Re: An idea for a new weapon (semi-OT]

Thomas Anderson wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 21 Oct 1998, Thomas Barclay wrote:
> > This gives me some ideas for a nasty attack in the FT realm.
> 
> solar flares arise due to distortions and loops and things in the
sun's
> magnetic field. to provoke a solar flare, you will need to generate a
> magnetic field of magnitude and expanse comparable to one of these
> distortions. this cannot be done (except in manga, of course).
> 
> on the other hand, you might be able to slap the sun with something
> (rock, nuke, grav bomb) and induce a distortion in a controlled
manner.
> thus, the sun provides the power and you just have to trigger it.
>
> assuming you wait for the storm to subside, ok. otherwise, you get hit
> too, and you don't have an atmosphere and a magnetic field to protect
you.
> 
> > Sounds nasty to me.

....As Used by the (in)famous astronomer Fred Hoyle in his book "Rockets
in Ursa Major". From memory, a few hundred tons of Lithium Hydride added
to the photosphere caused a massive radiation flux, strilising any part
of the solar system not covered by a dense atmosphere.

This was a defensive weapon... many bad effects on the Earth, but
basically all the ships in the system were toast. 

Worth a read.
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