Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: [n--sa--o] at [wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu] (Neil Asato)
Subject: BTRC: final article part 2 of 4 
Date: Wed, 26 May 1993 19:29:08 GMT

         A Thesis of Underlying Features of Realities and the Matrix
                                        Part 2 of 4

copyright 1993 by Neil Asato
Those components dealing with subjects covered by BTRC products
are copyrighted by Greg Porter.
For those who wish to use portions of this work, please include
proper references, such as, "Asato, Neil. "A Thesis of Underlying 
Features of Realities and the Matrix". Internet, 1993. A supplement
for the published works of BTRC."

     Similarity Versus Complementary
     In most time travel games, there are often variations of the laws of
similarity. One is that similar realities merge through convergent reality
processes (similar time lines become one to reduce the paperwork of 
GMs). The other is that a object can't be brought nearby a past version
of itself (this means you can't meet yourself in the past without reality
doing something to kick you away).
     Choice A: The GM decides to have the laws of similarity in the
campaign. The previously mentioned effects would occur. The one physical
problem is that objects change with time, whether it is the changes due to
energy exchanges like being warmed/cooled and any movement of its
components, or the metabolic reactions in living beings that exchanges
energy and materials with breathing and digestion. A way to test this is by
having nearly identical objects on a molecular scale, like identical twins, 
close to one another. If probabilistic experiments (like the decay of
radioactive particles) suddenly show skewed results as they get closer to
each other, then these laws of similarity would exist. Another feature might
be that identical twins might exhibit a kind of quantum mechanical
interaction that would either keep them apart or have them overlap one 
another in a kind of  probabilistic blurring (assuming energy is conserved, 
this would allow for a kind empathy/telepathy/action-at-a-distance effect 
where the identical twins really are, for brief instants of time, in the other 
person's shoes. GMs having this feature might have the stereotyped idea 
of twins who have a telepathic rapport with one another (real identical 
twins might not be very amused with this portrayal of them, though). 
Travel between realities can be done through a rather low tech means, for
small objects anyhow. If the laws of similarity is used then, interfaces
between realities can be done by simply having areas that are very close to
each other in properties. The simplest might be parts of forests or stone
arrangements that exists on different realities. If they are similar enough, 
they might be used to cross between one reality (this would require looser
tolerances in the laws of similarity to allow for greater differences).
For realities which require tolerances, having identical refrigerators/boxes/
safes/closets/drawers in different realities could serve as the interface. 
This could lead to humorous rationales of socks jumping across realities
in drawers. A way to test for this is to have several nearly identical safes
and see if you can detect changes in the interior of them as you add and
remove small objects, like would sticking a magnet in one safe induce a
magnetic field in another safe (you might want to have the safes located in
different locations and have the placement occur at set intervals, for the
sake of completeness). It is rather doubtful that laws of similarity is what
governs real-life reality, due to the above implications.
     Choice B: The GM decides that the laws of similarity do not apply. If a
time traveler goes into the past and wants to meet itself, then there is no
particular problem. It would may result in a divergence in reality. Whether
or not there might be other repercussions due to convergence of realities 
by other causes is a different problem. Some of the problems that might 
result from the possibility of endless generation of divergent realities 
could be solved by using laws of complementary.
     The laws of complementary is a different solution to the problem of
divergent and convergent realities. Essentially, the idea behind this is that
realities have a kind “shape” against which other realities can diverge off
of or merge into. The best analogy to this is to think about how molecular
biology works. An enzyme molecule can act on certain molecules by their
shapes and catalyze the desired reaction and make the wanted molecule. 
This is similar to how an initial state in a reality can create divergent 
realities. The base reality uses its “shape” to create complementary 
divergent realities from the vacuum energy of the greater reality. Unlike 
enzymes, the complementary realities are probabilistic futures an instant
away (presumably a Planck unit for an “instant”) and this may or may 
not consume the original reality. For convergent realities, the realities
must “fit” together at the point contacted or they will not merge
(incompatible interaction). The merging is generally expected to result
in a relatively smooth transition, with the extra components of released
reality dissolving back into vacuum energy (GMs might make the result
more showy and destructive, if desired). This diverging and converging
will provide a kind of continuity and stability to the reality with the 
diverging providing a flow of time and the converging causing the 
merged reality to generally have a frequency curve for events (without
this all sorts of improbable events could occur like osmosis occurring in 
reverse without the input of energy).
     Choice A: The GM can choose to not have laws of complementary.
This would mean that realities cannot diverge or converge due
complementary laws. The GM will have to figure out some other way 
to handle the divergence and convergence of realities, possible by using
the laws of similarity. Without the laws of convergence, all sorts of strange
events can be probable. Visitors to that kind of reality should watch out for
things like spontaneous combustion, warm water in an ocean suddenly 
separating itself into ice and steam (temperature gradients), and vacuum
energy manifesting itself on a macroscopic level for extended periods of
time for no reason (this reality might rip itself apart for since it could
result in the creation on entire realities expanding within that reality, 
which may not be very safe).
     Choice B: The GM can choose to have the laws of complementary in
the campaign. Studying objects and interactions close to the level where
quantum mechanical rules apply, the effect of complementary laws is
quite noticeable. Given an initial set of conditions, piece of matter will 
appear to be appearing and disappearing as the realities diverge and 
converge, with locations following a probability function. This existence
can be modified by the existence of other probability functions around it.
This would mean that their existence/nonexistence can be altered by the
use of the principles potential walls and wells. So far, this is basic
quantum mechanics, so this might just be a different way of viewing
quantum mechanical behavior. When a divergent reality occurs that
does not converge, then the probability wave will be skewed without
any real observable reason. This just means that one set of realities went
in a different direction. There may be two or more diverging set of
realities at any point, though they should be observable due to the
skewing effect on probability. For reality travelers, this means that by 
making a region complementary with the reality you currently are in
and the one you want to go to (essentially a bridge between realities).
This type of transportation can be like the operation of a Matrix. As a
matter of simplicity, the GM should assume that realities tend towards 
stability with regards to divergent realities that do not converge back. 
This means that events that cause severe paradoxes will usually result
in a divergent reality that does not remerge. This will be accompanied
by some skewing of the probabilities that might cause unexpected results
to occur, causing navigation to difficult and throwing off planned results.

