dust leakage

[jessia]

does anyone know if dust is loss at a particular rate? or is there a set amount that's lost per window? or is it a set amount plus a particular rate?

or what do you think it is?

or do you think it's completely random, because random leakage would be the coolest possible type of leakage (don't mind this last part)?

[Gabe]

It would have to be a certain amount, since a random amount of leakage would make it too dangerous to leave even one window open.

hmmm...it probably has to do with the size of the window and probably a few other factors...

[eloquent]

I would say the total area of exposed window-frame (The line of abyss round the edge of each window) would give you a rate. But on a molecular level at least, you would expect there to be a random element. Diffusion would cause a net migration of Dust into the nothingness on the strength of natural movement of the particles, but this doesn't really fit with the flow of Dust that was described.

[Loriel]

But the abyss is also sucking dust into it, just like a vacuum sucks air and such things, I think.

[eloquent]

Yeah thats why I got cold feet about diffusion. There must be some other force acting on it I think, but what?
And I guess you would have to put the abyss as an extra term on the end of the equasion to take it into account.

[lostinthought451]

Calculate how much dust leaks out in a square inch and then calculate the square inches in the window.

[Frontline Soldier]

well, dust is a particle, ought to be small. Formula= DL=A in microns/by 5

[BenRoshi]

it couldn't be that bad since difussion just has to deal with random movement and it jus ttends to go to a lower concentration since its easier. But the windows edge is small so its maybe not too bad. But perhaps we can assume that if its left open for a long time, it'll take up more dust then most people make ^^.

[jessia]

well, dust is a particle, ought to be small. Formula= DL=A in microns/by 5

but is dust a particle? or is it like an energy... like sound or heat?

[Frontline Soldier]

it has to be a particle cuz they were also called ELEMENTRY PRTICLES.

[donkey_booter]

. . .and dark particles or dark matter (i think)
*donkeybooter waits for applause*
. . . . . . . . .
I never understood that void (abyss) thing. I just know that the knife made the abyss wider and made a spectre (specter if you've got the american version.) I didn't know that there was a "window edge made out of abyss." Would that mean that if you walked into a small square shaped one about waist height then it'd cut a chunk out of your chest?
I think i better re-read the trilogy because i speed read them and missed things like this but i promised myself i would'nt read them for a long time so they wouldn't "depreciate" in value. Hopefully the films will "dumb it down" a bit for people like me.

[jessia]

it has to be a particle cuz they were also called ELEMENTRY PRTICLES.

o yea... but what if it were an energy?

[eloquent]

Would that mean that if you walked into a small square shaped one about waist height then it'd cut a chunk out of your chest?

Lol, I thought of that problem too:
http://www.bridgetothestars.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=877

[Sartaeus]

lol, that was always on my mind too. What would happen if you walked through a window backwards, they seemed to only go one way. Or what if you walked through an edge?

Anyhow I think most of this will be explained in the BoD.

On the topic of dust leakage however I think each window leaks a set amount of dust. I think the leakage has more to do with connecting two universes that the actual edges of the window. The FLOW of dust had to do with the openings to the abyss that were created by the bomb, therefore leaving a pretty clear, windowless passage for dust to flow into the abyss like if you opened the window on the space shuttle in orbit. What I want to know is how did the entaglement bomb work so that the abyss was ripped open in all worlds, from the world of the dead to mulefa land?

I hope PP explains the abyss in alot more detail in the BoD. If he were to do that though readers would probably find some kind of loophole for Will and Lyra though, so he might avoid the topic altogether.

[Sartaeus]

That window on the space shuttle being an actual physical window, not a window between worlds.

[Nix]

for some reason i thought gabe wrote that

[Rose of Sharon]

Personally, I don't think it's a set amount. According to Pullman's definition of dust, it is created with consious thought -- so to take the opposite, it can be destroyed when wisdom is lost and ignorance takes hold. Therefore (in my opinion) the windows aren't the only threat to Dust...ignorance is also what destroys it.

[jessia]

well ignorance doesn't really destroy it, it just slows down the production... but ignorance (like positivity) can be contagious, so it can be a significant drop in dust production...

[Sartaeus]

I agree with jessia, Dust can't be destroyed (conservation laws of physics). Dust happens when matter becomes more aware of itself, thus when humans become more aware of anything, Dust just happens. Although Specters consume Dust I dont' think they destroy it, they merely change it.

[Pyr]

well the conservation law doesnt really apply because it can be created, whereas the law of consevation states that all the energy in the universe is the same as when the universe was first created...i agree that it cant be destroyed though, rather it leaks into the abyss. um, another thing, the laws of physics dont apply to fictional particles.