Random Questions Thread

Yes, he'd lose a lot of muscle mass. I can't give exact numbers; you might research the experiences of POWs in Vietnam to get details.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

also look up exercising advice. I'm sure you'll find someone who used to be in shape, and wants to get back to it, looking for advice.

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I'm creating a table that lists the various body parts of a fictional alien species ^note the Bizarre Alien Biology factor requires it; I'm pretty much inventing whole new terms in the process., as well as certain properties of said parts (e.g. general location on the body); the body parts themselves are arranged in rows, while the columns denote the properties. The first three columns denote, in order, the (human-coined) scientific name, common English name, and the translation of the alien endonym for each body part.

Example for illustration, using only the first three columns:

Scientific name	Common name (English)	Translated endonym
caput* This is the actual real-life scientific term for the human head, incidentally.	head	head

In the above example, the translated endonym is identical to the common English name. How do I represent this in a way other than simply repeating the same term? I thought of the ditto mark, but it only applies when the repetition happens vertically rather than horizontally.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

"Same" or an asterisk that links to a note that says "X is the same as Y"

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

Maybe I should just precede the table with a legend that lists what symbols I'll be using and what they mean; for example, that dashes will be used to denote when a common English name or an endonym don't exist for the body part in question, while an asterisk will be used to denote when the endonym's meaning is for all intents and purposes equivalent to the human-coined common name (after all, a head is a head, an eye is an eye whether it's the orb-like humanoid one or an insectoid compound one, and a hand will be called a hand even if it has 10 fingers, 3 thumbs and spiked knuckles).

New question: Would a serrated blade affected a battle scythe's ability to cut something in a single strike?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

@MarqFJA: It depends how battle scythes are used in combat in your setting as they were never used in the real world (real war scythes look nothing like the farming tool the trope is based on) and so there is limited outside reference to pull from. Generally speaking, serrated edges makes a blade better for sawing and pull cuts but not so go with chopping and hacking. If the scythe is used by piercing with the point, I don't think it makes an immediately significant difference in penetration power but is likelier to cause bigger wounds if it actually pierces flesh.

Hope that helps.

Edited by peasant on Aug 15th 2018 at 11:54:12 AM

It does, actually. I'm trying to figure out whether or not I could combine a Sinister Scythe-style Slaying Mantis with real-life mantis forelimb anatomy ^note unlike what many people believe, mantis forelimbs do not have sharp blades along their lengths, but are instead packed with sharp "teeth" to skewer victims on, so that the end result is a giant mantis with forelimbs that can slice and dice victims in single strokes (justified with Absurdly Sharp Blades) as well as grasp them with pincer-like force. It appears that's not possible without compromising plausibility too much for my taste.

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 16th 2018 at 4:38:16 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I agree with that summation. A forelimb designed to grasp and/or pierce would be very different, structurally, from a forelimb designed to slice things cleanly apart.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

What are the advantages/disadvantages of titanium over steel? I've got a magic material that can synthesize base elements, and I'm trying to figure out if there's any real reason for them to bother using steel at all any more.

See, it was my understanding that titanium is usually superior than steel (by being rust proof for example) but for the fact that it's much more rare to find large amounts of titanium ore.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

@Discar: Something to clarify, if it is limited to base elements, how is it able to produce steel; which is an alloy? If the system does allow to mix elements to produce alloys, I believe the strongest steel alloys are stronger than the strongest titanium alloys.

From this site:

1. Titanium is a nonpoisonous and biologically inert metal.
2. Steel is stronger, but has a more fatigue life than titanium.
3. Steel can shatter, whereas titanium can withstand high and low temperatures.
4. Steel is magnetic and corrosive when compared to titanium that is nonmagnetic and anti corrosive.
5. Steel is preferred when strength is needed in a hard material, and titanium is preferred where a lightweight and strong material is required.

