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Ah, I'm pretty sure I read an essay about that a couple of months ago... Ah, here it is. It goes a little into meta-physics, but I personally think that a little imagination goes a long way when it comes to science.

In my own pseudo-scientific opinion, I'd suggest that the alchemic reaction isn't a case of simply reordering atoms, but a combination of fission/fusion - the atoms are pulled apart and stuck back together again in different ways (I personally wouldn't like to balance the chemical equation for such reactions, it'd be a nightmare). The energy that fission/fusion generates is, in theory, drawn back into the reaction via the transmutation circle, so the alchemist only needs to give enough energy to start the reaction. Of course, there's the matter of keeping the circle active, so that would drain a person pretty much like how an electric shock would knock you for six if it isn't fatal. A rebound would be caused by the amount of ingredients or energy input being too high (bit like if you put a large lump of Sodium in water instead of a small pebble, or if you overheat something). By this logic, all transmutations are fission/fusion reactions and not a simple reordering of atomic structure. It also explains why there's a major light show every time an alchemist transmutes.

I'm not sure quantum physics actually applies to FMA's alchemy, since that area deals with objects existing in multiple states at once and is more suited to temporal mechanics, but chemistry and regular physics definitely come into it.

Eh. *scratches back of neck* That's probably a little nonsensical since it's nearly 2AM and I'm starting to nod off. But my inner science!geek couldn't resist.

I actually had not seen that link before! Thank you for sending it to me; it looks very interesting (to be read later when I am not in the middle of writing an essay, harharhar) and makes me wish that I were majoring in physics instead of majoring in, y'know, Learning to Live in Cardboard Box. *facepalm*

That said, I think my brother and I eventually came to the conclusion that what's happening is some sort of nuclear transmutation, though after coming to that conclusion we - didn't know what to do. Because if alchemists can transmute Element A to Element B with little enough effort (coal --> gold), then it's a throw-up into the air regarding why they have to worry about composition at all for small-scale transmutations. (The rebounds would probably explain why, as someone on my flist said, Roy's not the Guy Who Did Ishbal.) And then the quantum physics things came into play when we were hypothesizing about whether or not quarks and other smaller particles had anything to do with anything. Then we dropped the ball because he's basically a biochem major and knows squat about in-depth physics, which is the case with me, sadly enough.

Does radiation enter into this at all, do you think? Or is that absorbed by the circle as well?

That's a very good question. Of course, we're assuming that the FMA universe follows the same laws that ours does - if the Gate is the regulator for alchemic reactions, it may have something to do with the lack of it being a problem.

Although, the movie has that guy at the start creating the Uranium Bomb, which leads me to think that radioactive material has been encountered, but it's either just not mentioned since it has no bearing on the story, or it's not pursued because it's dangerous. Seeing as said guy was holding the bomb with no sign of ill effects, I can only assume that radiation has been incorporated into that world's alchemy, since radiation is a form of energy, with the circle acting like a circuit board/particle accelerator (my knowledge of nuclear reactions and radiation is a bit rusty, so half of this is me making leaps of logic). Although I'll admit I'm now wondering whether Ed and Al would register as radioactive in our universe.

Then again, I also take the view that the anime!verse's Gate is a parallel of the Time Vortex, in which case quantum physics, or what ever passes for physics in the Whoniverse, comes into play and it's a whole new ball game.

The circle as a particle accelerator makes sense, actually.

I admit to blatantly hoping to come up with a way to dose Ed with a heavy amount of radiation so that he contracts radiation poisoning. I am a horrible, horrible person, but after The End of Time, Pt. 2, y'know . . . that's the second character I've seen die of radiation sickness. I figure I need to make a trio.

I have absolutely no idea how the Time Vortex works, and I've stopped pretending to understand the physics of the Whoniverse. =|

(Also, question! Have you read the Temeraire series? I'm asking because you like dragons and history, and it's dragons in the Napoleonic era, which sounds like a train wreck, but it works surprisingly well.)

