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From: markv@dartvax.UUCP (Mark Vita)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Death Star weapon.
Message-ID: <1514@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-May-84 13:41:44 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.1514
Posted: Thu May 10 13:41:44 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 12-May-84 12:11:30 EDT
References: <12537@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Organization: Dartmouth College
Lines: 20


   About the Death Star weapon...
   I don't know if I am thinking of the same Niven weapon or not,
but in one of his Known Space stories ("World of Ptavvs"), the 
Slaver uses a weapon which neutralized the charges on the electrons
in the atoms of whatever matter it touched.  The result was
that the atoms blew themselves apart by electromagnetic repulsion,
leaving a cloud of subatomic dust.  (It's really gruesome when
he uses it on living flesh.)
   Anyone care to speculate on the plausibility of this weapon?
It seems like it should work.  My only question was -- how about
the strong nuclear force in the atom?  I thought that this force
was much stronger than the electromagnetic force at distances 
on the order of an nuclear radius.

-- 

                            Mark Vita
                            Dartmouth College
                            {decvax,cornell,linus}!dartvax!markv