     Induction or Sympathetic Response of Other Realities
     Whether the GM chooses to have laws of similarity or complementary
controlling the divergence and convergence of realities, it is possible
for them to interact with other realities without directly interfacing them. 
     Realities with laws of similarity might cause “nearby” realities  to
have a sympathetic response, making them more alike. This might have
the strange effect of causing realities to tend towards merging with each
other (sort of brings new meaning to phrase “the law of averages”).
     Realities with laws of complementary might have a more inductive
response. This might allow merging without any other effects (like a gate
in WarpWorld). In other cases, it create effects that has no observable
cause like shifts in the probability of events.

     Macroscopic Divergences and Convergences
     An extra way to test whether the divergence-convergence effect can
occur on a macroscopic scale is to see if there is a blurring of existence
as in the sub-atomic scale. This would involve having a number of small
ball bearings being shaken in a box by some device. Have several cameras
observe the ball bearings. The cameras might have to be somehow shielded
from the box and each other to prevent the idea that the probability wave
of the cameras are interfering with the state of the ball bearings, possibly
by using one-way mirrors and intense light sources to overpower any
influence that the cameras might have. After the observation period, track
the ball bearing’s movement from each camera’s perspective. If the
information from one camera does not match the information from
another camera, or there is an observation that a bearing seems to be
experiencing a blurring of existence (this should not be caused by flaws
in the camera to be valid), then this could provide a handle as to how 
different realities can be and still merge together. This requires that the
realities are allowed to diverge that far before converging.

     Survival/Studies in Alien Realities
     For those TimeLords who want to study strange realities, and maybe annoy
the GM by the depth of seriousness that the player character probes the world, 
performing experiments in the reality to study its properties can give great 
insight on the way reality works. An example is the “ether” reality in the 
CORPS Organization Book 1. In that world, metals do not exist, and it has a 
soupy atmosphere with fish-like animals. A test could be to see if plastics 
can be taken there. See what the effects of releasing gases and liquids there 
is like (do they form spheres? do they fall?). Check to see electricity works 
there by using batteries made with conductive plastic). Check to see what
happens if you use a match to light a piece of paper (some caution might be 
best, since there might be a dangerous reaction). The one interesting effect 
of having access to realities with different properties is that you might be 
able to use the functions of properties of that reality to perform reactions 
that cannot be done easily elsewhere. An example with the ether is to use it 
as a polisher and metal purifier, since only metal stays behind while the non-
metal parts like rust is sent through. 

