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Tonto Silerheels wrote:I worry that a bullet would pierce Merlin's hand and continue forward to the target, but assuming that's not so...

Don't forget that Merlin is made out of superstrong Federation materials. I believe it was mentioned in OAR or one of the other early books that it would take a full sized cannon to even have a chance to do any significant damage to him and that his molycirc "brain" could be fired out of that same cannon without even being scratched. Given that info, I seriously doubt a bullet fired from a black powder flintlock pistol is going to pierce his hand if said hand blocks its path.

Although good point about the "no safe way to explain this" part.

evilauthor wrote:

Don't forget that Merlin is made out of superstrong Federation materials. I believe it was mentioned in OAR or one of the other early books that it would take a full sized cannon to even have a chance to do any significant damage to him and that his molycirc "brain" could be fired out of that same cannon without even being scratched.

You're remembering things differently from I. I remember that his bones are hollow and made out of very strong materials. I remember that his muscles are shaped like human muscles and are much stronger than a human's. I remember that his brain is about where a human's liver is and that it would probably (not certainly) survive a hit from a canon.

If you are correct and a bullet cannot penetrate his skin, they it appears to me that it would behoove him to take much more care than he does practicing sword fighting. Obviously, his skill and abilities keep him from receiving most touches, but if even one were to get through and fail to penetrate or to cause a transmission fluid leak, then he would have a lot of explaining to do.

~Tonto

Maybe that is why most animals have their brains located near their eyes, the shorter distance speeds up reaction time.

Highjohn wrote:Due to Newton's second law Merlins cannot cover ground much quicker than a human. He weighs about the same and where the same boots/shoes, so he has the same friction available as a human.

I don't think so. Newton's second law is F=ma, and Merlin's muscles can apply vastly more force than human ones, and his mass is probably similar.

I don't think friction is the limiting factor on human speed; deer are a lot faster than humans and their hooves are a lot smaller than human feet. Cheetah feet are pretty small too (though they do have claws).

6L6 wrote:Maybe that is why most animals have their brains located near their eyes, the shorter distance speeds up reaction time.

Spot on - all organisms on the planet have their light receptors relatively close to a processing area. I say processing area because some invertebrates don't have true brains but they can still perceive light.

In the case of humans & for that matter most mammals we perceive something in the order of 80% of our surroundings through our eyes.
The mammalian brain cheats in handling this amount of information due in part the missing parts of a second that is not processed/seen of the world. It takes a snap shot / still image and fills in the blanks. However our eyes are automatically drawn to movement which helps with reaction time which in turn feeds into the flight/fright response.

emeye wrote:Hey, what's six orders of magnitude among friends?

A: a whole bloody lot, that's what it is

Well if you feel that way about it

Me thinks only the author really knows-and -apparently- he isn't saying.

cralkhi wrote:

Highjohn wrote:Due to Newton's second law Merlins cannot cover ground much quicker than a human. He weighs about the same and where the same boots/shoes, so he has the same friction available as a human.

I don't think so. Newton's second law is F=ma, and Merlin's muscles can apply vastly more force than human ones, and his mass is probably similar.

I don't think friction is the limiting factor on human speed; deer are a lot faster than humans and their hooves are a lot smaller than human feet. Cheetah feet are pretty small too (though they do have claws).

Yes, but deer and cheetahs are running on a very rough surface - natural ground - which has a much higher coefficient of friction then the paved (tiled) floors that Merlin would be standing on. Just how fast does a deer run on glare ice Since it is unlikely that Merlin is running around in hob-nailed boots, I suspect his maximum speed is going to be limited by how well he can apply his superior power to the floor.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

cralkhi wrote:
I don't think so. Newton's second law is F=ma, and Merlin's muscles can apply vastly more force than human ones, and his mass is probably similar.

I don't think friction is the limiting factor on human speed; deer are a lot faster than humans and their hooves are a lot smaller than human feet. Cheetah feet are pretty small too (though they do have claws).

Yes, but deer and cheetahs are running on a very rough surface - natural ground - which has a much higher coefficient of friction then the paved (tiled) floors that Merlin would be standing on. Just how fast does a deer run on glare ice Since it is unlikely that Merlin is running around in hob-nailed boots, I suspect his maximum speed is going to be limited by how well he can apply his superior power to the floor.

Actually I would expect him to be wearing hobnail boots - they date back to the Roman's infantry. Great for rough terrain, crap on polished floors, inside I would expect leather soled buskins - either way lousy traction on smooth floors so he would have poor acceleration and braking on the level (but great at bouncing off walls (look up Parkour)). Traction matters, and with human sized feet and weight he wont be able to accelerate any better than an average athlete. Top speed on the other hand is related to the available power unless you need to turn (and then friction wins - which is where a deer wins, more force on a small area gives better traction (at least on hard ground - on soft ground or sand you sink and become wolf kibble)).
Rubber soled shoes make big differences, but if you can make rubber soled shoes you can make rubber tyres (and that changes everything).

AirTech wrote:

fallsfromtrees wrote:
Yes, but deer and cheetahs are running on a very rough surface - natural ground - which has a much higher coefficient of friction then the paved (tiled) floors that Merlin would be standing on. Just how fast does a deer run on glare ice Since it is unlikely that Merlin is running around in hob-nailed boots, I suspect his maximum speed is going to be limited by how well he can apply his superior power to the floor.

Actually I would expect him to be wearing hobnail boots - they date back to the Roman's infantry. Great for rough terrain, crap on polished floors, inside I would expect leather soled buskins - either way lousy traction on smooth floors so he would have poor acceleration and braking on the level (but great at bouncing off walls (look up Parkour)). Traction matters, and with human sized feet and weight he wont be able to accelerate any better than an average athlete. Top speed on the other hand is related to the available power unless you need to turn (and then friction wins - which is where a deer wins, more force on a small area gives better traction (at least on hard ground - on soft ground or sand you sink and become wolf kibble)).
Rubber soled shoes make big differences, but if you can make rubber soled shoes you can make rubber tyres (and that changes everything).

And since they _are_ making rubber tires...

Okay, so he wears Nike...