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Author Craft / Electricity, Electromagnetism, Bioelectric fields, Need realism
« on: May 20, 2011, 09:45:52 AM »
Ok, short version. Among the many speculations within my speculative fiction novel concept are a group of people who, among other general enhancements, can generate electricity using specialized organs in their body a la electric eels/rays etc. They were scientifically designed to assassinate godlike figures whose closest approximation would be a dresdenverse wizard not bound by the first law. Time has passed, their original purpose has been forgotten, and now they serve as superpowered bodyguards and assassins for the nobles of an iron age style empire.
What I'm looking for is someone who understands the science well enough to tell me what will or won't work. If you can't help me there, I still wouldn't mind hearing from you since I generally work best when I can bounce ideas off multiple people.
Some of my questions include:
Why don't electric eels shock themselves? I've heard various theories about this, but nothing really convincing.
Would it be possible for a sixth sense similar to the Electric Eel or Shark's ability to sense bioelectric fields to function outside an aquatic environment?
Could electromagnets be reliably weaponized in the form of armor, such as a bracer? What I mean by this, is could you design a solenoid to fit inside a piece of armor or weapon that could be activated in various ways to either attract or repel other ferromagnetic materials? Could said solenoid also function as a small, but functional gauss cannon?
How would someone actually kill via electrocution if that were the aim? Would it require multiple contact points, or could a circut be formed using a single contact point such as a hand placed flat against the other person?
Assuming a person could generate a powerful and sustainable electric current inside himself, would he be able to create a magnetic field strong enough to affect ferromagnetic materials such as swords and armor enough to be of use in a combat situation?
How do magnetic materials actually function, and what determines which side attracts and which repel?
What is the difference between static and current electricity, and would it be possible to achieve "miniature lighting" affects from organs similar to those on the Electric Eel?
Most of these are designed to ensure I don't embarrass myself too badly when I write my action sequences, but I'd love to hear any tidbits you could offer, such as strange side effects, dietary requirements, etc.
What I'm looking for is someone who understands the science well enough to tell me what will or won't work. If you can't help me there, I still wouldn't mind hearing from you since I generally work best when I can bounce ideas off multiple people.
Some of my questions include:
Why don't electric eels shock themselves? I've heard various theories about this, but nothing really convincing.
Would it be possible for a sixth sense similar to the Electric Eel or Shark's ability to sense bioelectric fields to function outside an aquatic environment?
Could electromagnets be reliably weaponized in the form of armor, such as a bracer? What I mean by this, is could you design a solenoid to fit inside a piece of armor or weapon that could be activated in various ways to either attract or repel other ferromagnetic materials? Could said solenoid also function as a small, but functional gauss cannon?
How would someone actually kill via electrocution if that were the aim? Would it require multiple contact points, or could a circut be formed using a single contact point such as a hand placed flat against the other person?
Assuming a person could generate a powerful and sustainable electric current inside himself, would he be able to create a magnetic field strong enough to affect ferromagnetic materials such as swords and armor enough to be of use in a combat situation?
How do magnetic materials actually function, and what determines which side attracts and which repel?
What is the difference between static and current electricity, and would it be possible to achieve "miniature lighting" affects from organs similar to those on the Electric Eel?
Most of these are designed to ensure I don't embarrass myself too badly when I write my action sequences, but I'd love to hear any tidbits you could offer, such as strange side effects, dietary requirements, etc.