Matter creation

[Tom Mazanec]

Some of the races and monsters in the UberCD can temporarily create matter. How do they do this? I thought it was impossible.

[Astral]

E=MC2 <== this lil thing here meens that energy can be converted directly into matter, and matter into energy. Ofcourse the latter is far easyer, but it still happens none the less. (at least I think thats right, Kerry you have permition to hit me with a damp fish if not)

Tom I notice you've got a lot of questions, which I personaly think is grate but can I sugest that you open a topic for them rather then starting a new one whenever a new question ocures to you. It'd be kinda useful to have a question topic too, as at the moment theres nowhere new forumers can go to find answeres to such questions.

[Tom Mazanec]

I'll keep that in mind.
BTW, you do realize that Hiroshima had the energy of a paperclip, a couple pounds would make a healthy sized H-Bomb, and several tons might flatten a mountain range or crack a continent?

[Sun tzu]

I'll keep that in mind.
BTW, you do realize that Hiroshima had the energy of a paperclip, a couple pounds would make a healthy sized H-Bomb, and several tons might flatten a mountain range or crack a continent?

Let's see...E=mc^2, so m=E/c^2=E/90 000 000 000 000 000.
So to obtain one kilogram (approximately 2.2 pounds), you'd need 9*10^16 joules...The energy one would get from burning 4 000 000 tons of coal. About a hundred times the power of Hiroshima.
Huh. Is it just me, or is the matter-to-energy ratio in our universe pretty big?

Edit: Then again, maybe the matter creation isn't done through conversion of energy. I don't completely understand the physics involved, but I've heard about virtual particles popping in and out of reality. Or hey, maybe the "magic" temporarily turns dark matter into "normal" matter.

[Aurrin]

Edit: Then again, maybe the matter creation isn't done through conversion of energy. I don't completely understand the physics involved, but I've heard about virtual particles popping in and out of reality. Or hey, maybe the "magic" temporarily turns dark matter into "normal" matter.

I kinda doubt either of those work. Virtual pairs would be problematic, at best, because that would leave an equal amount of antimatter, which wouldn't work anywhere but in space.

And forget dark matter. Dark matter is a loose term that's been applied to mean matter we can't see in the cosmos, but calculations at present indicate there needs to be more mass to account for the behavior of galaxies. In that sense, the entire Earth could be 'dark matter', because it wouldn't show up through a telescope at any reasonable astronomical distance. (That is, it doesn't glow.) There's been theorization about possible strange properties, but in truth they're just guessing.

[BlasTech]

And the "popping in and out of reality" of something might just be nothing more than it popping in and out of our ability to detect it.

[Lee M]

Huh. Is it just me, or is the matter-to-energy ratio in our universe pretty big?

All of the physical laws in our universe came out just the right way to make life possible. That can either be taken to mean that if the universe had turned out differently we wouldn't be around to consider it (the weak anthropic principle), or that the universe turned out that way in order that we should be around to consider it (the strong anthropic principle). Take your pick.

[Kerry Skydancer]

Actually, all it means is that the laws in our universe are just right to make small bits of it attractive to our form of life, which is basically a 'duh' moment. There is no actual proof that altering the rules doesn't create conditions conducive to some other form of life, so it's more like a _very_ weak anthropic principle.

[Aurrin]

There is also the possibility that they are the way they are, and could not be any other way, but are derived from the most basic laws in a fundamental manner.

Just throwing that out there.

[RHJunior]

Some of the races and monsters in the UberCD can temporarily create matter. How do they do this? I thought it was impossible.

Actually, it's basically a smidgen of matter--- air, dust--- temporarily solidified with lux to mimic solid materials. Obviously such creations rapidly break down, but they're just within the capability of certain individuals.

[StrangeWulf13]

And for that matter, luxcraft cannot break the laws of physics. Maybe bend them a little, but only as much as high technology can (which is usually just following a new set of rules we didn't know about before). You won't see anyone conjure up anything out of thin air without using something in the immediate area. Whether it's a dust devil using a bit of dust to mimic a person or thing, or a neon-sign that uses lux to glow, it has to get it from somewhere.

Kinda reminds me of Full Metal Alchemist... equivilent exchange, biyatch.

[Tbolt]

Kinda reminds me of Full Metal Alchemist... equivilent exchange....

That was the one thing I could never really grasp from the show. How do they define equivalent exchange? By whose standard?

If I am dying of thirst, a glass of water is worth more than a ton of gold to me.

Is it based on mass? A pound of poo for a pound of meat? Well, that's one way to end world hunger...

How much is a life worth? The story's heroes valued their mother above all else, what was the equivalent to that? (I never got to see how the series finally turned out)

But the slave owner treats his "property" as chattel and can spend it appropriately.

Well, that was my take on the issue...

[Jwrebholz]

They mean equivalent exchange by mass, not intrinsic value.

To transmute, say, a broadsword, you'd need a pile of scrap iron, some carbon, perhaps some brass, and leather for the handgrip. Conservation of matter. You can change the form of matter, but not create or destroy it with non-nuclear means.

[Tbolt]

Ahhh, Ok, that makes a little more sense, I guess something was lost in the translation...