Physicspunks

[Anonymous]

Steve Thompson wrote:
>Quoting Anonymous (nobody at 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.