a radio, though. And if you just force enough over an area then you can cause a buildup of heat like in microwaves but this is just causing the atoms to vibrate through brute force bombardment rather than actually causing excitation. This is what people normally think about when lasers burn through things. However, this property is due in part to wattage or how much energy the source of the laser light has. Still, even then, dependent upon the material, wattage alone may not be enough as some wavelengths will simply transmit more energy better than others. Or at least be able to do so in a much more timely manner than others. Shorter wavelengths are good for this. Laser cutting in manufacturing is basically where they pinpoint heat an area with a laser to a point where the material boils or even vaporizes under the laser and removing the leftover slag.

It should be noted that laser cutting is done with rather thin materials and that the energy to cut through things increases with the thickness although I think it is more quadratic than linear in this case. Also, in all cases, lasers are focused on one area at one angle so things in motion are usually not gonna take much of a hit from a laser unless it has a good wattage.

What It All Comes Down To



Laser wavelenth determines how well it can cause an atom to change states while laser wattage can be thought akin to 'pressure' that a wavelength will have. Like water pressure, basically where it can be low flow from a hose or high flow from a pressure washer. But, unlike water, the 'packet' (another way of saying cycle in reference to using it as a unit) that the laser comes in also effects how well this energy will be absorbed. Or not absorbed. Or reflected. Or blocked. Or if it is even valid to go through an area because of polarization of some material (Polarization is like a gate is where some wavelengths of light are allowed to pass through while others are denied entry).

So when I say different lasers do different things. That isn't me being flippant or anything. It is me going 'Lasers are a Huuuuuuuge subject and I don't know what you want the laser to do because of how incredibly varied light, and thus lasers, are. To speak none of the actual math and physics behind all of this.'

But to come to a conclusion here, I assume that all of this is best left to the wayside and you are wanting an effect where something just gets burnt through. Would that be accurate?

And besides, all that said, I still think Sci-fy laser fights are pretty cool.