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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers,net.physics
Subject: Re: Discrepancies (Dune and Ringworld)
Message-ID: <531@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 22:04:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.531
Posted: Mon Jul  8 22:04:41 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Jul-85 22:35:49 EDT
References: <2039@iddic.UUCP> <483@gitpyr.UUCP> <389@ttidcb.UUCP> <965@mhuxt.UUCP> <413@h-sc1.UUCP> <82@rtp47.UUCP>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Distribution: na
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 30

In article <82@rtp47.UUCP> throopw@rtp47.UUCP (Wayne Throop) writes:
>So: are the "magic" properties of layer 2 theoretically possible?  If
>they are impossible in a simple sense, can it be done "with mirrors",
>that is, by clever (but minimal) expenditure of energy?  If layer 2
>could be made to work, it seems to me that stillsuits would work just
>fine.

This probably doesn't fulfill all the requirements, but it's a  present-day
start.  Damart  Corporation's  Thermawear products are made of a cloth with
some of the required properties.  It's an  excellent  heat  insulator,  and
body  heat  drives  moisture  through  it and away from the skin.  The only
missing property is the one-way permeability  to  water.  Heat  will  drive
water  through  it  in  either  direction,  as  I found out the hard way by
standing next to a radiant heater after coming in from a rain  storm.  (The
embarrassing result is left as an exercise ... etc. (-: ).

If one adds cooling fins to the stillsuit and a stiff desert breeze it  may
be possible to get rid of the heat.  Another possibility is a mechanism for
storing the heat energy until night or a cooler environment arrives  (human
body  energy output is about 600 btu/hour, I think).  Heating up dehydrated
fecal matter before dumping it would be a partial help, though probably not
enough heat could be got rid of solely in that manner.
---
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The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
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