Re: saving the short form science fiction and fantasy story

James Nicoll wrote:
In article <nebusj.1217954109@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Joseph Nebus <nebusj-@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
jdnicoll@xxxxxxxxx (James Nicoll) writes:

You'd think that would be specified but apparently the units
used are so well known [1] that they are not mentioned.

1: Cue clip of James shouting at an episode of BONES where the unit
of force used was Newton-Meters. f*d is energy, not force.
Would the Bones context have made it sensible to be talking about torque, which would be credibly measured in Newton-meters?

No, they were talking about how hard a weapon hit someone and getting sloppy about units. Although let me think ... bone expert, bug and slime
guy, artist in residence, the boss, the other bone expert, the FBI agent
who is there to have stuff explained to him in terms the audience can follw
... none of the squints and supporting characters come from a physics-heavy
background as far as I can recall. Maybe biologists and anthropologists are
sloppier about units?

Well, actually (and I goggle to say this) Trek was right, and you're wrong. Weapons effects are usually measured in terms of energy delivered to the target.

Regards,
Jack Tingle
.

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