This has been bugging me for forever...

[keith.lamothe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_current

Large gaps of near-vacuum can provide rather effective resistance.  Large gaps of air do a good job too, though variable water vapor in the air is problematic for consistent protection.

My guess is that an electrical-charge weapon could be effective in space but that it would jump from the charging capacitor straight to the target vessel rather than spraying everywhere like the in-game graphic.  It also would not care about friend or foe distinctions, possibly except in case of every single allied ship maintaining the same kind of charge as the capacitor so as to repel rather than attract the bolt.  Of course, then your enemies could do the same thing.

[raptor331]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_current

Large gaps of near-vacuum can provide rather effective resistance.  Large gaps of air do a good job too, though variable water vapor in the air is problematic for consistent protection.

My guess is that an electrical-charge weapon could be effective in space but that it would jump from the charging capacitor straight to the target vessel rather than spraying everywhere like the in-game graphic.  It also would not care about friend or foe distinctions, possibly except in case of every single allied ship maintaining the same kind of charge as the capacitor so as to repel rather than attract the bolt.  Of course, then your enemies could do the same thing.

Woot I was right

[keith.lamothe]

Well, partially   The bit about electricity moving a few in/sec and electrons pushing other electrons, etc, isn't... the most factual thing I've ever read   But perhaps closer than one might think, since the drift velocity of the actual physical particles is in that ballpark, it's the electromagnetic waves (which would be a closer referent to the word "electricity") that move at significant fractions of c.

[Spikey00]

MY BRAIN

[Lancefighter]

Alternatively
An electric shuttle, just before attack, jettisons a large quantity of superconductive crystals in such a way that the space nearby is literally saturated with them. When they reach the appropriate density, the shuttle releases both an encoded warning signal and a burst of electricity, which travels on the collection of conductive crystals onto the surface of other ships.

The coded signal is an automatic thing that lets nearby ships know to disconnect the secondary hull from the primary hull - enabling the electricity to travel straight over the hull as if it was part of the crystalline network. (similarly to how lightning can strike an airplane and leave everyone alive)
 >.>

[Sizzle]

Yay for Farraday cages!

[Sona]

Is it so???

[raptor331]

Well, partially   The bit about electricity moving a few in/sec and electrons pushing other electrons, etc, isn't... the most factual thing I've ever read   But perhaps closer than one might think, since the drift velocity of the actual physical particles is in that *ballpark, it's the **electromagnetic waves (which would be a closer referent to the word "electricity") that move at significant fractions of c.

*ballpark?

**electromagnetic waves is going more into the forms of radiation(which is electricaly charged particles), but the electric shuttle is not shooting out radiation, it is shooting(or rather "releasing") out just plain electricity(not particles). Electricity is the movement of elections, electromagnetic waves do have something to do with electrons, but that does not exactly make it electricity.

[keith.lamothe]

*ballpark?

It depends on the medium; you could be looking at a millimeter per second, or 18,000 miles per second.

Electricity is the movement of elections, electromagnetic waves do have something to do with electrons, but that does not exactly make it electricity.

It depends on the dictionary, it seems, but I was referring to the presence and flow of electric charge, which does not depend on significant net movement of the electrons themselves. 

The electric weapons in AI War presumably function by delivery of an electric charge sufficient to disrupt the normal operation of the target (including important stuff like, you know, reactor containment and nervous systems), as opposed to simply bombarding the ship with electrons like a particle beam or some such. 

Anyway, my job description doesn't actually say anything about physics so I'm stopping there

[Burnstreet]

Electricity is the movement of elections, electromagnetic waves do have something to do with electrons, but that does not exactly make it electricity.

Afaik, the movement of elections or any other form of tinkering with them is illegal on most parts of our world and probably in the rest of the universe

[Fox Soul]

If you look at solar flares they do have electromagnetic waves in them.

Since the electric shuttle gives an area affect wave around it, I would assume its weapon is based off of solar flares.
Probably just more concentrated on specific waves that affect electronics.

[Ktoff]

Look i'm sorry :-) I did not want to spark this discussion and it is not like AI War is aiming for realism. From a physics point of view, the first thing to object would then be the movement of space ships and fixed structures around a planet or even spider turrets. I mean...if you kill the engines of a space craft it does not stop. It keeps on moving, and moving, and moving...

So i was basically yammering about lightning in space where the lightning supposedly visuallises flowing current (or as keith words it- charge delivery). Because the glowing jagged lines (in air such as during a thunderstorm) is a glowing plasma of heated gas as the current flows through the gas and additionally without medium there cannot be any current in the first place.

I liked the idea of an artifical medium, although the Faraday-Cages probably would protect the ships even without warning. If the hull is conducting, the current will flow around the ship (but through the hull). If the hull is not conducting the current will flow around the ship (through the artificial medium). After the attack most of the ships will then probably be charged. This probably wouldn't have any larger effects as the inside of any charged object is free of electric fields. (The ships would repel each other though :-) ).

Also, just to clarify: Electricity - electrons, electromagnetic waves - photons

As for the drift speed vs speed of electricity the analogy of a garden hose explains the difference quite elegantly. Imagine a long garden hose (filled with water). Now you open the faucet and water will almost immediately pour out of the other end. However, it will take some time until the water that just left the faucet reaches the end of the hose.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, I can see that my own conceptualization of electricity, which is primarily extrapolated from my knowledge of computer networks, is flawed

[Ktoff]

I thought you had a pretty good grasp, but you see, you made a very basic mistake: What you should have done is say something like:

'In the game universe electricity CAN flow through space'

[keith.lamothe]

Ah yes, the classic DM fallback