Today's academic writing

[shiffer]

It is common knowledge that due to the unstable nature of the spatial translation through the event horizon it is impossible to precisely predict where a vessel will emerge from a wormhole, even knowing it's vector and location when entering. It is due to this fact that entering a wormhole while another vessel is "in transit" (contrary to popular

Comments

[ivan23]

You know, for a minute there - and I haven't had my coffee yet, so bear with me - I thought the title of this post was true, and really, really wondered what secretive university you were attending out there.

[shiffer]

One can always dream :)

I considered not putting the reveal there, but figured that it's not like anyone would really be fooled.

[bluegargantua]

Can you transmit information through the event horizon? In other words, can I tell the other side "hey, coming through" and thus prevent collisions?

Can I get fouled on random matter coming through the wormhole?

later
Tom

[shiffer]

Transmitting information through the event horizon is tricky business. You can't send, say, radio signals through. There is, however, a system designed specifically to coordinate such travel. It's called a Sigma System, and every ship has one. I'm not conversant with how these systems work, but they do make sure that no one runs into each other as long as they follow proper safety protocols. Most Gates in civilized space also have traffic control for exactly this purpose.

Wormholes are "always open", which is to say that any matter passing through their spatial location will pass through them. So it does happen that stray atoms or space dust drifts into a gate. However, "colliding" with a vessel in transit will not be more damaging then if this happened in normal space, and ships are built to withstand interplanetary dust. Gates are kept clear of debris and other objects, though.

[anavish]

This is one of the best teasers I've read (I don't read very many, but still). Sounds like a really good game.