Technology of the Dune Universe

[DarkElf49]

Though I don't think any one forgot, let me remind everyone that the navagators have an acute ability to see the future (ocular vision, I think) and this is a result of mass overdose of the spice, which enables them to avoid obsticals BEFORE the hit them when they fold space.

[Anathema]

TMA navigators aren't exactly 'made'. The guild is basicly a union for those who can see the future.

[TMA_1]

they are in a sense made. The drenching of spice onto their bodies forces an evolution of the particular person. basically a genetic mutation. so they are made by the guild.

[DarkElf49]

In "Dune Messiah" Paul was blinded by the atomics (sorry, I forgot the name of it), can you explain what it does. The book didn't give a very detailed discription.

[Mahdi]

According to the prequels, they are drenched n spice. Not according tot he original novels. In the original novels Navigators are people who show great mathmatical and slight presceint-abilities who are then hired by hte guild and trained as agents while slowly being fed mroe and more spice until it reaches such qualities that it mutates them and eventually they mutate so much and are so addicted to the spice they required to be immersed in the stuff, as shown by the climax of Dune where Paul reveals that one of the guild's agents is in fact a low-level navigator who wore contacts so no one could see that his eyes were all blue.

The Stone Burner? the radiation ate out all the soft tissue of Paul's eyes. It doesn't really amke a lot of sense, but it's a very good scene.

[DarkElf49]

"In the original novels Navigators are people who show great mathmatical and slight presceint-abilities"Thats a mentat, to a degree, but in "Dune Messsiah"(the 2nd in the sires) the guild member put on Arrackis as a diplomat was infact drenched in an anti-gravity tank full spice, and a voice transmitter to let him speak. I think what you where refering to where the two at the end of the first book "Dune". My question is do you consider "Dune Messsiah" a prequal, because I found an oldcopy of it that said on the cover: "The climax of the Dune TRILOGY" In other words Mr.Herbert didn't intend on writing any more books of the dune "TRILOGY" after he finished "Children of Dune"

[Mahdi]

"In the original novels Navigators are people who show great mathmatical and slight presceint-abilities"

Thats a mentat, to a degree, but in "Dune Messsiah"(the 2nd in the sires) the guild member put on Arrackis as a diplomat was infact drenched in an anti-gravity tank full spice, and a voice transmitter to let him speak. I think what you where refering to where the two at the end of the first book "Dune".

My question is do you consider "Dune Messsiah" a prequal, because I found an oldcopy of it that said on the cover: "The climax of the Dune TRILOGY"

In other words Mr.Herbert didn't intend on writing any more books of the dune "TRILOGY" after he finished "Children of Dune"

Mentats, through intense training, were possible of great leaps of logic. They were not mathematicians. Neither were they prescient.

The navigator in Messiah was of the highest level, which is why he was immersed in spice, as stated in my previous post. And, as stated in my previous post, thelow-level navigator I mentioned as proof that the prequels went against the originals in the area of the guild was in the climax of Dune. I neevr once mentioned Messiah in my post.

Messiah is not a prequel, it was a sequel, although parts of it along with Children were written at the same time as Dune.

As for the Dune trilogy, it was the third book. So publishers called it a trilogy. GEOD, Heretics, and chapterhouse are called, by the publishers, the second Dune trilogy. Not because there wasn't any intent to write more books, but because "Trilogy" sounds cool and you're mroe likely to buy a complete box set of a series than a part box set of a series. Somewhere in this forum is a topic called "mysteries of Dune revealed" or something like that which goes over all of these publishing things.

[Vanguard3000]

The Stone Burner? the radiation ate out all the soft tissue of Paul's eyes. It doesn't really amke a lot of sense, but it's a very good scene.

No. The flash from the blast blinded him. That would happen if you were to look at the blast of an atomic explosion.

[Mahdi]

Then how come he slowly went blind, as did the rest of the people there, and they had to have there burnth eye tissue removed fromt here sockets? And the explosion happened behind them, they didn't look at it.

Btw, do you post ont he spacecast.com forums occasionally Vangaurd?

[Vanguard3000]

IIRC, he went blind instantly. Oh well. I'll look it up tomorrow.Yeah, I posted a few messages at spacecast.com. Not many though. I still don't have the StarHunter music I requested. :) What username do you go by there?[edit] I just went there and saw your post. Wow! Number 7! If we were in the StoneCutters, you'd be able to kick me and stuff! :)

[Anathema]

Btw

In children in Dune it was already mentioned that future navigators were drenched in spice from birth on.