     Study of Aftereffects of Converging Timelines
     For most time traveling campaigns with limited major branches of
timelines, there is always the question of what happens to contradictory
and fuzzy information on non-overlapping events. Some GMs might
choose to allow records to just have fuzzy and contradictory information. 
Other GMs might just go with the majority, with the minority timelines 
being wiped out. In cases where there is little in common between the 
timelines, this can be a very surreal world where what is real and what is 
not can change with time. This kind of campaign world can be very 
confusing,  since they could find their pasts and who they are shifting 
around. For those organizations with some sort “isolation field” may find
themselves dealing with multiple versions of themselves, each which 
proclaims that they are protecting the “true timeline”. Another 
possibility is that time wreckers could inadvertently wipe themselves out 
of existence by changing the circumstances that led to their existence, 
presumably reality will stabilize the contradictions by shifting probabilities
to prevent the alterers from existing.
     A similar problem is what happens in situations where there are
multiple interferences in a timeline with each interacting with the others.
A classic example of this is in Time Capsules, Enola Gay mini-module.
One way to really make it convoluted is for the Time Patrol to have 
agents, native or otherwise, throughout history awaiting orders. If the
base notices something, then all information known are sent to the 
appropriate time period. This could create a convoluted idea where 
agents do not have to worry about interfering with themselves with 
temporal dislocation effects since they are already there, and it would
be the time terrorists who would be suffering from dislocation (if they 
try to do the events further and further back in time) by the idea that 
the Time Patrol agents being there first. A more simpler, if violent, 
way to deal with the problem of time terrorists is to place a number 
of sensors in various sensitive areas of time, possibly retroactively. 
If an unauthorized disturbance is detected, the disturbance’s location 
is obtained by triangulation from the sensors. A 50 pound plastic 
explosive with liberal amounts of carpenter’s nails imbedded within 
it is sent to the triangulated location at the time of detection. The 
result would be a big and very bloody explosion. A less noticeable 
variant idea is to send assault troops just before the detected event a few 
meters away with heavy armor and powerful guns and explosives for a
very quick and messy ambush. On a more benevolent use is to use the
idea to allow perfect navigation for transportation. This could be used 
to allow the discrete observation of events, or to give certain people 
information quietly (by transporting advanced knowledge to those who 
would be in a position to understand and use them).

     Does the Past Events Dissolve or Do They Remain
     This is more of a concern with worlds that follow complementary 
existence. If a past event remains in existence without being somehow 
consumed, then the past is available to be entered and changed. If not, then
there is no past or future to go to, just the present, though this does not 
rule out travel to other realities.

     Suppressive and Facilitative Effects of Time Tampering
     All events have features that can suppress or encourage other events. As
mentioned in the TimeLords book, it is difficult to gauge what sort of
repercussions can lead from an event. As an example, the success of one 
event may suppress the development of competing events. The reverse holds
true, as well. In addition, events often act synergistically, like the 
development of computers having an influence on special effects, or the use 
of better sanitation saving people from disease. When gauging what happens, 
try to incorporate the idea of competing events and groups to see what sort of 
changes occur. In the end, temporal tampering is a very uncertain attempt
as there can be all sorts of previously unknown competing events that can
manifest themselves after a temporal change.

Alternative Reality Traveling Devices

     Matrix (and related equipment)
     These devices are described in TimeLords. They are compact and usually
reliable. They tend to have features that simplifies a lot of problems, like
removing diseases and acting as a translator. They usually work by simply 
throwing up a temporary interface between realities by using a singularity
locked and manipulated in its core, which also supplies the energy for the
matrix. They tend to have three drawbacks. The first is matrix lag (which 
incapacitates the user). One solution is to have the device in some sort of 
vehicle designed to allow the transition without it impacting on the user
by “smoothing out” the transition effects. The second is the lack of control.
This is not much of a problem if the user has a friendly AI that knows and 
understands what it is doing to handle the controls. The third drawback is
the amount of energy taken/recharge time. This can be solved by having
some sort of recharger that the device accepts, like another Matrix. 
Another solution is for it to influence the singularity to generate a lot of
energy through inflation. This requires some caution, as it could get out of
control.

