Incommunicado – Thermal Dynamics of Life
by Lieutenant Vincent Kramer
Post Details
((Conference Room 242G))
((Intermediate Education Center))
ON:
As Lt. Kramer stepped up to the podium, he set down a PADD before looking out onto the crowd that filled room. The room seemed at capacity of about 150-170 chairs, plus a few standing along the wall. He cleared his throat gently and began his prepared speech. "Good morning. My name is Lieutenant Vincent Kramer. I am the Assistant Chief of Engineering here on Deep Space Five."
Thoughts spun through his mind, 'Why me?' He paused for another second, 'I've done hundreds of training sessions over the couple years. Why not someone else?' Then he remembered just who he was doing this for. "I want to thank Principle Pearson and especially your science teacher, Miss Haley, for asking me to speak today.”
A few giggles came up out of the group.
Vince glanced over to the smiling brunette standing on the left side of the room in her modest slimming dress. He had met her recently and over stepped his bounds and bragged just a little too much. She asked him to do this for the children. He couldn’t say no, after all he had told her.
"I have to admit,” Vince continued, “that I regularly speak in front of groups of engineers and do instructional training, but I'm not use to a group this size or full of young teenage students. I’ll try not to bore you too much."
This got a little laugh from the crowd and the teachers, who standing around the room had to remind the students to keep quiet.
Smiling, Kramer waited for the noise to subside. The topic he was supposed to cover was energy loss, but he really didn't think that this group would be interested in that. To make this fit for him and for them, he now realized that he needed to shift the subject to something more interesting to them.
He spoke clearly, "Thermal dynamics and energy loss in a vacuum." He said aloud as if reading the title of a book. He looked across the large group of 14 year olds and saw no interest in their eyes. "What that boils down to ..."
Giggles erupted from the crowd.
He looked behind him unsure if something was going on behind him, then back at the crowd. These kids were smarter than he realized. They understood the concept of a person’s blood boiling in space because of the pressure and temperature changes. "Sorry, no pun intended.” He cleared his voice and continued. “It comes down to staying warm is a very bad situation." He wanted to relate to the kids better, and he realized that a different approach was definitely needed.
The first picture to come up for them to see on the large screen behind and above him was of a small vessel floating in space. “Here is an example of a vessel that is in deep space with no other source of heat, except the artificial power systems within. Once the power is lost the infrared energy with in the craft will dissipate.” Vince stopped the explanation. The next thing for him to do was to give the formulation for loss of energy. He could see the formula in his mind, but he didn’t see how running the formula off would help them understand better.
Vince made a couple changes on his PADD. Placing a hand on the podium he slowly walked around to the side. "Think of it this way," he began, but hesitated only a moment. "Now most of us in this room are what scientist call warm blooded beings. That means," he paused, "that we create our own heat to maintain our own level of body temperature. If we have to be in an area for any length of time, our body will try to compensate. Each species has a different mean temperature, but most humanoids are comfortable in 80 degree Ferinheight.”
He changed the picture on the screen to that of a snowy mountainous wilderness area. Vince asked “What types of animals live in this kind of environment?”
There were several answers out loud.
“Those are some good answers. Yes, basically if warm blooded, the animals living in this environment have long thick coats of hair. When the climate changes and temperatures increase, these animals may lose some of this thick hair. This allows them to better regulate their body temperature.”
The picture then filled the screen of a beautiful young woman in very small swimming apparel. She is in a mountainous area with evergreen trees in the back ground and snow all about her. She is crossing her arms holding her shoulders and bending at knees and waste as if bouncing.
A large commotion erupted from the group; giggles and ‘wow’s came from all corners of the room.
Vince glanced over at Miss Haley to see her smile slightly and blush.
“If a human encounters temperatures below its mean, then the body tries to compensate by having the body shake. Some refer to this as a shiver, which will cause the body to increase energy and therefore heat. Another thing the body does is tightens the skin causing the hair follicles to stand up.”
The next picture was a close up of a hairy leg with the hairs standing straight up. The group explodes with laughter.
Vince tries to speak over them, "Which helps reduce air flow over the skin, so that the loss of heat is lessened?”
He caused a new picture to come up on the screen. It was of a man standing on a tropical beach with palm trees in the back ground. The man was wearing only pants the length ending above the knee.
The girls in the room giggled a little.
Vince continued, “In the opposite situation, if we go out in a temperature warmer than our mean, then our body will try to compensate my sweating.” The picture that came up was the face of the man with sweat all over his face and he was squinting.
More laughter from the crowd.
Vince crossed his arms slightly, still holding the PADD and began to walk to the side in front of the group. “Humans, for example, sweating allows a water base solution to be excreted to the outside of the skin with the expectations that any slight air flow over the skin will cause an evaporative effect and will decrease the skin temperature,” he stopped and turned back the other direction, “which will allow the circulatory system to then cool the body."
