OFF: ID4 (was SETI, ETs, acronyms up the wazoo)

[David Zeiger]

> Why ? I thought what was stupid was trying to nuke the city-ship in the
> first place ! because I couldn't imagine any kind of human-made weapon
> piercing that alien energetic field... Now if one didn't go through, why
> would a second one have done it ? I don't think that was so stupid...

Because most shields in SF stories aren't just "invulnerable" to
certain types of weapons.  Instead, they work by being able to
absorb/reflect/redirect incoming energy in some manner.

As a result, you will almost certainly have a maximum amount
of energy that the shield can disperse at one time.  Exactly
what would happen when that point is reached would depend on the
shield design, but *some* energy would almost certainly get through.

So the best idea would be to hit 'em with a whole bunch all at one
time.  20 megatons might not do it, but 300 megatons just might.

--
            David Zeiger              dzeiger at netcom.com

Windows 95: The Dracula of Operating Systems--it sucks up all your
memory, bleeds your hard drive dry, and only works an average of
12 hours out of every 24.