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Post by blackmantha on Nov 23, 2012 18:44:07 GMT
I like Jones' attitude here. "I'm as good as eternal. I cannot be harmed. I remember everything I've learned in the last four and a half billion years. So anyway, is there a vacancy for a high-school teacher?" She talks, so she can vibrate. Force passes through her, at least. Ultrasound. Put a probe down her throat. Does she even have a digestive system, or does her throat stop a few inches past the mouth? If she does, her throat would puree any probe you'd try to get down there. The sound question is interesting though. My first reaction was that she might be able to vibrate air, but not be vibrated in return. That doesn't work though. For example, if she's wearing a party hat and is standing on a (powerful) elevator, the elevator can push the party hat up. Jones' body can "conduct" force. Forces cannot be conducted instantly, because that would break the lightspeed barrier, which would break causality. Therefore force must travel through her body in waves. Therefore her body must be compressible under force.
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alexh
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Post by alexh on Nov 23, 2012 19:52:45 GMT
... Therefore force must travel through her body in waves. Therefore her body must be compressible under force. Sound logic. This is fiction. I dunno.
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Post by seaofalchemy on Nov 23, 2012 20:31:57 GMT
I love it when something I suggest comes true, even though Tom finalized these pages weeks before he posts them. Grr... maybe if she stood behind an x-ray, or had a CT scan, or an MRI. So, she's had an x-ray. What about the CT scan and MRI? Or would that be unnecessary by now?
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Post by GK Sierra on Nov 23, 2012 21:12:25 GMT
I love it when something I suggest comes true, even though Tom finalized these pages weeks before he posts them. Grr... maybe if she stood behind an x-ray, or had a CT scan, or an MRI. So, she's had an x-ray. What about the CT scan and MRI? Or would that be unnecessary by now? I think it would come up with much the same result, just solid grey all the way through. Although since CT's take slices, it would determine whether she had a trachea, or if her mouth just... ended.
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Post by download on Nov 23, 2012 22:26:36 GMT
So if she is opaque to radio waves, would she also be opaque to other particles, such as neutrinos or even gravitions... The scientific possibilities are endless!
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Sivo
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Post by Sivo on Nov 23, 2012 23:26:04 GMT
In the case of atomic blasts, Jones is absolutely going between me and it.
Seriously when her -hair- is stopping around 70 kVp and 30 mAs of X-Ray energy, you have to be impressed.
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elco
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Post by elco on Nov 24, 2012 0:23:08 GMT
X-rays, MRI scans, endoscopes and assorted probes, neutrino bombardment ... Geez, aliens are sloppy amateurs compared to inquisitive geeks
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Post by Nnelg on Nov 24, 2012 1:17:29 GMT
I think she's made of nucleonic matter (matter made only of nucleons like neutrons and protons). Somehow, I imagine Jones would be able to crush even neutronium the same way she crushed that stone... It is my belief that Jones is a single Democritian Atom: literally indivisible.
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Post by skythorn on Nov 24, 2012 1:40:30 GMT
With more being revealed, we now see MORE that is unrevealed. I do enjoy having a problem being replaced by a bigger problem. I find Jones's dispassionate description of herself to be a rather moving human behaviour - and that in itself it interesting. It means that I am casting her inhumanity as a human behaviour, or she is casting her behaviour in a manner that can be seen as being human. There is nothing other to take into account - we anthropomorphosis many animate and inanimate objects in our world, why not a human looking inanimate* object. She is something we try to place into our acceptable worldview, Wether she does belong there or not. It is my belief that Jones is a single Democritian Atom: literally indivisible. I like this idea, I also like the idea of the atom being self aware. The melding of Newtonian/Einsteinian and Etheric sciences is balanced - I imagine the Jones is something like the fulcrum on which these two incompatible worldviews balance. --------- note : I am using the first definition of inanimate, not the second : (in·an·i·mate/inˈanəmit/ | Adjective: 1) Not alive, esp. not in the manner of animals and humans. | 2) Showing no sign of life; lifeless)
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Post by jasaebushae on Nov 24, 2012 5:43:36 GMT
I know this is probably the least significant part of this page, but if Jones things it is debatable whether or not she is the single most important being on earth, I wonder what alternatives she would name.
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Post by leiodaahs on Nov 24, 2012 5:58:20 GMT
No one has mentioned the panel which appears to show her introduction to the court. She appears to be wearing something similar to her garb in the Gobi, thought that is probably coincidence. It seems to be the same room that Antimony first met Coyote. The throne and everything else seems to be the same, excepting the lack of symbols on the tapestry behind the throne. That may be just an effect of the distance.