Question: are only third stage navigators capable of guiding heighliners?

[Mahdi]

Btw

In children in Dune it was already mentioned that future navigators were drenched in spice from birth on.

Question: are only third stage navigators capable of guiding heighliners?

Where does it say that? That contradicts what it says at the end of Dune, which is where I got the info for my post.

I'm pretty sure they went blind slowly Vangaurd. Because Paul talks about everything slowly ging dark, starting at the edges of his eyes and moving in, and the people closer to the explosion yelling stuff like, "Oh my god, a stone burner! I don't want to be blind!"

BTW, I dn't ahve to be int he stone cutters to kick you....:)

Where in Canada do you live?

[Anathema]

Page 147

(part where Odrade told Teg she was his daughter)

After their birth in space they are drenched in spice their whole life, says it.

[Vanguard3000]

I guess you're right, Mahdi. I remember Muad'Dib saying something like "Don't worry, you'll all get tleilaxu eyes".

I live in southern Ontario, about an hour from Ottawa. You?

[TMA_1]

Stone burners are just a focused blast of nuclear energy. The great energy that vents from it turns everything in its blast radius into a sort of plasma. They can have varying power. From what you saw in the books of frank herbert to even reaching a core of a planet. I part ways with the prequels in saying that stone burners can destroy entire planets. The amount of force to destroy a planet is mind boggling. only God-like powers could do this. They are powerful though. Very much illegal too because of their nuclear energy.

[DarkElf49]

Thanks, so, are there any other atomics that are as interesting as that one that you could write about ;D

[TMA_1]

Well... not that I can think of right now. Just that atomic power is capable now of attaining enough so that only a few nuclear weapons can destroy a crust of a planet. help me out guys if you have anymore info.

[Mahdi]

I guess you're right, Mahdi. I remember Muad'Dib saying something like "Don't worry, you'll all get tleilaxu eyes".I live in southern Ontario, about an hour from Ottawa. You?

Walkerton. I'm starting school in Ottawa in september.I'm pretty sure Frank Herbert wrote that with enough fuel a stone burner could destroy an entire planet as well, TMA. It would do so by digging into the core of the planet and forcing the magma inside it to erupt and shatter the planets crust, or something like that. Otherwise, what wold be the use of a stone burner? It's only effective for liek 5 feet and only blinds people for, like, 50 feet and all t does is dig a big hole. Pretty useless if it couldn't destroy the world.

[TMA_1]

That wouldnt destroy a planet mahdi. Digging a big hole into the core of a planet would just create a valcano. The core is hot as is so there wouldnt many problems. The stone burner just isnt powerful enough to disrupt a planet's core. With that valcano created, it would just spew out lava and gasses till it cooled down and stopped. It was never talked about in the novels that it could destroy a planet. that was added in the prequels.

[DarkElf49]

Actually I remember it saying in "Dune Messiah" either before or after Paul lost his sight it said depending on how far it was drilled and how much atomic fule was in it when used it could merely blind or kill all who where near, or if it was driller very deep and it had alot of atomic fule it could destroy the planet, but I don' rember how it said it could destroy a planet. :-

[Caid Ivik]

For destruction of planet of Arrakis size, you have to use weapon with destructive equivalent of about cca 500 Mt TNT. For one assassination is this more than enough...

[Mahdi]

That wouldnt destroy a planet mahdi. Digging a big hole into the core of a planet would just create a valcano. The core is hot as is so there wouldnt many problems. The stone burner just isnt powerful enough to disrupt a planet's core. With that valcano created, it would just spew out lava and gasses till it cooled down and stopped. It was never talked about in the novels that it could destroy a planet. that was added in the prequels.

You could neevr merge with a trout and become a giant, invincible worm either, now could you? Thats why it's called fiction.

[TMA_1]

ahh but fiction has to have its realism. Or you will not be able to picture it well in your mind. and we have not found an alien creature that can do that. we do know that a planet cannot be destroyed though. and brian and kevin wrote that. dumb. If frank did and I missed it than that really sucks.

[Mahdi]

Warning, contradicton in above post.

As of now we may not know how to destroy a full planet, but we also don't know there are any aliens out there either.

[Mahdi]

Dune Messiah, page 185.

"Paul remained silent, thinking what this weapon implied. Too much fuel in it and it'd cut its way into the planet's core. Dune's molten level lay deep, but the more dangerous for that. Such pressures released and out of control might split a planet, scattering lifeless bits and pieces through space."

Never doubt the Mahdi.