Deep Site Meson Guns in Invasion:Earth

[AnotherDilbert]

Meson guns use mesons:

The fifth major area is meson technology. Meson devices make use of the properties of the sub-atomic particle called the pi neutral meson. Mesons have short lives, which can be prolonged to precise durations by accelerating them to relativistic speeds. Because mesons do not interact with any other types of matter, they can pass through other matter without resistance.

 

[Proneutron]

Making it all the more remarkable that they managed to figure it out anyway!

Technology is AMAZING!

Which is why I like my Neutron spinal mounts.

 

[Condottiere]

I find the Nerf variety interesting.

 

[mike wightman]

i remember reading that meson guns were just a code name for them and the actual particles were not mesons, sort of like how the first tanks were code-named to make the enemy believe they were water tanks for transporting water to the front.

That was a fanon explanation...

 

[mike wightman]

Meson guns use mesons:

While I agree with you that this is what canon says it does highlight the danger of using a little scientific knowledge to try and handwave an in universe explanation for something four TLs above our current understanding of physics.

Mesons are usually quark-antiquark pairs and interact with the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force. We now know that there are more exotic types of meson.

We know that a TL after meson gun technology we get nuclear damper tech and meson screen tech - the former involves strong nuclear force manipulation and the latter I imagine involves weak and strong manipulation.

I think you are onto something when you mentioned earlier in the thread that meson gun technology not only uses relativistic effects but is also likely to involve some interaction with 'protoWZgluon tech' (this is my term for it since we lack another word for it yet).

 

[Straybow]

Decay of particles as a continuum characterized by a half-life measurement doesn't change by TL. They don't decay with "precise durations." Nuclear damping of strong force can't change that (not the decay mechanism). Altering the weak force still doesn't change the stochastic nature of decay. It would make particles more or less likely to decay (altering the half-life), but only in the area controlled by the mechanism. So unless you put those mesons in a shell surrounded with "nuclear damper" emitters it won't work. Then the shell is not able to penetrate matter without interaction, so it doesn't work in that aspect, either.

 

[Jetrock]

If the maximum penetration of TL15 densitometers is 1 km, seems like it would make sense to put the deep-site meson gun farther down than 1 km, no?

 

[Condottiere]

I would suppose it depends on the thickness of the crust.

Generally, espionage and hacking military databases is the way to locate them.

 

[Ulsyus]

I think you are onto something when you mentioned earlier in the thread that meson gun technology not only uses relativistic effects but is also likely to involve some interaction with 'protoWZgluon tech' (this is my term for it since we lack another word for it yet).

Are you saying that we treat meson guns like other advanced tech (eg: jump drives) - we talk about the effect and not worry too much about how we get it?

That, to me, seems like a sensible way to go with TX & SF, otherwise we get a lengthy thread talking nuts and neutrons about a tech that is only slightly less theoretical than the aforementioned jump drive.