Re: [Phys-l] Star Trek

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

Year, well even the better SF authors do not take into account all of the
physical facts.  If they did, it wouldn't be SF.  Niven is one of the most
imaginative authors, with his idea of a ringworld, and the crazy species
that inhabit his universe.

But SF and cartoons can be analyzed by students to see if they are
realistic.  Unfortunately sometimes they lead students into misconceptions,
or more often confirm misconceptions.  My biggest beef with Startrek was
they way orbits decayed, when the Enterprise was obviously outside the
atmosphere of the planet.  OK, gee whiz gadgets may not be believable, so
they do not promote that many physics misconceptions.  SF can promote
interest and understanding of science!

A 105 degree fever is pretty bad, but not completely out of the range of
possibility.  It sure would make one not want to teleport.  I feel bad when
I get up to 99 because my normal temperature is a degree lower than average.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

> On 18-May-09, at 1:33 PM, John Clement wrote:
> > Actually there was a science fiction murder mystery where one of the
> > clues was the temperature of the body, as I recall.  The murderer
> > changed
> > the temperature by teleporting from a high location to a low one.  The
> > gravitational potential was converted in to heat.
>
>
> That was "A Kind of Murder" by Larry Niven. Interesting idea, but at
> one point he describes someone experiencing an increase in body
> temperature of seven degrees as a result of a jump. I'm wondering what
> the result of being seven degrees warmer *everywhere* in your body
> would be...