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#1761 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Not weird, but at least in the gaming-related category of "new materials with perhaps dubious popular reporting of properties" category: an alloy of titanium and gold that's said to be 3-4x harder than most steels, four times harder than pure titanium.
This one seems appealing to me not just as near-future tech for cyborg implants and street samurai, but also as technobabble for a fantasy game, justification for those awesome legendary weapons from ages past made with lost techniques, or armament for your cold-iron-shy fae warriors, for whom money is no object. Titanium is of course already a magic- or alchemy-invoking stretch for faux-medieval tech, but what could be better for DF than actually making your weapons out of gold? Maybe you can even make your After The End gold bugs happy if there's an actual in-setting reason the zombie-fighting warlords do want their non-edible shiny yellow luxury metal. |
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#1762 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
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Great notion to use it for medical purposes, though. Maybe I can get some really good replacement knees, someday. :)
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-- MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1] "Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon. Last edited by tshiggins; 11-05-2017 at 11:01 PM. |
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#1763 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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You just need to layer it over regular iron as you don't need super hardness throughout a weapon. I think it's even bad to do so as it would make it all too brittle.
I do wish they would remember that there are people allergic to gold. My mom develops rashes. Fortunately she's too cheap to ever want any anyway. Ha.
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Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
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#1764 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Last edited by Anaraxes; 11-06-2017 at 01:39 PM. |
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#1765 | |
Join Date: Feb 2007
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HMS Overflow-For conversations off topic here. |
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#1766 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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Heard about this dude recently. Another real-life PC, this one in the "infidel foreign mercenary carves out own kingdom" genre:
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#1767 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Opelika, AL
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As for allergies to gold--hopefully, the alloy should reduce the activities of both gold and titanium, since both are diluted by mixing. I recall hearing someone researching artificial joint materials saying that roughly 25% of the population has problems with titanium implants becoming pitted over time, which causes problems with roughening of surfaces in artificial joints. (At the time, the major issue was that a pitted titanium ball in a ball-and-socket joint would shave out bits of the plastic socket, so people were researching diamondlike carbon coatings for the titanium.) Last edited by Phase_Shifter; 11-15-2017 at 05:48 PM. |
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#1768 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Opelika, AL
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#1769 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Between 1966 and 1993, the British Telecom building, one of the tallest buildings in London, was officially a state secret. It was transmitting television signals all over the country but also incidentally military traffic. Government maps omitted it, and in theory someone could be prosecuted for taking photographs of it, even though it frequently appeared on popular television shows including an episode of Doctor Who. Finally its cover was blown in 1993 when a member of Parliament said these momentous words:
I hope that I am covered by parliamentary privilege when I reveal that the British Telecom tower does exist and that its address is 60 Cleveland Street, London. The British public was shocked and amazed that it had ever been a secret. I am reminded of the Watchtowers from Creatures of the Night. |
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#1770 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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The Jerusalem neighborhood of Kufr Aqab or Kafr 'Aqab is a Kowloon-like neighborhood that could be useful as a game setting, especially if you let the politics ferment a bit. It lies within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem and residents pay city taxes, but for convoluted geographic reasons it lies outside the Israeli barrier wall and receives very few city services -- including building inspections and fire and police protection, due to fears of attacks on city personnel.
Rents are quite low, especially since much of the land is of dubious title: to quote the New York Times, "Hundreds of apartment buildings went up, sometimes on purchased plots, sometimes on vacant lots that strong-arm characters claimed and dared anyone to evict them from. Concrete towers sprouted like weeds, often separated by only a few feet." That should put anyone in mind of Kowloon Walled City. So should this phrase: '"What you see is a total governance vacuum," said Danny Seidemann, a lawyer and founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem, an advocacy group that tracks contentious developments in the city. "We can't even count the number of people there."' For another dose of cosmopolitanism, mixed Israeli-Palestinian couples often choose to live there since the Israeli partner can retain Jerusalem residency while the Palestinian partner can live with them without needing a permit to cross the border wall. So odd types can maybe come and go without as much notice or comment. |
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Tags |
blueberry muffin, fermi paradox |
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