Re: Kra'vak Railgun & Technology!!!!

At 18:11 21/04/98 -0700, you wrote:
>...Big Snip...(JTL)
>
>Components:
>     With a complete undamaged ship for evaluation, the process 
>would still take years,
>
>UN Priority:
>0) Star charts and language.
>1) Weapons
>2) Armor
>3) Crew High-G support equipment
>4) All else seems to be at ot below the human norm. (FTL, Sub-light,
>   sensors)
>
>     The trick to duplication is not the analysis of the components/
>materials, it is in the duplication of the processes that create
>the components/materials in sufficient quanities and quality
>to be useful to the war effort.
>
>Bye for now,
>John L.
>
>
	I agree with you on the UN priorities. But UN priorities aren't
nessecary
the priorites of everybody else, particularly those nations who've just
had
prime real estate leveled by a Kravak fleet.
	I also agree with that it is the processes involved that are
important but
I disagree that that is the hardest part to understand or duplicate.
Sure
if the process is dependent on materials/components the job of
replicating
it is going to take longer, if it isn't then you should be able to get
the
same result using different (ie Human) componenets. Besides if the
Humans
have MDC from DSII then they're on the way to railguns (unless I
completely
misunderstood what was meant).
	Of all the UN priorites that you have, language and starcharts
will be the
most difficult of all things to understand. Physics works the same in
all
parts of the universe (well for practical purposes anyway if you're not
a
cosmologist, particle physist....) so you should be able to figure out
what
is going on. But language is different. How do you figure out word
meanings? How do you work out their grammar? Is there a first person
singular form? Etc, etc, etc.... As for getting starchart info, you have
to
be able to read their language, figure out their symbology, communicate
with their computers operating system....
("What do you mean they use Windows? When the hell did Bill Gates speak
to
them?)

	All in good fun :)
	Tony.
	twilko@ozemail.com.au