Editing 2321: Low-Background Metal
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Using time travel to retrieve items from the past that are not available in the present is a frequent trope in time travel-related media. Frequently, it is done with the goal of {{tvtropes|TimeTravelForFunAndProfit|making money}}, but other purposes are used as well. In the Star Trek movie {{w|Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|The Voyage Home}}, time travel is used to retrieve whales and transport them to the present. In the book {{w|Timeline (novel)|Timeline}}, time travel is used to record historical events for entertainment purposes. In the movie {{w|Avengers: Endgame}}, time travel is used to retrieve minerals important to a future plan. In the movie {{w|Back to the Future(film)|Back to the Future}}, when Marty tells Doc that the time machine runs on plutonium, Doc exclaims, "I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drug store, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by" (from {{w|Back to the Future|this transcript}}). | Using time travel to retrieve items from the past that are not available in the present is a frequent trope in time travel-related media. Frequently, it is done with the goal of {{tvtropes|TimeTravelForFunAndProfit|making money}}, but other purposes are used as well. In the Star Trek movie {{w|Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|The Voyage Home}}, time travel is used to retrieve whales and transport them to the present. In the book {{w|Timeline (novel)|Timeline}}, time travel is used to record historical events for entertainment purposes. In the movie {{w|Avengers: Endgame}}, time travel is used to retrieve minerals important to a future plan. In the movie {{w|Back to the Future(film)|Back to the Future}}, when Marty tells Doc that the time machine runs on plutonium, Doc exclaims, "I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drug store, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by" (from {{w|Back to the Future|this transcript}}). | ||
β | {{w|Low-background steel}} is the most famous kind of low-background metal, used in real life for highly sensitive particle detectors in physics and medicine, and is salvaged from ships sunk before 1945 (the {{w|Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity nuclear test}}). Since this is steel, the ships used typically date back to World War I or World War II. | + | {{w|Low-background steel}} is the most famous kind of low-background metal, used in real life for highly sensitive particle detectors in physics and medicine, and is salvaged from ships sunk before 1945 (the {{w|Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity nuclear test}}). Since this is steel, the ships used typically date back to World War I or World War II. |
The title text refers to {{w|Greek fire}}, which was an incendiary weapon invented and employed by the Byzantine empire. It was a flammable liquid, famously said to burn on water, that was used in naval combat to set fire to enemy ships. As it was a closely-guarded military secret, many of the details have been lost to time, and modern chemists have only been able to develop educated guesses of what it ''probably'' was. Randall proposes a rather outlandish alternative hypothesis: that all records of Greek fire were actually in reference to the modern weapons used by the time travelers. It is also notable that, if the time machine was taken to the time of the classical Roman empire, Greek fire would not yet have been a known term. Perhaps the weapon wielded by the time travelers was later conflated with the Byzantines' weapon, or perhaps the time machine was taken to a period a few centuries later than classical Rome. | The title text refers to {{w|Greek fire}}, which was an incendiary weapon invented and employed by the Byzantine empire. It was a flammable liquid, famously said to burn on water, that was used in naval combat to set fire to enemy ships. As it was a closely-guarded military secret, many of the details have been lost to time, and modern chemists have only been able to develop educated guesses of what it ''probably'' was. Randall proposes a rather outlandish alternative hypothesis: that all records of Greek fire were actually in reference to the modern weapons used by the time travelers. It is also notable that, if the time machine was taken to the time of the classical Roman empire, Greek fire would not yet have been a known term. Perhaps the weapon wielded by the time travelers was later conflated with the Byzantines' weapon, or perhaps the time machine was taken to a period a few centuries later than classical Rome. |