Fifteen figures meeting her. I wonder if that is relevant.
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Post by goldenknots on Nov 24, 2012 11:50:41 GMT
I wonder if she exists at all, in a material sense. Perhaps she's a human-shaped section of another universe altogether, a projection.
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alexh
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Post by alexh on Nov 24, 2012 11:59:41 GMT
I know this is probably the least significant part of this page, but if Jones things it is debatable whether or not she is the single most important being on earth, I wonder what alternatives she would name. The only thing that comes to mind is The Great Spirit. I get a feeling that Coyote, in the grand scheme of things, is a pretty small player, despite being more powerful than Jones.
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Post by Freederick on Nov 24, 2012 12:19:05 GMT
I think she's made of nucleonic matter (matter made only of nucleons like neutrons and protons). It would make her suitably impervious, heavy, and would explain the x-ray picture. She would have to be mostly hollow though, or her density would be too high and she would sink through the earth straight down to the core. Possibly it's just the outer integument / armour that is made of nucleonic matter. It would indeed match the impenetrableness, x-ray opacity, and increased weight. But there is also the thermal tolerance to account for, and that complicates matters. While the nucleonic sheath would be indifferent to heat, the non-nucleonic internals could hardly withstand temperatures much above the molten lava---no normal materials can hold together above 6000�C or so. All this reminds me of R.L. Forward's Dragon's Egg---if you haven't read it yet, by all means do. It's a tour de force of imagination, made even better by the fact that the physics is impeccably accurate. There's yet another important question: how does she transmit? After all, nobody in his right mind would make a survey rover this sophisticated, and omit the data transmission antenna. It strains belief to suppose that she merely records the data for later wholesale retrieval---that's early 20th century tech (weather balloons recording data on strips of paper; early spy satellites dropping rolls of exposed film for reentry, etc.). But Jones is incredibly advanced tech, and it is highly improbable that her makers would resort to antediluvian data recovery methods like this. She almost certainly transmits in real time; the question is how? My bet is narrow-beam neutrino radio, but it could be stranger still. If it is neutrino beam, it should be just possible, with Court technology, to detect the beam and its direction, which could be interesting.
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Post by zimmyzims on Nov 24, 2012 22:22:19 GMT
I know this is probably the least significant part of this page, but if Jones things it is debatable whether or not she is the single most important being on earth, I wonder what alternatives she would name. The only thing that comes to mind is The Great Spirit. I get a feeling that Coyote, in the grand scheme of things, is a pretty small player, despite being more powerful than Jones. This is one thing I've been thinking about. Coyote is more powerful, but what do we mean by power? I think that very clearly Coyote is that in the sense that he has more powers, and more powers with which he can actively do something. Yet it is not said that Coyote would hqve powers over Jones, or that he would be somehow more important. That said, ask her about the stars in the night sky, Annie.
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Post by senseiken on Nov 24, 2012 23:12:34 GMT
"I think she's made of nucleonic matter (matter made only of nucleons like neutrons and protons). It would make her suitably impervious, heavy, and would explain the x-ray picture. She would have to be mostly hollow though, or her density would be too high and she would sink through the earth straight down to the core."
Not to be too persnickety, but if Jones were that volume of degenerate matter, the EARTH would be pulled out of orbit to envelop her - not the other way around.
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Post by ratgirl on Nov 25, 2012 0:06:08 GMT
The only thing that comes to mind is The Great Spirit. I get a feeling that Coyote, in the grand scheme of things, is a pretty small player, despite being more powerful than Jones. This is one thing I've been thinking about. Coyote is more powerful, but what do we mean by power? I think that very clearly Coyote is that in the sense that he has more powers, and more powers with which he can actively do something. Yet it is not said that Coyote would hqve powers over Jones, or that he would be somehow more important. Coyote is more powerful in that he can do all sorts of wild and etheric things, but I don't think he can actually HARM Jones. If it were to come down to them actually fighting, Coyote would basically have to run away, as I doubt he has the ability to inflict damage on her. Which is probably why she told him "I can take her if I wish". Jones isn't the sort who bluffs, or brags -- if she says she could take Annie back, then she means it, and has probably run into situations with Coyote before where they were on opposing sides of an argument and they mutually discovered that Jones > Coyote when it comes down to it. That's my take at least.
