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Thread: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
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2020-04-27, 07:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2017
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- France
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
By the way can somebody explains to me what the pod from two strips ago is and what it does? Some kind of fuel for the reactor?
Forum Wisdom
Mage avatar by smutmulch & linklele.
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2020-04-27, 07:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2007
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2020-04-27, 11:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2015
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Specifically, it is reaction mass. Their ship got launched into orbit with the mag launcher, picked up cargo and reaction mass and left, and is now picking up additional reaction mass along the way. I'm not sure exactly where these fuel pods come from, or how they are moving at a convenient-to-grab speed and trajectory (I forget, has this all been explained?), but it makes sense for such a setup to exist. It isn't unlike modern commerce, where a semi truck picks up a trailer of goods and fuels up, then fuels up in places along the way. Obviously it makes you reliant upon said infrastructure, but it makes all the sense in the world: why bother accelerating you, your cargo and all your fuel/reaction mass if you can pick up more along the way?
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2020-04-27, 11:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2017
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- France
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Thank you.
Forum Wisdom
Mage avatar by smutmulch & linklele.
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2020-04-27, 11:19 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2013
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
And Sam finally shows his snout again.
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2020-04-27, 11:33 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
I thought that superfluous to note, since it's part of the second panels' text.
I'm not sure exactly where these fuel pods come from, or how they are moving at a convenient-to-grab speed and trajectory (I forget, has this all been explained?), but it makes sense for such a setup to exist. It isn't unlike modern commerce, where a semi truck picks up a trailer of goods and fuels up, then fuels up in places along the way. Obviously it makes you reliant upon said infrastructure, but it makes all the sense in the world: why bother accelerating you, your cargo and all your fuel/reaction mass if you can pick up more along the way?
As for the speed and trajectory - trajectory is easy enough to calculate (we do it all the time to get cargo ships to the ISS), and reference the laser for speed.May you get EXACTLY what you wish for.
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2020-04-27, 11:43 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
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- Oregon, USA
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
FeytouchedBanana eldritch disciple avatar by...me!
The Index of the Giant's Comments VI―Making Dogma from Zapped Bananas
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2020-04-27, 02:37 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Okay, yes, so someone sent them there, in the right place, going the right speed and trajectory. That does mean that someone already had the means of launching them, and spent the energy/fuel to put those pods in motion. It does, to me, reinforce the semi truck analogy. Someone else has put a lot of energy into infrastructure, and the ship is there to provide the engine and the oversight to turn that into a cargo delivery.
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2020-04-27, 07:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Not just the cargo. Sam as well. He's, ah, going as an 'expert' in ... well, stealing.
I mean, theoretically, they could use an unmanned cargo ship. Lob the cargo into orbit, catch it with a space tug, then send it to a trajectory that the station could receive it with their own tug.Last edited by sihnfahl; 2020-04-27 at 07:04 PM.
May you get EXACTLY what you wish for.
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2020-04-27, 09:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2013
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- USA
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Several months ago, when first planning the expedition, it's explained that the launcher sends out the pods several days/weeks before they leave. Since they're accelerating with ships drive they'll eventually catch up to pods, resupply, and consume them. This supply launch is a large part of their initial investment in the trip, getting the fuel in place for them to be able to make the trip. That's what Florence is talking about in this strip. I didn't keep searching for the full explanation as it's even further back.
EDIT NVM here it is, only 200 ish strip ago. http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3200/fc03192.htmLast edited by Thomas Cardew; 2020-04-27 at 09:32 PM.
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2020-04-27, 10:05 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2006
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- Watching the world go by
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
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2020-04-28, 12:04 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2013
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Yeah, basically prepositioning some tankers so you don't have to keep as sharp an eye on the fuel gauge.
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2020-04-28, 08:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2015
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
"That's more outside help than I was expecting."
"It's like owning a trcuk. You can go from coast to coast on your own. It's a lot easier if you use the roads and filling stations."
Alright. I guess I'm just restating the same concept that the author laid out at the start. Don't remember reading that, but I must have.
