Dr. Conway wrote:
<blah, blah, blah...>

to another in contact therewith, or through the air by riding upon micro-
scopic dust particles, the "speed of heat" is certainly a measurable 
value.

LOL!  "Microscopic dust particles," eh?
Heh.  I took the meaning of "speed of heat" to be the point at which the
speed of the Turbokat is so great that it's friction with the atmosphere
(taken at an average kPa of pressure) causes a significant rise in the
temperature of the skin of the Turbokat.  Much like the heat generated when
the Space Shuttle re-enters the atmosphere.

Jonathan Higa wrote:

Razor's right about the concept of a laser.  The principle involved is the
same one applied in fluorescent bulbs -- visible photon emission by the
quantized release of energy from excited atoms.  That is, you hit a specific
substance with energy and it glows a certain color.  In fluorescent lights,
the energy source is merely electrical.  I'm asking around, not well versed
in lasers myself, for details on modern laser components.

That's a pretty good analogy to the workings of a laser.  The excited atoms
release a photon when returning to their normal state.  The photons are
"trapped" between 2 reflective surfaces, 1 of which is partially
transmissive (where the light comes out).  As the photons bounce
back-and-forth, they become coherent (all the energy waves aligned), which
gives the laser its ability to be pin-point at great distances.  The
substance (ruby rod, Helium-Neon, Carbon Dioxide, etc.) the photons are
"trapped" in gives the laser beam its color.

But remember that energy in must equal energy out.  The only way a giant
laser will work is if you have a great deal of energy to power it.  For
instance, the SDI program might have used an X-ray laser to destroy
whatever.  The power source would have been a "controlled" nuclear
explosion, in which the radiation release would give a giant burst of power
but also destroy the entire thing in the process.

AHHH!! This is getting way off topic!
Suffice it to say that cartoon physics applies in the Kats universe!
 
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