Re: FTL: ON TOPIC ADDED

On Tue, 16 Sep 1997, Samuel Penn wrote:

> In message
<Pine.OSF.3.95.970915123650.8195A-100000@ccins.camosun.bc.ca>
>	    Brian Burger <burger00@camosun.bc.ca> wrote:
> 
> > The problem I have with the 'every race has a different FTL method'
is
> > simple: laws of physics are universal.
> 
> > Unless you want to start arguing that, say, the Kra'vak radios work
on
> > different principles from, say, NAC radio tech?
> 
> 
> What if Kra'vak are sensitive to radio? What if radio causes
> intense migraines in Kra'vak? Kra'vak would then tend not to
> use radio for communication - at least not at the frequencies
> we might consider to be 'obvious'.
>
This is a good idea - and one I hadn't thought of. Different races have
different sensory organs/inputs and therefore avoid some of the
'obvious'
(to us) tech.

> Our first message of 'we come in peace' was considered to
> be an attack, so the Kra'vak retaliated. To bring in another
> thread here, the Kra'vak aren't warlike and aggressive. It's
> just that we always fire first...
> 
> (and yes, that was nicked from elsewhere, but I won't give
> the source so as not to spoil anyone who might be reading it).
>
AFAIK, according to the offical background, the Kra'vak did fire
first...but given the idea of migraines thru radio freqs, I can't say I
blame them - if someone hit my ship with something that gave the whole
crew headaches, I think I'd shoot back...

And if human exo-biologists realize from dissection/examination etc the
Kra'vak weakness to radio, what a wonderful new weapon we could
have...maybe EMP missles etc could be tuned to mind-fry Kra'vak?
 
> Anyway, to bring it back onto this topic, there could be
> psycological or physilogical differences that make different
> FTL technologies the favoured among different races.
> 
> Maybe the fengal-warp drive is fine for humans, but the slower
> yankoofa-drive is preferred by the Jatravartids since the
> former gives them severe space sickness. They may work on
> the same principle, just differ in their implementation.
> 
Got specs for the yankoofa-drive? :) This is also a great idea, and the
best rational I've yet heard for having multiple FTL drives in the same
universe.

> 
> -- 
> Be seeing you,
> Sam.
> 
Brian (burger00@camosun.bc.ca)