     Projector, type A
     This functions like a Gate. It just opens up an interface between
realities so long as it is operational. The projector is normally immovable,
and they usually take up a lot of energy and space. In some cases, they
can only transport objects to a location, but they can’t retrieve objects (due
to limitations on sensors or the projector only being able to work one-way).

     Projector, type B
     This has a lot of analogy to a kind of virtual reality projector. It is
described in the CORPS Organization Book 1. It essentially “holds” the
users at the destination reality as long as the device is on. It is like the
ultimate in virtual reality in that the “image” interacts with the
destination. It does have the unusual feature that for a person to stay
at the destination permanently, the person just eats and breathes
long enough for the destination’s materials to replace the materials
of the projector’s reality. This raises the question of whether energy
transfers like warming and cooling at the destination can be used to 
allow non-biological objects to stay at the destination permanently. 
Some can be used as a sensor for temporal disruptions by just projecting 
an object (could be a camera) and picking up interference effects. The 
one interesting problem is that if it is desired to have a permanent device
left behind, it is necessary to do so indirectly. One way is to use bio-
technology, or something similar, to make the desired device at the 
destination. Another might be to use cycles of warmth and cooling
to see if it is possible to use energy exchanges to permeate the object
with “local” energy. The primary disadvantage to this type of device
is that it must be able to scan and lock onto the destination, making
it subjectable to jamming and interference. The above limitation
also limits the “range” of the device to the limits of the equipment
with respect to scanning and projection.
     By using the above techniques, it may be possible to create a whole
series of devices, allowing the devices serve as transfer node points.
It could serve as a valuable device for conducting experiments and
performing difficult reactions. An example would be to project a
robotic manufacturing set with materials into space, and turning
off the projector to get the materials that can be best made under
“zero-gravity” conditions. Likewise, setting up temporary satellites
and probes not require the use of rockets when you can just use the 
projector to send it there. Even if it takes more energy than a rocket,
you get the benefit of having the data and materials sent directly to you
and get to make changes in the equipment or location very easily. An
interesting use might be to use projected energy collectors, like
converting solar energy very close up into chemical energy, and seeing
if the converted energy is still there when the projector is turned off.
This could be used by space craft to replenish supplies. This can be
done either using a projector to collect energy, by having someone else
project the energy over and converting it to permanent form.

     Gates (includes the use of Power/magic)
     This can exist by using either the laws of similarity or complementary,
which is discussed elsewhere. Basically, there is a merger point between
realities. This can be two completely independent realities that meet or
it can be a “budding off” of a reality. The latter is usually called a
pocket reality, since it can be very small.
     For those GMs who use Power/magic in their campaigns, gates will
tend to have fairly large amounts of ambient Power. These are discussed
in more detail in the “Variant Rules on Deities and Related Subjects”
article. This effect is caused by the fact that Power is connected with
reality distortion, and the process can flow in reverse where a distortion
in reality generates Power.
     For those GMs who want to use Power/magic to travel across
realities, they will have to consider the orientation of the magic used
and what the limitations are. The orientation of the particular magic
type used will determine what realities, if any, it can go to. This
includes what realities are “closer” and “further away” with respect to
the magic used. In some cases, it may be impossible to travel in
ways as the magic used simply does not work that way. As an example,
it is unlikely that biological magic could ever be used to do any type
of reality traveling due to the way it works. Even for magic types
that can be used to travel across realities, there are limitations. In 
general, travel across time, space, and probabilities are often treated
differently for most magic types. The more “further away” the
destination is, the user will experience greater “Power resistance”.
This is due to the extra energy needed. The more “open ended”
the magic used, then the greater is the need for navigation. Navigation
can be considered to be used like Matrix skill. Like the Matrix skill,
it is only good for one particular use of a spell, though it can help
in using other types of reality traveling spells. The one difference is
that this type of skill is for travel among previously traveled destinations
like an Area Knowledge skill, and failure is still limited by the 
transportation’s limitations (you can still try to find your way back
to someplace familiar). It is possible, that some “Power resistance”
could be measured in the trillions or more.