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Post by Nnelg on Nov 25, 2012 3:20:40 GMT
I agree, Coyote may be more powerful than Jones, but it is a power of a different sort. Where Coyote made the Annan Waters in a (presumably) short stretch of time, Jones would have had to dig it by hand (I'd give her a week). But I'd bet even a point-blank shot from the Death Star Laser wouldn't give Jones a tan. Forces cannot be conducted instantly, because that would break the lightspeed barrier, which would break causality. And that is a problem in Gunnerkrigg Court... Why? After all, nobody in his right mind would make a survey rover this sophisticated, and omit the data transmission antenna. Jones: Not a Rover Either. ;D
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alexh
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Post by alexh on Nov 25, 2012 17:57:36 GMT
Coyote could probably just pluck Jones from the Earth and put her on the moon or in Jupiter or something. She can't exactly do anything once she's up there.
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Post by Geekette on Nov 25, 2012 21:47:27 GMT
Coyote could probably just pluck Jones from the Earth and put her on the moon or in Jupiter or something. She can't exactly do anything once she's up there. So, what you're trying to tell us is that Jones is too heavy for the Coyote to lift?
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Post by Nnelg on Nov 26, 2012 2:07:04 GMT
Coyote could probably just pluck Jones from the Earth and put her on the moon or in Jupiter or something. She can't exactly do anything once she's up there. So, what you're trying to tell us is that Jones is too heavy for the Coyote to lift? Actually, that's a distinct possibility... Given that Coyote hasn't already sent Jones to the Moon, I think it's safe to say that he can't. In fact, from what we know about Jones' relation to the Ether, it's possible that nothing Coyote could do would be able to get Jones to budge even an inch.
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alexh
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Post by alexh on Nov 26, 2012 2:54:18 GMT
No, I think it would be incredibly easy for Coyote to put Jones wherever he wants. But he won't, because he promised not to or whatever. Jones ain't that heavy. She's like half a ton, give or take.
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Post by Nnelg on Nov 26, 2012 3:10:47 GMT
Jones ain't that heavy. She's like half a ton, give or take. Ah, but she's a half-ton of possibly the most "physical" matter in existence (Jones really transcends any definition of the word "solid"). We know that she cannot manipulate the Ether, so how sure are we that the Ether can manipulate her?
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alexh
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Post by alexh on Nov 26, 2012 3:58:03 GMT
We know that she cannot manipulate the Ether, so how sure are we that the Ether can manipulate her? The same can be said for mostly any non-etheric character, but I get your point.
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lukaswhite
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Post by lukaswhite on Nov 26, 2012 5:09:48 GMT
New Theory: Jones is an Ether Sink, like Gamma times infinity.
She exists to balance out the Ether in the world, to keep it from causing chaotic randomness. If you think of etherial stuff as Chaotic (free-flowing, unable to be understood) and technology (follows rules, limited by laws), it makes sense, considering Jones seems rather lawful.
So that would make her immune to Coyote (The chaotic being) and his etherial "magic", but he probably cannot be harmed by her either. So it becomes balanced.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2012 6:15:46 GMT
I wonder if Tom is giggling at all of our geeky sciency science while he pens his work of fiction.
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Post by GK Sierra on Nov 26, 2012 7:56:39 GMT
I wonder if Tom is giggling at all of our geeky sciency science while he pens his work of fiction. I think perhaps snickering would be closer to it. Tom doesn't strike me as a giggler or a guffawer. (Yes that is my new word, and yes I did just put an imaginary copyright on it)
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Post by hargharg on Nov 26, 2012 20:54:44 GMT
Jones ain't that heavy. She's like half a ton, give or take. Ah, but she's a half-ton of possibly the most "physical" matter in existence (Jones really transcends any definition of the word "solid"). We know that she cannot manipulate the Ether, so how sure are we that the Ether can manipulate her? Coyote stops time, Jones stays in place. Maybe she could've moved but has chosen not to? We won't know.
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quoodle
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Just a man on a planet
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Post by quoodle on Nov 26, 2012 21:07:27 GMT
So, what you're trying to tell us is that Jones is too heavy for the Coyote to lift? What would Archimedes say? ;D
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Post by Nnelg on Nov 27, 2012 1:59:10 GMT
Actually, if nothing Ethereal can effect Jones, then Jones would never be able to move when Coyote stopped time, even if he wanted her to. That's because time was never actually stopped. From Annie's perspective, it looked like it was, but from everyone else's (includine Jones's) perspective, time continued uninterrupted. All Coyote really did was create a little bit of extra time for Annie and himself. So, what you're trying to tell us is that Jones is too heavy for the Coyote to lift? What would Archimedes say? ;D "Jones is the fulcrum"? ;D
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