Re: B5 and Sir Isaac

>---chop chop----
>>Earth Alliance ships, and the B5 station itself, do not have any sort
of 
>>artifical gravity, subspace fields, warp drive, or any other
doubletalk.  
>>Ships and B5 itself have large rotating sections to provide
gravity-like 
>>conditions.  C&C is supposedly in 1/3rd gravity (although how I don't
know, 
>>since it doesn't appear to rotate <grin>).  All-in-all, B5 is
remarkably clear 
>>
>Any large mass has a gravitational pull ; 

Correction: *all* objects with any mass have a gravitational pull. You
yourself
have a gravitational interaction with the Earth and all things around
you.

>since this is observable when a
>small pleasure boat comes within a few metres of a super tanker at
bearth
>and is pulled towards the hull (both ships stationary)

Uhhhh...I'd check your numbers on this. Unless the supertanker has the
mass of a small MOON you won't notice the effect whatsoever. Gravity is
a
very *weak* effect. Only gets good and powerful in seriously large
masses
(and supertankers are piddly nothings in the cosmos of significantly
large
mass).

The effect between the two boats you are citing is due to hydrodynamics,
not
gravity.

>It is totally fesible that the 1/3 g of C&C is due to the MASS of B5 as
a
>whole on the outlying section that does not rotate.

IF I follow your reasoning here (and you'll correct me on this if I'm
not :),
then there should be times when the direction of pull is 'up' for those
in CnC.
CnC is in the rotating section of B5, near the center of said rotation.
This
would also be evident in other parts of the station (what I am assuming
here is 
that you are saying the mass of the zero-g section is sufficient enough
to
exert a gravitational influence, yes?)

The 'gracity' effect (gracity? gravity!) you see on station B5 is due to
centripetal force, and not gravity. Centripetal forces you can simulate
in
a car. Ramp up to high speed and suddenly take a corner (and somehow
manage
to retain control of the car ;-). You'll feel yourself thrown to the
outside
of the turn.

Now take away Earth's gravitational field (hell, move you and the car
out
into space somewhere ;). Repeat the exercise (we'll ignore the fact you
need a road or something). Turn yourself sideways, feet pointed in the
opposite direction of your impending turn. Make the turn. Suddenly
you'll
be 'thrown down'; you'll be essentially standing. Keep up the turn until
you complete a circle. This, in essence, is how B5 simulates (*not*
generates)
gravity.

Okay, I've rambled and you guys've probably learned more than you want -
unless you already knew this stuff, then you're bored to tears.  :)

Mk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
During the run-and-fight-and-run-again battle through this forest of
horror,
she is finally cornered. Her weapons have been left deep in the bodies
of the
slain or broken against the granite-hard scales of these snakes that are
not
snakes. Her stand to the death must be fought here. Though her only
weapons
are her hands and her deep and wide knowledge of the slayers, she does
not
fear them. They will die. Of this she is sure.