Re: Physicspunks

17 Aug 2001


      Steve Thompson wrote:
...
Quoting Anonymous (nobody@paranoici.org):
...
If a block of a metal is hollowed out and a small port is drilled
to see in, the radiance of the cavity is substantially higher than
that of the surface of the metal.  As if that weren't shocking
enough, it turns out that the radiance of cavities is the same no
matter what kind of metal is used.  (This is so counterintuitive
that I almost don't believe it!)
This is actually a phenomenal result.  If one makes a large enough
apparatus so that the cavity is very, very large with a
correspondingly small port is drilled, you've then got the makings
of a great beam weapon.
The radiance of the cavity is only a function of the temperature.