A picture now filled the screen of a beautiful young woman in wearing a similarly very small swimming apparel with a happy smile on her face, probably because of the breeze blowing across her also fanning her long blonde hair.
More laughs came from the group, plus a few ‘wows’.
The next picture was of a modern man clothed in slacks and shirt standing in a city street somewhere.
“Now,” Vince began, “when a species evolves to a point of intelligence where it can discern that they can assist their own body by providing additional protection, they can then venture into area of further or diverse temperatures. Basically, they learn to cover up to stay warm. “Early humans used clothing on their body; coats, hats, gloves.
A picture then went up on the screen of the minimally clad woman wearing an open coat. It was a rich thick fur coat she held at the collar and it draped to the snow about her.
More excited responses from the teens.
“These added layers of animal skins and later synthetic materials. Would be wrapped about the body providing additional layers of protection to the skin.”
Vince continued, “Now for our adventurer, if they wish to travel into extreme temperature ranges, then sometimes artificially heated and or cooled protection is necessary. This may mean to carry warmed rocks in their pockets, but I don't think so. Sometimes chemical reactants are used that when exposed to air creates heat.”
The next picture on the screen was of an astronaut from the 20th century wearing a mesh clothing with piping all about it.
“For humans early space travels, they used an artificial circulatory system that they wore as a second-skin. This would provide additional heating and cooling to the body in the most extreme temperatures. The circulatory equipment for this was very heavy and bulky.”
Several pictures of extreme conditions changed on the screen.
‘So, be it traveling to the high mountains or the depths of the sea or into the extreme and diverse reaches of space, helping the body to remain in the comfortable range became quite crucial.”
- - -
This line of information continued for the 45 minutes allotted to Lt. Kramer.
Moving back to the podium, Lt. Kramer said, “So, the moral to the story is to know what you are getting into. Hope for the best and plan for the worse. Thank you.”
With that said the entire group of youngsters jumped to their feet and gave him a standing ovation.
Vince couldn’t help but smile in response. He glanced over at Miss Haley at the side of the room. He saw her standing and smiling shyly and clapping gently. This made him blush a little.
Miss Haley then winked at him.
‘Ah, if life could only this easy.’ Vince thought.
OFF:
Lt. Vincent Kramer
Asst. Chief of Engineering
DS5
by Lieutenant Vincent Kramer
Post Details
| Title | Thermal Dynamics of Life | |
| Mission | Incommunicado | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant Vincent Kramer | |
| Posted | Fri May 25, 2012 @ 6:44am | |
| Location | Conference Room 242G | |
| Timeline | Prior to Great Expectations |
((Intermediate Education Center))
ON:
As Lt. Kramer stepped up to the podium, he set down a PADD before looking out onto the crowd that filled room. The room seemed at capacity of about 150-170 chairs, plus a few standing along the wall. He cleared his throat gently and began his prepared speech. "Good morning. My name is Lieutenant Vincent Kramer. I am the Assistant Chief of Engineering here on Deep Space Five."
Thoughts spun through his mind, 'Why me?' He paused for another second, 'I've done hundreds of training sessions over the couple years. Why not someone else?' Then he remembered just who he was doing this for. "I want to thank Principle Pearson and especially your science teacher, Miss Haley, for asking me to speak today.”
A few giggles came up out of the group.
Vince glanced over to the smiling brunette standing on the left side of the room in her modest slimming dress. He had met her recently and over stepped his bounds and bragged just a little too much. She asked him to do this for the children. He couldn’t say no, after all he had told her.
"I have to admit,” Vince continued, “that I regularly speak in front of groups of engineers and do instructional training, but I'm not use to a group this size or full of young teenage students. I’ll try not to bore you too much."
This got a little laugh from the crowd and the teachers, who standing around the room had to remind the students to keep quiet.
Smiling, Kramer waited for the noise to subside. The topic he was supposed to cover was energy loss, but he really didn't think that this group would be interested in that. To make this fit for him and for them, he now realized that he needed to shift the subject to something more interesting to them.
He spoke clearly, "Thermal dynamics and energy loss in a vacuum." He said aloud as if reading the title of a book. He looked across the large group of 14 year olds and saw no interest in their eyes. "What that boils down to ..."
Giggles erupted from the crowd.
He looked behind him unsure if something was going on behind him, then back at the crowd. These kids were smarter than he realized. They understood the concept of a person’s blood boiling in space because of the pressure and temperature changes. "Sorry, no pun intended.” He cleared his voice and continued. “It comes down to staying warm is a very bad situation." He wanted to relate to the kids better, and he realized that a different approach was definitely needed.
