Archives: Nuclear Monsters From the Sea
1/26/00
This humorous chat session is self-explanatory: a frank discussion of ocean
depth, space, and giant nuclear city destroying monsters.
Issachar: Speaking of altitudes, I once looked up the average depth of the earth's oceans and learned that the distance from sea level to the bottom is less than the altitude at which your average passenger jet flies.
Issachar: I later took note of how far down the ground *looked* when I was on a plane, and felt sort of disappointed that the sea wasn't any deeper than that.
Issachar: I've always just sort of felt as though the sea should be an immensely deep, forbidding place.
Brunnen_G: The average depth, oh right, I can believe that. But there are some parts of it that are *so* deep it's scary to think about.
ladadadada: Some spots are very deep
ladadadada: but most continental shelves are only 200 metres
Brunnen_G: The Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench is the deepest, I believe.
Issachar: Again disappointingly, the really deep places in the ocean *still* aren't deeper than I was flying in the plane -- or if they were, it wasn't by much.
Brunnen_G: Wow.
Brunnen_G: I'd never have thought that.
ladadadada: Nonetheless Iss, we know more about the darkside of the moon than we do about our ocean floor
Issachar: isn't that amazing?
ladadadada: Most large planes travel at 30,000 feet.
Issachar: yes, about five to six miles.
ladadadada: The marianas trench (I hope I spelt that right) is only (I think) 10 Km which is about 30,000 feet
ladadadada: Actually, it's almost 11km deep.
Stephen: Challenger's Deep is 10920 m deep
Stephen: Alternatively, 6.7853 miles
Issachar: Stephen, Challenger Deep is even slightly deeper than you said: it's 6.85 miles deep. Wow.
Stephen: Iss: Hrm... I just grabbed that number off the first page Google through out (oceanconservation.com or something). Then I ran it through the first metric converter google threw out :P
Stephen: But I knew it was almost 7 miles. I'll never live down the fact that in an academic competition match in High School, I once called it the "Marinara Trench"
Stephen: The thing that sucked is that the other team picked it up. Gah! I scored more points that match than the rest of my team combined, yet I still got mocked for that one. I hate them all
ladadadada: How high is everest ?
Stephen: Not that high... you can fit Everest in it
ladadadada: But I can't stick everest in the ocean, so it's no good to me.
Stephen: What's even weirder is how danged close we are to space
Stephen: I mean, it's just a matter of miles
Stephen: I drive more in an average day than it would take going vertical to leave the earth...
Brunnen_G: Wow! Just think, if you drive vertically, you could end up *anywhere*!
Brunnen_G: And I'm sure that 17-year-old female cyborg would only be a few days' trip away, too. ;-)
Issachar: Looks like space begins officially about 300 miles up.
Brunnen_G: Officially? LOL
Stephen: 300 miles up? You sure it's that high?
* Brunnen_G pictures a sign floating 300 miles up saying "You are now entering space. Please drive carefully"
Issachar: Well, the "exosphere" starts at about 300 miles up, and that consists of almost no particles at all.
* Issachar sounds really intelligent, but he's just reading stuff straight off of Encarta. :-)
* Issachar is getting peeved at the absence of a simple bit of information from Encarta: the typical cruising altitudes of commercial airliners.
* Stephen wishes he had some cybernetic parts
* Stephen considers trying to solder his mouse to his hand, to become cyborgish
RinkChat: User Stephen has been labeled 'Cyborg' by Stephen.
Issachar: Average ocean floor depth is only just over three miles. Heck, I could *see* to the bottom of the ocean if it weren't for all the water. Why is that such a let-down for me?
RinkChat: User Issachar has been labeled 'bummed out' by Issachar.
Issachar: Maybe a good project would be to assemble a great quantity of nuclear devices and attempt to blast deeper trenches in the ocean floor, so that it's acceptably deep to fit with my adventurous fantasies. :-)
Brunnen_G: And of course that would also awaken giant nuclear monsters, so the adventurous fantasies would be even more improved.
Issachar: That's exactly what the world needs right now, in this American election year. Giant nuclear monsters!
Issachar: *That* would weed out the real leaders from the milk-sop politicians.
Stephen: I think you're right
Brunnen_G: It's some sort of universal truth. Any sort of giant nuclear monsters that stomp ashore and eat cities are awesomely cool.
Brunnen_G: And giant evil space bugs!
Brunnen_G: And cyborgs!
Issachar: Another universal truth is that the Far Side cartoon featuring a monster staring sullenly up at a sign stating, "You must be at least this tall to attack the city," is awesomely cool as well.
Issachar: I think if I lived in that city, I'd build the sign as high as possible. :-)
Brunnen_G: I just can never work out *why* they want to attack the city.
Brunnen_G: I mean, if they stomped ashore, went and bought a burger, and stomped back out to sea again, it would make sense.
Issachar: Yeah. Maybe a lot of them do exactly that, but it's only the city-destroyers that get movies made about them.
Brunnen_G: They don't even buy a souvenir t-shirt before they return to the pit of hell from whence they came.
Issachar: I bet a lot of the non-sociopathic monsters are plenty upset that a few bad apples are ruining the reputation of giant nuclear monsters everywhere.
Brunnen_G: Yes, I can imagine that
Brunnen_G: Like Stephen. He's a cyborg, but you don't see him going on killing rampages or anything. He just sits around in chat and sometimes says stupid things.
Stephen: I wouldn't say they're all stupid
Brunnen_G: My point is that he doesn't feel he needs to conform to the popular stereotype of a cyborg.
Brunnen_G: And rightly so.
Issachar: .....because he doesn't have a blaster on one arm, after all.
Stephen: If I was a fully decked out cyborg, you can be damned sure I'd be blasting stuff up constantly
Stephen: Anyone here seen "The Iron Giant"?
Issachar: Iron Giant? GREAT movie. Just fantastic.
Stephen: Yeah, it's fantastic. I want weapons like it had... :)
Issachar: But the Iron Giant didn't *want* to be a giant weapon. I'm glad *you* didn't get the part. :-)
Stephen: Screw him. I WANT to be a weapon
Brunnen_G: The ultimate killing machine. Me too.
Brunnen_G: Just think how much easier it would be to get decent service in shops if you were obviously the ultimate killing machine.
Stephen: I know...grr
Brunnen_G: Not to mention the fact that *nobody* would kick the back of your seat in movie theatres.
Issachar: But wouldn't they send out the Armed Forces to kick your ultimate killing butt?
Stephen: Iss: So? You'd waste them with a huge chest cannon
Brunnen_G: No, because Stephen would be the Supreme Dictator. He'd be in *charge* of the armed forces.
Issachar: Or would you simply swat aside the combined might of all the world's armies, only to be defeated by the hero?
Brunnen_G: Well, you could be an ultimate killing machine on the side of good, you know.
* Brunnen_G wonders what career opportunities are open to an ultimate killing machine on the side of good
Brunnen_G: Ridding the world of... telemarketers!
Brunnen_G: And those people in supermarkets who try to make you do surveys about cleaning products!
Stephen: Surveys about cleaning products?
Brunnen_G: Ah, that happened to me last time I went shopping. I told 'em I don't *use* cleaning products. I just move house every six months. ;-)
Issachar: If your ultimate killing powers extend to cockroaches, I'd gladly employ your services right now.
Stephen: Yeah, but it would also probably destroy your house
Brunnen_G: I think cockroaches qualify as giant evil space bugs.
Stephen: Cockroaches are neither giant nor evil
Brunnen_G: I guess you haven't seen tropical cockroaches.
Stephen: No, I stay away from those sorts of places
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