     Hyperdrives
     They are not strictly speaking, reality traveling devices, but they do
have some overlap in abilities. They usually, also, overlap the development
of anti-grav technology, since they both employ some manipulation of reality. 
Anti-grav technology generally works by shielding the mass it is around from
outside gravitational fields and vice-versa. This has the effect of negating
gravity, though not inertia, making the object “weightless”. It can be used to
just minimize gravitational effects or to create them, for various 
entertainment, manufacturing, and other purposes. While it could be used 
provide horizontal thrust by vibrating the field (it cannot be used 
unidirectionally as the field must form equipotential closed loops), it is not 
always as efficient as just using reaction thrust.
     Hyperdrives are described in SpaceTime. They basically allow spaceships 
to travel at faster-than-light speeds. They generally travel at about 3 and 
1/3 light years per 3 to 5 days of travel. At TL 15, it is understood as a 
“tunneling past the light barrier” and is susceptible to outside gravitational 
influences. Actually, there are a number of different types. One type lowers 
the probability field of the ship to the point of near non-existence (so there 
is little interaction with the outside universe and can bypass the light-speed
limitation by having a probabilistic existence) and has a biased direction of 
re-emergence. Some probability traveling devices are just advanced versions of 
this type. A second type creates a pocket reality that has a strong complementary affinity for the point of creation. This complementary
“surface” is then changed to allow entry to another point. The change is
done gradually, so that it is easier to navigate. When the complementary
“surface” properties have been completed, the pocket reality is allowed to
merge back into mainstream reality. This type has a lot in common with
matrix-type of travel. A third type creates a direct interface from one point
of reality to another, which also has a lot in common with a matrix. This
has the disadvantage that there can’t be too much “movement” between 
the points and that the “distance” can’t be too great. Think of the 
limitations of a bridge for an analogy. Likewise, “turbulence” between
realities could cause the “bridge” to collapse.


Alternative Timeline Branchings (approximations)
     These are branchings in the timeline that diverge from the known reality.
So far as it is known, none of these actually occurred in the real life time-line.

200 million B.C. - An inland sea is found on Pangea (a single large land 
mass). Some time travelers decide to set up a base on one of the shores. The 
area is somewhat marshy and has creatures that look like variants of 
crocodiles.

160 million B.C. - Some time travelers accidentally lets loose bird-like
creatures and were unable to recover them. Hopefully, they did not cause
too much problems with the timelines. The time travellers were collecting
various animals from realities for a large zoo.

65 million B.C. - Relatively rapid movement of large animals, land bridges,
and relatively high population densities made it favorable it to result in
massive pandemics spreading across many creatures, wiping out many types of 
animals. The availability of large numbers of susceptible creatures and no
medical technology allowed many virulent types of diseases to occur. In the
ocean, a similar series of events occur, involving diseases similar to the
"red tides" of 1990s earth. All of this took less than a half a million years 
to complete. Time travelers in this time period might want to take precautions
against infection. A TimeLord later commented that, "the dinosaurs were the
most successful creatures to have existed before humans, but they were all
wiped away by the smallest creatures". The human race would face this very
threat millions of years later for the same reasons.

4000 B.C. - In the area of the Persian Gulf, specifically Chaldea, a time
travel organization attempts to advance human development faster than
normal in the hopes that the human race will be able to use the boost to be
able to deal with some catastrophe in the future. The group establishes a
base in the waters of the Persian Gulf, and the members that interact with the
people in the area always wear powered armor (to allow travel to the base
and for protection). The names given by the members are: Oannes, Annedotus, 
Euedocus, Eneugamus, Eneubolos, Anementus, and Odacon. As a matter of policy, 
they would only show up during day time and return at night (a security 
precaution), and they did not eat or drink or take gifts from the people 
(another security precaution and to prevent the members from being to attached 
to the people). They attempt to teach these people whatever principle of 
civilization they can handle, like: literacy, arts and sciences, construction,
religion (this was very controversial whether this would have bad future
ramifications), laws (this caused some controversy as to whether lawyers help
advance civilization or stifle it), math (with some geometry),  agriculture, 
and medicine. The group tried to help form an advanced civilization, but they 
eventually gave up due to the endless fighting. Before the civilization died,
they had those people make several time capsules with the lessons they taught
(in the hopes that someone would use the knowledge to help civilization). In
addition, they warned some of the people to evacuate the area and start over
with less problems (a natural disaster occurred later involving flooding). The
group was never heard from again, presumably to try elsewhere/when. 

