Editing 2321: Low-Background Metal
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | In this comic, a team including [[Megan]] and [[Black Hat]] | + | {{incomplete|Created by a TIME TRAVELER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | In this comic, a team including [[Megan]] and [[Black Hat]] have invented {{w|time travel}}. Time travel is a common trope in science fiction, and such a discovery would be likely to change the world as we know it. However, Megan and Black Hat's machine requires the use of "low-background" metal, which is in short supply. | ||
− | Megan explains that, while delicate equipment is often shielded from radiation by lead, metal produced in modern times is contaminated by {{w|nuclear fallout}} in the atmosphere, which means that the shielding itself has enough radioactivity to interfere with highly delicate equipment. In order to shield this equipment, "low-background metal" is salvaged from sunken ships. | + | Megan explains that, while delicate equipment is often shielded from radiation by lead, metal produced in modern times is contaminated by {{w|nuclear fallout}} in the atmosphere, which means that the shielding itself has enough radioactivity to interfere with highly delicate equipment. In order to shield this equipment, "low-background metal" is salvaged from sunken Roman ships. This metal, primarily lead, was used as ballast in the ships. The Roman lead was produced before atmospheric nuclear tests occurred and therefore did not have {{w|radionuclides}} in the air used in its manufacture. Because it has spent many centuries continually underwater, it is both shielded from radioactive particles, and has had time for natural radioactivity to fade. |
− | The number of shipwrecks of that age that can be found and successfully salvaged for metal is quite small, which puts this material in short supply. Megan mentions that they have only enough for a single trip. The team realizes (apparently at [[Black Hat]]'s suggestion), that a solution is to use their single trip to take modern military hardware back to the era of the {{w|Roman Empire}} and use it to sink multiple ships. This would both provide for many more shipwrecks to salvage, and give the team a good idea of where those wrecks were, when they returned to modern times. They could also specifically target ships that were in waters that are well-suited for salvage operations. | + | The number of shipwrecks of that age that can be found and successfully salvaged for metal is quite small, which puts this material in short supply. Megan mentions that they have only enough for a single trip. The team realizes (apparently at [[Black Hat]]'s suggestion), that a solution is to use their single trip to take modern military hardware back to the era of the {{w|Roman Empire}} and use it to sink multiple ships. This would both provide for many more shipwrecks to salvage, and give the team a good idea of where those wrecks were, when they returned to modern times. They could also specifically target ships that were in waters that are well-suited for salvage operations. |
− | + | In the real world, {{w|low-background steel|low-background ''steel''}} is sourced from ships made before the invention of nuclear weapons, such as the scuttled WWI fleet of the German Empire (not necessarily ancient Rome), and likewise, any lead mined before the development of nuclear weapons should also work for the time machine, such as munitions made before or during the World Wars. Black Hat may have chosen ancient Rome as their destination because they have advanced industry related to lead production (used so widely in Roman pipeworks that their word for lead, ''plumbum'', survives in the English word "plumbing") but no aircraft or anti-aircraft artillery. (And also his twisted sense of humor.) | |
− | + | The title text refers to {{w|Greek fire}}, which was an incendiary weapon invented and employed by the Byzantine empire. It was a flammable liquid used in naval combat to set fire to enemy ships, but the details of its manufacture and deployment are vague. As it was a closely-guarded military secret, many of the details have been lost to time, and modern chemists have only been able to develop educated guesses of what it ''probably'' was. Randall proposes a rather outlandish alternative hypothesis: that all records of Greek fire were actually in reference to the modern weapons used by the time travelers. | |
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− | The title text refers to {{w|Greek fire}}, which was an incendiary weapon invented and employed by the Byzantine empire. It was a flammable liquid | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Black Hat | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | :[Megan, Black Hat and Cueball stand around a time machine on a table.] | ||
:Megan: Our time machine works. | :Megan: Our time machine works. | ||
:Megan: But we're almost out of low-background metal. | :Megan: But we're almost out of low-background metal. | ||
:Cueball: What's that? | :Cueball: What's that? | ||
− | :[Close-up on Megan | + | :[Close-up on Megan.] |
:Megan: Modern metal is contaminated by fallout from nuclear testing, and lead also has natural radioactivity that fades over time. | :Megan: Modern metal is contaminated by fallout from nuclear testing, and lead also has natural radioactivity that fades over time. | ||
:Megan: To shield sensitive equipment, physicists use lead from sunken Roman ships. | :Megan: To shield sensitive equipment, physicists use lead from sunken Roman ships. | ||
:Megan: But shipwreck lead is hard to find. | :Megan: But shipwreck lead is hard to find. | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Zoomed back out to the group. Megan is facing Black Hat, who has his hand on his chin.] |
+ | |||
:Black Hat: How much do we have? | :Black Hat: How much do we have? | ||
:Megan: Enough for one trip through time. | :Megan: Enough for one trip through time. | ||
:Black Hat: ''Hmmm...'' | :Black Hat: ''Hmmm...'' | ||
− | :[The | + | :[The scene changes to the group having traveled through time. They are in a helicopter, with Megan piloting, Cueball as a passenger, and Black Hat firing a flamethrower at a Roman ship. The sailors on the ship are alarmed and attempting to escape. Two already-burning ships can also be seen, with one almost completely sunk.] |
− | :Flamethrower: | + | :Flamethrower: FWOOOSH |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Time travel]] | [[Category:Time travel]] | ||
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