Seeing as the moment I found out that the Large Hadron Collider is a 27km long circular tunnel I went "Jesus! A country-sized transmutation circle!", it's certainly a very fitting analogy.

You're in luck, because I read, quite some time ago now, a fic where Ed does indeed get radiation poisoning (Google's a wonderful thing, but I do recall feeling a little ill reading it). I'm not sure if he dies though.

I have some sort of idea how it works (I certainly have a theory on time travel) by taking aspects from other fandoms that make sense, but then I did grow up watching Voyager so I've ended up more well-versed in temporal mechanics than some of the long time Who fans. Slightly going off on a tangent here, but I currently can't understand why there aren't more DW/FMA crossovers, because I've done the background work and the two together make an insane amount of sense.

(I know of the series and have heard good things about it, but I haven't read it yet. I got a fairly large backlog of books to get through, so it's probably not be a good idea to add to it!)

Dear God, everything's been done before. Time to throw down my hat and call it quits! (Er, not that I have a hat.) All kidding aside, I've got to read through that when I have time. Bookmarked. Thanks! (You're just throwing me interesting links after interesting links. Hah.)

I actually thought about a DW/FMA crossover way back when, but it was on one of my crazier days and had nothing to do with how well the shows would go together. I think I just wanted to see what would happen if you put Roy and Jack in the same room together. Actually, I just wanted to see them go fight crime together throughout Amestris and get into hilarious shenanigans whilst doing so, which would somehow end up with Roy getting his promotion post-Ishbal. I don't even know anymore.

What can I say? I'm a font of ~~mostly useless~~ knowledge.

Jack and Roy fighting crime is something I would pay to see! Personally, I've wondered what Jack and Ed would be like in the same room. I suspect Ed would hold him in even higher contempt - I mean, at least with Roy he doesn't have to worry about being hit on.

After I mentioned the fic to you yesterday, I actually got off and started plotting it again when I was supposed to be preparing for a presentation. Argh. Why does this always happen to me?

I can't write Jack worth shit though, which makes this entire thing so much harder. Also, I can't plot worth shit either. (Oh boy, you can see how ~~horrible~~ fun this is going to be.)

Hm. I was going to say that Jack might not hit on Ed on account of his age, but I'm not so sure about that on second thought. He did hit on Rose, and she's . . . 19? So, not that much older, depending on where you put Ed on the timeline.

I don't know if you've played FF8 before, but I've always wanted to put Ed and Seifer in a room together. They would have absolutely wonderful conversations, with Seifer being all cynical and lazily arrogant and Ed being bristly for no reason whatsoever other than the fact that his own personal code of honor does not mesh well with Seifer's. (And then, of course, Ed will end up shoving his fist into Seifer's face and possibly breaking his nose.)

I always end up doing something entirely unrelated to what I'm meant to be doing. I recently goofed off writing a proposal by setting up a journalling app as a writing notebook (which I need to finish doing).

I have played FF8 (still haven't a clue about the plot 6 years on - ironically, the time travel was the part that made the most sense) - I's give it 10 minutes tops before someone winds up with a dislocated shoulder after cracking a short joke (and/or transmuted into a fish). I kinda want to put Ed and Zidane from FFIX in the same room for no reason other than the fact the two would be seriously confused by their physical resemblance ("why does alternate me have a freaking tail!?" "why is alternate me so short??" *chaos ensues*).

For some reason, I've just started wondering whether the OP for this meme switched off comment notifications or not. If not, then I hope we've entertained them. X3

FF8's just one of those games . . . that you try not to think too hard about in terms of plot and just go with the flow. If you think any harder, it'll make absolutely no sense at all.

Oh man, now that you mention it, Ed and Zidane do look similar, don't they? Cannot unsee. Thank you very much. :P

Speaking of crossovers! I am going to pimp this FF12/DW crossover fic because it is awesome, even if you've never played FF12. (http://rionaleonhart.livejournal.com/222259.html)

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