1000 B.C. - A war between 2 time travel organization occurs in India at this
time in a power struggle. Advanced technological devices were used.
Fragmented, distorted accounts of the events that led up to it and the event
itself is used to form the basis of a collection of records known as the Vedas

1793 A.D. - The Reign of Terror begins in France. It involved mass executions
for political power. What is not well known is that a few years prior to this,
France was the world’s leader in solar technology. This included adaptive
optics to create solar furnaces capable of processing metals, and there was
research into chemical reactions associated with light. The researchers were
among those killed, and their notes lost.

1945 A.D. - In some alternate earth’s where the U.S. did not use atomic
bombs to end the World War 2, the U.S. developed a primitive solid-medium
synchrotron device as an outgrowth of its extensive research into making
radar with higher frequencies (for better resolution). It made use of thin
strips of wire bent into sine-wave-shapes set into a resonant cavity. This
device could project into the infra-red part of the e-m spectrum. Using
Nikola Tesla’s (an erratic inventor) notes as references, the U.S. used arrays
of the device to make crude energy weapons/defenses. The crude force field
development led to the development of holographic technology which was
later used in the design and use of optical computers (electronic-based
computers never did make it in these worlds).
     In some alternate earth’s around this time, the U.S. discovers a crude
form of travel among realities using electrical-based devices. The U.S. was
testing experimental ideas on radar use and evasion on a ship, when it took
itself on a trip back and forth in reality. When the ship managed to return,
the crew was suffering to varying degrees from unprotected exposure to the
transition environments and from the intense electro-magnetic fields
interacting with their bodies (their Power, too). This was referred to in
those worlds as the “Philadelphia Experiment”. After some testing,
improved versions were placed on planes. The crew of that squadron were to go
into the area known as the Bermuda Triangle (where legends are that planes 
and ships disappear there anyhow) and pretend that they were lost and were
losing fuel (actually they had refueled in the area). Once the final message 
was given, they activated their devices and Jumped across the realities. At 
least one of the original members of the squadron made it back to the
general location and time. They gave a code that made it seem they were
apart of the search operation looking for them. Although, it was just a few
days later for the people looking for them, the members of the squadron
had been on their trip for years. Due to the sudden difference in age, it 
was decided that it would be easiest to just give them new identities and
say they died rather than give awkward explanations to their families of 
why they got older. Years later, in an embarrassing security breach, one 
of the crew sent a letter to their family to stop grieving for them and to 
get on with their lives.

1946 A.D. - In some alternate earth’s where World War 2 did not end in 
1945, there was no period of time that separated the end of World War 2
and the beginning of the Cold War. Due to this, the U.S. never had the time
to develop the Marshall Plan (primarily aid for rebuilding the countries).
Likewise, the United Nations never had the chance of being created.

1960s (?) - A solar-steam generator is constructed and operated in Egypt. 
It produced electricity until it was destroyed by a mob, since it ran
equipment that replaced laborers in the area.

1970s - A U.S. researcher develops a genetically engineered elm tree
that was immune to the Dutch elm disease, which was causing deforestation.
Outcry against his experiments angered him, and he destroyed all known
specimens and notes on his research. Time travelers might want to persuade
him to give some saplings for making forests on devastated earths.

1971 - This is the approximate time that the magneto-hydrodynamic
generator died in the U.S., due to a lack of focus, greed by non-producers
who only studied the idea to death, and government in-fighting. The generator
would have used plasma created by using anything moderately burnable
to create a plasma to directly generate electricity. It was supposed to have a
large scale production version by 1970. It was designed to use the most impure
coal and have a built-in cleaner that would recycle components of the exhaust
for re-use and prevent pollution. A pilot plant based on the U.S. design plans
and research notes was constructed and operated near Moscow, Soviet Union, 
in the 1960s. The plant was called U-25 MHD. It was later used as the basis
for the design and construction of 10 megawatt generators that could be
moved on trucks (they were used in experiments for detecting mineral
deposits by running a current in the ground and picking up the responses).

1993 - “Fast” nuclear reactor projects are shut down in the U.S. Not all were
breeder types. These nuclear reactors were designed to consume nuclear
waste by “burning” them as fuel in the nuclear reaction. The large scale
production version was supposed to have been operating in 1996. Some
other researchers try to keep the projects alive by having them consume the
cores of nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union. Strangely, the U.S. takes
worse care of nuclear waste than before, which causes problems a few years 
later.