So, if I understood it right, titanium would be a good material for armor, since it's strong and lightweight; and steel would be a better choice for weapons for hand-to-hand combat, since it's harder, more durable while being as strong. There's a little bit fact that titanium's a huge pain in the ass to manufacture, compared to steel. To quote this poster, So, unless your Phlebotinum can create ready-to-use objects from titanium, it's makes more sense to stick to steel.

Edited by Millership on Aug 18th 2018 at 6:12:13 PM

Spiral out, keep going.

Titanium is also a huge pain in the ass to work with so even if you have a lot of the stuff laying around it's probably easier to go make something made of steel half the time than to fuck with raw elemental titanium.

Especially if this is some sort of setting before properly modern industrial equipment and techniques.

Edited by LeGarcon on Aug 18th 2018 at 8:54:24 AM

Oh really when?

It can't synthesize steel, but it can synthesize iron and carbon (more cheaply than mining), which can then be alloyed together without undue difficulty. And it can't produce completed objects, just dust of the appropriate element.

It's definitely industrialized, so they have the ability to handle it. And energy production is higher than normal too (and they can synthesize argon as easily as titanium), so that's not much of a barrier.

So what I'm getting is that, if cost is equal, titanium would replace steel in pretty much anything smaller like tools and maybe car parts, but larger things like mining machines would still be steel. Does that sound right?

Add to the "larger" list rocket parts (probably spaceship parts, too, if such technology exists in your setting), marine vessel hulls (titanium is lightweight and corrosion-resistant), maybe aircraft parts (though aluminium alloys would probably be more useful), and you're good. Probably.

Edited by Millership on Aug 18th 2018 at 10:03:49 PM

Spiral out, keep going.

... Hey, about my "mantoid creature with scythe-like forelimbs" question, I just got hit with an idea. How about either of the following approaches? (consider this sketch of a real-life mantis forelimb◊ as a reference)

1. The tibia has a sharp blade-like edge with no spikes, while the femur retains its spikes. This allows the Mantoid to choose between cutting things with the tibia's blade or grasping the target and impaling it on the femur's spikes.

2. The Mantoid has a biomechanical apparatus in its forelimbs that allows them to switch between a "Grasp" mode and a "Cut" mode. In "Grasp" mode, the limb looks like a mantis-style forelimb, with spikes along both the tibia and femur. In "Cut" mode, a pair of sharp blades that are normally hidden within the length of the tibia and femur slide out, and the spikes fold/retract against the limb portions they're attached to, leaving you with a scissors-like limb that can also be used to either make slashing swings.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

A blade edge pressed against a spiked edge sounds like the worst of both worlds—neither a good cutter nor a good grabber.

Your second idea sounds better mechanically, but it would be challenging to say the least for an organic creature to evolve such complicated moving parts. Is this Mantoid entirely natural or manufactured?

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

This Man at Arms video gives a good idea of how much of a PITA titanium is to work with compared to steel:

Link

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Yeah, in hindsight, that was missing the point of having the same setup on both parts of the limb.

Well, setting aside the previously-stated fact that I'm more than willing to take Artistic License with evolutionary plausibility when it comes to Bizarre Alien Biology and the like... Technically it's a combination of both: A primordial deity designed the entire creature (which is actually a centauroid chimera of humanoid and various mostly arthropodal non-humanoid taxa, mantis traits included), and then did the creator-god equivalent of modifying the universe's EvolutionOfLife.exe so that said design is not only possible but is probabilistically predestined to eventually become real through natural evolution sometime within the "prime" of the universe's lifespan ^note basically every single "step" in the evolutionary path that would ultimately lead to the designed creature will have its probability of being achieved by at least one species gradually increase as the time-coordinate approaches a certain "milestone", and if it does reach that milestone without the step being realized, the probability will be so close to 100% that it's practically guaranteed to happen before the universe actually passes by the milestone..

It might be a Deus ex Machina, but I don't care.