The first picture to come up for them to see on the large screen behind and above him was of a small vessel floating in space. “Here is an example of a vessel that is in deep space with no other source of heat, except the artificial power systems within. Once the power is lost the infrared energy with in the craft will dissipate.” Vince stopped the explanation. The next thing for him to do was to give the formulation for loss of energy. He could see the formula in his mind, but he didn’t see how running the formula off would help them understand better.
Vince made a couple changes on his PADD. Placing a hand on the podium he slowly walked around to the side. "Think of it this way," he began, but hesitated only a moment. "Now most of us in this room are what scientist call warm blooded beings. That means," he paused, "that we create our own heat to maintain our own level of body temperature. If we have to be in an area for any length of time, our body will try to compensate. Each species has a different mean temperature, but most humanoids are comfortable in 80 degree Ferinheight.”
He changed the picture on the screen to that of a snowy mountainous wilderness area. Vince asked “What types of animals live in this kind of environment?”
There were several answers out loud.
“Those are some good answers. Yes, basically if warm blooded, the animals living in this environment have long thick coats of hair. When the climate changes and temperatures increase, these animals may lose some of this thick hair. This allows them to better regulate their body temperature.”
The picture then filled the screen of a beautiful young woman in very small swimming apparel. She is in a mountainous area with evergreen trees in the back ground and snow all about her. She is crossing her arms holding her shoulders and bending at knees and waste as if bouncing.
A large commotion erupted from the group; giggles and ‘wow’s came from all corners of the room.
Vince glanced over at Miss Haley to see her smile slightly and blush.
“If a human encounters temperatures below its mean, then the body tries to compensate by having the body shake. Some refer to this as a shiver, which will cause the body to increase energy and therefore heat. Another thing the body does is tightens the skin causing the hair follicles to stand up.”
The next picture was a close up of a hairy leg with the hairs standing straight up. The group explodes with laughter.
Vince tries to speak over them, "Which helps reduce air flow over the skin, so that the loss of heat is lessened?”
He caused a new picture to come up on the screen. It was of a man standing on a tropical beach with palm trees in the back ground. The man was wearing only pants the length ending above the knee.
The girls in the room giggled a little.
Vince continued, “In the opposite situation, if we go out in a temperature warmer than our mean, then our body will try to compensate my sweating.” The picture that came up was the face of the man with sweat all over his face and he was squinting.
More laughter from the crowd.
Vince crossed his arms slightly, still holding the PADD and began to walk to the side in front of the group. “Humans, for example, sweating allows a water base solution to be excreted to the outside of the skin with the expectations that any slight air flow over the skin will cause an evaporative effect and will decrease the skin temperature,” he stopped and turned back the other direction, “which will allow the circulatory system to then cool the body."
A picture now filled the screen of a beautiful young woman in wearing a similarly very small swimming apparel with a happy smile on her face, probably because of the breeze blowing across her also fanning her long blonde hair.
More laughs came from the group, plus a few ‘wows’.
The next picture was of a modern man clothed in slacks and shirt standing in a city street somewhere.
“Now,” Vince began, “when a species evolves to a point of intelligence where it can discern that they can assist their own body by providing additional protection, they can then venture into area of further or diverse temperatures. Basically, they learn to cover up to stay warm. “Early humans used clothing on their body; coats, hats, gloves.
A picture then went up on the screen of the minimally clad woman wearing an open coat. It was a rich thick fur coat she held at the collar and it draped to the snow about her.
More excited responses from the teens.
“These added layers of animal skins and later synthetic materials. Would be wrapped about the body providing additional layers of protection to the skin.”
Vince continued, “Now for our adventurer, if they wish to travel into extreme temperature ranges, then sometimes artificially heated and or cooled protection is necessary. This may mean to carry warmed rocks in their pockets, but I don't think so. Sometimes chemical reactants are used that when exposed to air creates heat.”
The next picture on the screen was of an astronaut from the 20th century wearing a mesh clothing with piping all about it.
“For humans early space travels, they used an artificial circulatory system that they wore as a second-skin. This would provide additional heating and cooling to the body in the most extreme temperatures. The circulatory equipment for this was very heavy and bulky.”
Several pictures of extreme conditions changed on the screen.
‘So, be it traveling to the high mountains or the depths of the sea or into the extreme and diverse reaches of space, helping the body to remain in the comfortable range became quite crucial.”
- - -
This line of information continued for the 45 minutes allotted to Lt. Kramer.
Moving back to the podium, Lt. Kramer said, “So, the moral to the story is to know what you are getting into. Hope for the best and plan for the worse. Thank you.”
With that said the entire group of youngsters jumped to their feet and gave him a standing ovation.
Vince couldn’t help but smile in response. He glanced over at Miss Haley at the side of the room. He saw her standing and smiling shyly and clapping gently. This made him blush a little.
Miss Haley then winked at him.
‘Ah, if life could only this easy.’ Vince thought.
OFF:
Lt. Vincent Kramer
Asst. Chief of Engineering
DS5