Repleetah - Some questions...

I think there's a significant difference between covering up when something bad happens and purposfully creating something bad...
but sadly it happens most of the time because powerful government don't like to admit that they stuffed up bad...
in WW1 and 2 we abuse the germans for useing bio-weps, but in truth the allies used them just as much, to keep up morale for the war effort.
 
To sum up, Confed soldiers wear bio-suits...

Er... just another question: is the air breathable on Repleetah ?

John
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
Even if only one side were to use bio-weapons, I'd say all soldiers would have to wear bio-resistant suits for preventative measures. Or it could be possible that bio-weapons had been used so extensively that they affect most of the planet.
Good point. Plus, the Kilrathi probably wouldn't believe that Confed doesn't use bio-weapons, so they would have still worn protection.
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
I assume not any more, else... they wouldn't be wearing bio-suits.

Unless it were a precautionary measure in case someone were to use local or short-lived bio-weapons. The use of wide spread bio-weapons is somewhat stupid when the point of the war is to win the territory that the other occupies.
 
Bio weapons

The germans never used bio-weapons in world war 2(at least in combat) and neither did the united states or our allies. Both sides used chemical weapons in world war 1 however. There is a big difference between chemical weapons and bio weapons. Anyways in the end everyone realized that chemical weapons were more trouble then they were worth and didn't use them to much more. Iraq on the other hand made large uses of chemical weapons during the iran iraq war. They may have even used biological weapons but i'm not to sure about that one
 
Re: Bio weapons

Originally posted by Raven0215
The germans never used bio-weapons in world war 2(at least in combat) and neither did the united states or our allies. Both sides used chemical weapons in world war 1 however. There is a big difference between chemical weapons and bio weapons. Anyways in the end everyone realized that chemical weapons were more trouble then they were worth and didn't use them to much more. Iraq on the other hand made large uses of chemical weapons during the iran iraq war. They may have even used biological weapons but i'm not to sure about that one

no biologicals were used by either iran or iraq in their war, though both used chemicals, to limited effect.

Chemical weapons were ALMOST used in WW2 by the English. After the first V-2 strike, Churchill ordered a retaliatory raid using Lancaster heavy bombers on berlin. They would be carrying chemical weapons (IIRC Mustard Gas, though i am not positive on this). right before the first plane took off, he either changed his mind, or the king countermanded the order, i cannot remember which (my memory is a tad foggy today).

The Japanese used bio weapons extensivly in china during WWII.

US obviously used Nukes.

I seem to recall that some secretive soviet groups used chemical weapons

so pretty much every major side either used or came damned close to using weapons of mass destruction in WWII.
 
The germans never used bio-weapons in world war 2(at least in combat) and neither did the united states or our allies. Both sides used chemical weapons in world war 1 however. There is a big difference between chemical weapons and bio weapons. Anyways in the end everyone realized that chemical weapons were more trouble then they were worth and didn't use them to much more. Iraq on the other hand made large uses of chemical weapons during the iran iraq war. They may have even used biological weapons but i'm not to sure about that one

Actually the germans in WW2 DID use bio-weps in combat. There was a naval battle when they launched missiles (missiles where first used in WW1 against airships) designed to explode above the fleet and shower them with chemicals, but the funny thing is the wind changed and the german ships lost about half their crews on each ship and retreated!
 
Originally posted by fallen phoenix
Actually the germans in WW2 DID use bio-weps in combat. There was a naval battle when they launched missiles (missiles where first used in WW1 against airships) designed to explode above the fleet and shower them with chemicals, but the funny thing is the wind changed and the german ships lost about half their crews on each ship and retreated!
Bioweapons are NOT the same as chemical weapons.

Bioweapons basically means using things like viruses and bacteria as weapons (interesting to note that the Gen-Select device is not really a bioweapon, because those nanobots aren't biological). As far as I know, bioweapons as such have NEVER been used in combat in WWI, WWII, or any time since then. Chemical weapons, on the other hand, are, well, chemicals.
 
The Gen-Select would probably be borderline. It's referred to as a virus several times in the novel, both by Tolwyn and the doctors/scientists on Telamon. Also, the mode of action described in the novel (infiltrating the cell and hijacking the cell machinary to make copies of itself) is that of a virus. The nanobots could probably be described as artificially created viruses.

Best, Raptor
 
Originally posted by Raptor
The Gen-Select would probably be borderline. It's referred to as a virus several times in the novel, both by Tolwyn and the doctors/scientists on Telamon. Also, the mode of action described in the novel (infiltrating the cell and hijacking the cell machinary to make copies of itself) is that of a virus. The nanobots could probably be described as artificially created viruses.

I must agree on that. Viruses are just a bunch of molecules with amino acids (DNA) in their interior, which they inject in a cell. This is a chemical process, no enzymes or stuff like that are involved.
 
I've never heard of the Germans using chemical weapons for naval combat before thats interesting. That explains why there surface fleet had such a pathetic showing for itself.
 
What bio-weapon did the Army of Iraq use against the the Kurds and Iranians during the 80's? Was it some kind of nerve gas?
 
I think that the main distinction between chemical weapons and bioweapons is that bioweapons are contagious--someone infected by a bioweaon can potentially infect others. Since the Gen-Select weapon uses "self-replicating nanobots", then it is a bioweapon, since the nanobots can spread from an infected person to an uninfected person and multiply inside the new host.
 
Originally posted by Hooyah
What bio-weapon did the Army of Iraq use against the the Kurds and Iranians during the 80's? Was it some kind of nerve gas?
By definition, any sort of gas is not a bio-weapon. Anyway, I believe they used mustard gas during the '80s. They may have used nerve gas during the '91 uprising, though I'm not too sure about that.

Ijuin, the definition of bio-weapons is that they're biological. It's as simple as that :).
 
Both Blair and Paladin do refer to the Gen-Select as a bio-weapon in the closing scene, though. (Blair when he has to make the choice between confronting Tolwyn about the Gen-Select or the Dragons, and Paladin when he says Confed outlawed such things.) In universe, it does seem to be considered a bio-weapon.

As for whether the Gen-Select fits the *real life* definition of a bio-weapon or not, the biggest problem that we have is that we don't know exactly what a nano-bot is is made of (metal and silicon, or carbon/oxygen/nitrogen, the chemicals that make up biological tissue) and how it is made (is it created on some kind of incredibly miniaturised assembly line, or is it made inside a living cell, maybe using something like reverse transcriptase to create new bots the way a virus replicates itself?) I would probably go with the latter two options because the nano-bots replicate themselves inside cells. If that's true (and I stress if) then the nanobots would be made out the same materials biological organsims are made from, and made in the way that biological organisms like virus are made, which would put them with a reasonable of stretch of being considered biological.

Best, Raptor
 
I think the term bio-weapon was used because it acted more like a plague than anything else. Besides if Blair and Paladin called it the Gen-Select nanobot it just wouldn't sound as good.
 
Perhaps, but taken together with Tolwyn and the Telamon doctors/scientists calling the Gen-Select a virus, there are quite a few canon statements refering to the Gen-Select as a biological based weapon. Besides, there is nothing in the canon that says the nano-bots can't be biological themselves.

Best, Raptor
 
I always imagined nano-bots as the equilivent of a small robotic 'tranquilizer dart', because they may hold a small amout of a virus, and inject them into blood cells so the cells then become like a lesser version of the bot and inject another cell with the virus. The quickest way of this is to attack the white blood cells because they already have the means of converting other blood cells.
 
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