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In book 4 Cibola Burn, in the 'interludes' the protomolecule construct "reaches out" 113 times per second.

Is there some physical frequency multiple or fraction that corresponds? Is this 113 per second explained elsewhere?

As a sort of follow up, is it the "Miller construct" that is reaching out or is it just the protomolecule trying to phone home?

JRE
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BradV
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    I'd have an explanation for 137, but 113, no. – Spencer May 20 '23 at 22:49
  • The frequency hints that the protomolecule or its engineers operate more quickly than humans. Revelations in line with such a hint emerge in Leviathan Falls. Keep reading. :) – Lexible May 21 '23 at 19:07
  • @Lexible thx. I've read all 9 books and also Memory's Legion... going thru a second time to catch things better. – BradV May 21 '23 at 20:42
  • @Spencer sooo... going to mention what you think a frequency of 137 'whatever' per second might relate to? – BradV May 21 '23 at 20:46
  • @BradV - Caesium-137, I'm guessing – Valorum May 21 '23 at 21:11
  • @Valorum I'll wait to hear from Spencer. I thought the same thing for why might say Cesium. But I wonder why folks might think frequency would relate to isotope weight. Back when I was designing military communications equipment I worked on an aircraft based atomic clock system that used an ovenized rubidium standard for frequency basis. Didn't care one wit about atomic weight, only about stable oscillation frequency. – BradV May 21 '23 at 21:50
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    No, it's the fine structure constant which is almost exactly 1/137. It's dimensionless and therefore universal, but on further reflection the 'per second" part is entirely human-centric. It could be made to work if the protomolecule civilization had a longer "second". But also this is just speculation with nothing from the series or books to base it on. I thought we'd all be amused by an offhand comment, however. – Spencer May 22 '23 at 15:08
  • @Spencer THX... you are right in mentioning that human units of time are completely arbitrary so, relatively meaningless. I suspect that authors used some multiple of a stable atomic frequency which ended up being 113/sec. Or it might be the apartment number of an old girlfriend. – BradV May 22 '23 at 16:09

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