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From: tli@uscvax.UUCP (Tony Li)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: phasers and warp speed
Message-ID: <1255@uscvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 8-Dec-84 02:55:15 EST
Article-I.D.: uscvax.1255
Posted: Sat Dec  8 02:55:15 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Dec-84 06:15:48 EST
References: <284@uf-csg.UUCP>
Organization: CS&CE Depts, U.S.C., Los Angeles, CA
Lines: 20

> 
> 	In the episode with the Romulan cloaking device (Balance of Terror?),
> after Spock is found and beamed aboard, the Enterprise warps out at warp
> factor 9.  Now, whatever speed this is, it is faster than light.  How can a 
> phaser, developed from the laser, hit *anything* moving trans c????
> 	
> 	Pete Hardie, Univ. of Florida, CIS Gould
> 		acct:..!akgua!uf-csv!uf-csg!hardie

A phaser, to move faster than light, must be encased in a warp field.  If
a phaser ever leaves a warp field, then it must drop back into normal space
and would have an upper bound of c.  Hence, to fire phasers, you must extend
your warp field to intersect your opponents, and then let fly with the
phaser.

-- 
Tony Li ;-)		Usc Computer Science
Uucp: {sdcrdcf,randvax}!uscvax!tli
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