From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From Address: epwise@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: necessity is the mother of invention
Gunner Asch wrote in
news:vt8v675bj2b9k2poen5i2bmjb1ukbmhout@4ax.com:
> On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:00:35 -0700 (PDT), Brad Filippone
> wrote:
>
>>On Sep 13, 6:05aam, Gunner Asch wrote:
>>> On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:14:38 +0100, Martin Brown
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> <|||newspam...@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>> >On 13/09/2011 02:30, Salmon Egg wrote:
>>> >> In article
>>> >> <6aaf2415-d5d0-4809-8545-2dafdab68...
@g14g2000pre.googlegroups.com
>>> >> >, a SparkoHeaps awrote:
>>>
>>> >>> On Sep 12, 5:31 pm, Frank
>>> >>> awrote:
>>> >>>> On 9/12/2011 6:45 PM, RichD wrote:
>>>
>>> >>>>> So I was watching an old Star Trek, Kirk is marooned
>>> >>>>> in a desert (looks like New Mexico), battling a gnarly
>>> >>>>> alien. aHe jerry rigs a howitzer, then gathers up
>>> >>>>> minerals, and mixes them to manufacture
>>> >>>>> gunpowder. aOf course. he flattens the alien on
>>> >>>>> his first shot, and the galaxy is saved.
>>>
>>> >>>>> Anyhoo, is that plausible, could one make
>>> >>>>> gunpowder in a survival situation like that?
>>> >>>>> With no chem lab equipment?
>>>
>>> >>>> Probably.
>>> >>>> I think you can find sulfur in pure form.
>>> >>>> Don't know if Chilean salt peter (sodium nitrate) is pure
>>> >>>> enough to use without recrystallizing, but I suspect it is.
>>> >>>> Charred, i.e. partially burnt, wood could serve as the charcoal
>>> >>>> source. Crude mix would not make the best gun powder but it
>>> >>>> should work.
>>>
>>> >>> Mythbusters tried it
>>>
>>> >>>http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-gorn-cannon-high-
speed
>>> >>>.html
>>>
>>> >> Just what does "tried it" mean. I see the fireworks but that
>>> >> gives me no cluesas to the planning.
>>>
>>> >Native sulphur is no problem apart from finding it and grinding
>>> >down fine enough. It is probably dangerously acidic without some
>>> >purification. Wood charcoal is easier and soft to grind.
>>>
>>> >Saltpetre would be usable in desert conditions but would probably
>>> >need recrystallising at least once to purify and then fine
>>> >grinding. How fine you grind the gunpowder mix determines whether
>>> >you get a damp squib or a proper fast burn detonation. IMO He would
>>> >have been better off with a Chinese style rocket that way the pipe
>>> >serves only to point the missile at the bad guy and doesn't have to
>>> >survive any overpressure.
>>>
>>> >If you could find the ingredients the main thing is grinding them
>>> >together well enough without making sparks. And lighting the
>>> >fuse...
>>>
>>> Grind them fine SEPERATELY..then add water and mix and mix. When
>>> still damp.. tumble in a screen cage aand then let the fines dry,
>>> then store.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> >Looks to me like he is doomed anyway - characters wearing red
>>> >uniforms on classic Star Trek seldom last past the first ad break.
>>>
>>> >Regards,
>>> >Martin Brown
>>>
>>> Newbies in red uniforms had a 10 minute lifespan on the Enterprise.
>>>
>>Actually, while a lot of crewmembers in red do die on the show, you
>>actually see far more who manage to survive.
>>
>>Brad
>
> Read the books on Star Trek. Rodenburry (sp?) made a regular event of
> killing off red suits. Often times they were fans who got a role as a
> reward.
>
>
Only if they were also actors.
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