Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site moncol.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!petsd!moncol!john From: john@moncol.UUCP (John Ruschmeyer) Newsgroups: net.startrek Subject: Cold Antimatter and the Destruct Sequence Message-ID: <157@moncol.UUCP> Date: Sat, 12-Jan-85 00:12:12 EST Article-I.D.: moncol.157 Posted: Sat Jan 12 00:12:12 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 12-Jan-85 02:52:03 EST Organization: Monmouth College, West Long Branch, NJ 07764 Lines: 29 At the risk of re-opening a nearly dead discussion, I'd like to give my opinions on "non-explosive" destruction of the Enterprise in STIII:TSFS. A few evenings ago, our local station aired "The Naked Time". In this episode, Reilly goes bezerk, locks himself in Engineering, and shuts down the warp engines. Spock and Scotty must try an experimental fast restart of the engines before the ship crashes into a planet. Part of the problem with restarting the engines is that the anti-matter is "cold". Hmm... Could it be that there is type of "inert" state for anti-matter where it does not readily combine with matter and go "VOOM"? If so, then it is likely that the automation system Scotty installed in STIII would shut the engines down, thus cooling off the anti-matter, when the ship was damaged. (It would have to, there'd be noone there to stop a runaway reaction.) Therefore, the destruct would have to proceed by more conve~tional means. Well, does this sound plausible? -- John Ruschmeyer ...!vax135!petsd!moncol!john Monmouth College W. Long Branch, NJ 07764 Kirk: You ought to sell a manual of instructions with these things. Cyrano: If I did, Captain... what would happen to the search for knowledge?