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2020-04-29, 12:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2013
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
I wonder what game Niomi is referencing. Only one that seems to fit would be Hide and Go Seek.
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2020-04-29, 01:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2015
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
With the goggles and gloves it looks like an augmented reality computer game. Though that might just be a reference to current events. Maybe it's both, a loose historically-based game (that I just made up) called Pandemic 2020.
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2020-04-30, 11:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Those are safety goggles and work gloves. And she's specifically talking about seeking out and finding problems.
And I agree with Sam. There isn't much romantic in a romcom.
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2020-05-01, 10:59 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2013
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- Bristol, UK
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2020-05-01, 11:19 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2017
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- France
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Forum Wisdom
Mage avatar by smutmulch & linklele.
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2020-05-01, 11:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2020-05-01, 01:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
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2020-05-01, 02:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2007
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- Oregon, USA
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
FeytouchedBanana eldritch disciple avatar by...me!
The Index of the Giant's Comments VI―Making Dogma from Zapped Bananas
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2020-05-01, 02:30 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2013
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- Bristol, UK
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Bees, ants and some wasps, I will grant you, but the mother is alive and more or less in charge in those cases. Drive by adoption is not going to work, in my humble opinion, there isn't sufficient genetic connection.
The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.
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2020-05-01, 02:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2007
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- Oregon, USA
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
I hear humans practice adoption on occasion; it seems viable. And in a species where neither parent survives as a matter of course, there's little basis to expect a hereditary connection to be a factor in the first place.
FeytouchedBanana eldritch disciple avatar by...me!
The Index of the Giant's Comments VI―Making Dogma from Zapped Bananas
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2020-05-01, 08:51 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2015
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
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2020-05-01, 09:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Penguins have been known to practice adoption - it usually makes the news when its a same-sex male couple adopting some abandoned egg (which makes it obvious the egg cannot be from either partner). Adoption is a perfectly viable strategy. And of course, as Jasdoif points out, there are plenty of species - I know mostly of fish - where parents dying is also a valid strategy.
Grey WolfThere is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2020-05-01, 09:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Sam also compares where his species is to Earth's Devonian period. I doubt there are farms.
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2020-05-01, 09:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2018
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- Seattle, WA
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
I can see the argument for intelligence being unlikely to develop with the Sqids' reproductive cycle. How does natural selection favor intelligence when the only ones who are old enough to display it are also sterile? (I believe it was stated that Sqids reproduce before being old enough to be called truly sentient; someone correct me if I'm wrong.)
But there are numerous ways that could actually happen. Intelligent adults are more capable of protecting and feeding their reproduction-capable nephews and nieces. The young Sqids could be favoring intelligent mates even though it's not directly advantageous to them (see the many, often arbitrary, ways animals select for mates on earth). Or they could still be benefiting from increased intelligence, just not as much as their older relatives, thus still causing natural selection to favor increased intelligence.Originally Posted by Darths & Droids
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2020-05-01, 11:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
With our not-particularly-large sample population of 1 extant intelligent species, a species that most definitely does not primarily select for intelligence when selecting sexual partners, I am not sure we can say anything definite of how intelligence species arise from natural selection. But if I had to guess, I'd say the crux is extelligence* - the ability to preserve knowledge beyond an individual's death. Which means that long-living "uncles" capable of passing on knowledge to each successive generation would probably be a key component, even if they themselves don't pass on their genes, because they still pass on knowledge, which is a key component of intelligence.
Grey Wolf
*Credit: Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen & Terry Pratchett's Science of DiscworldLast edited by Grey_Wolf_c; 2020-05-02 at 01:05 AM.
There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2020-05-04, 10:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Well, we have an official name for another one of Harem's alts--Co-Ed.
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2020-05-04, 12:09 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Germany
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Re: Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts
Wrong Thread.
Edit: I think we can all feel with Niomi here.Last edited by Kantaki; 2020-05-04 at 12:13 PM.
"If it lives it can be killed.
If it is dead it can be eaten."
Ronkong Coma "the way of the bookhunter" III Catacombium
(Walter Moers "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher")