Re: Why big ships are too good...

Samuel Penn wrote:
> = According to the FAQ, EMP is generated by the asymmetric absorption
> = of instantaneous gamma rays produced by the explosion. Mid-altitude
> = bursts don't produce much EMP, because the gamma rays are absorbed
> = fairly uniformly. Low altitude and high altitude bursts do.
> 
> I would think space would absorb gamma rays pretty damn uniformly.
> Anyway, the FAQ goes on to say:

Space does; the body of the ship is an entirely different matter.  I
wouldn't want to be a crewmember on a ship hit by an EMP missile.  Not
only would the Compton effect from the high-speed gamma cascading
through the metallic walls of the ship fry the electronics in a /much/
shorter distance than in an airburst, but my body wouldn't feel too
cheery after taking a cascade-group of alpha.  Ouch.

> I think when Matthew said "no pesky molecules to scatter and
> absorbe it" he summed it up pretty well, though not in quite
> the way intended :)

Except, of course, for the rest of the bulk of the ship.

-- 
Alexander Williams {zander@photobooks.com   ||Member: Evil Geniuses
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