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 19th 2018 at 5:00:18 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Ah... a primoridal diety did it... Very good, carry on.

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

Hey, I already pointed out here that I care more about the underlying physiology than the evolutionary aspects when it comes to such questions. And to be fair, I came up with the deity for plot reasons rather than to justify the existence of my made-up chimera.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

-peeks into thread-

Dang I missed the materials science discussion D:

Basically, when you're talking about material strength, you're talking about two different properties: fracture toughness and tensile/ductile strength. The former refers to the amount of stress needed to induce a fracture/rupture at a given point on the material, while the later refers to the total energy needed to fracture a material that's in the process of deforming from stress. Low-carbon steel alloys, for example, are more ductile than high-carbon alloys, so while they'll deform and bend with enough applied force, they'll take a good deal longer to actually break.

The beauty of titanium is that its atoms are naturally arranged in a hexagonal close-packed◊ crystal structure, meaning that it's exceptionally tough and durable for its weight. It also means that it's resistant to fracturing from impact forces. The main disadvantage is mainly the expense and complication associated with its manufacture from its natural oxides, which involves very high temperatures and chlorine gas. Titanium is also a pretty bad conductor of heat, so it's very difficult to machine, since your cutting tool will end up overheating and warping themselves.

However, most products don't use either metal in their base form, but rather in alloys. And some high-end steel alloys (mainly patented steel) have tensile strengths that exceed the toughest titanium alloys, thanks to their large number of possible crystal structure configurations. Steel alloys are also more receptive to heat treatment, where you heat up the metal to make it more malleable and press or roll it in one direction so all the crystal grains are aligned and reinforce each other. All that said, most titanium alloys are stronger than commonly available steel equivalents, so the example I just gave is pretty much out of the norm.

TL;DR: If your setting has the tech to process vast amounts of titanium, then sure. But for cyclical load-bearing components like cranes and bridge piers, you'd probably stick to something with better fatigue strength, like cobalt chrome alloys.

Some other points of interest: titanium isn't vulnerable to corrosion the way (non-chromed) steel is. While it's extremely reactive, it tends to react with oxygen to form a thin surface layer of titanium oxide that shields it from further reactions. When you burn or chip away that protective layer, bad stuff happen. It's also rather mediocre at handling long-term cyclic fatigues.^note My work is with biomedical electronics, so this is a pretty important concern when you're dealing with titanium implants that are constantly subjected to various bodily movements over multiple years. Titanium implants also have a bad habit of having their surfaces sanded away into microparticles that end up poisoning the bloodstream. Finally, some of the most wondrous stuff that titanium does occur in its alloyed form: nickel titanium (Nitinol) is a popular shaped-memory alloy that can bend back to its original shape when heated, and is commonly found in orthopaedic braces. Titanium (IV) dioxide is also used to coat solar panels thanks to its optical properties.

Edited by eagleoftheninth on Aug 19th 2018 at 7:25:01 AM

Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)

For characters with Superman-style Super-Breath, the amount of air being forcefully exhaled is often vastly greater than is possible to hold in human-sized lungs. However, this poses two major problems that I've never seen addressed in any examples of this superpower, nor could I figure out an answer for:

1. Even if we somehow assume the respiratory system has enough Super-Strength to put inhaled air under the highest pressure possible without turning said air liquid, how can it even inhale that much air to begin with? Per the physics of respiration, the inhalation process will ultimately stop once pressure equilibrium is achieved between the lungs and the outside atmosphere. So how can one circumvent that?

2. What of the case where the exhaled air is so great, it couldn't have been possible achieved with the volume of human lungs even at maximum non-liquifying pressure? Is there any way to justify this (quasi-)scientifically, i.e. without involving another superpower (e.g. outright magic) that violates any and all relevant laws of physics?

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 23rd 2018 at 1:53:53 PM

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

His lungs are a bag of holding.

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

That's the kind of the solution that I specifically declared verboten.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.