Uses for Pulsers

[Observer]

Alright, we've ranted and raved about Sliders and how cool they are. But what about Pulsers?

We've seen from AoL a few uses, such as

Skipping a day, or

Holding somebody in place for a while,

but I think there have to be a few more hidden uses out there. So, let's brainstorm!

[Aminar]

Waiting for medical help.

There's some inconsistant explanation within the books about the overlap of a pulser slider bubble. Specifically the Pulser bubble is bigger so you should be able to create a slider bubble with a pulser bubble if the pulser isn't in the slider bubble, or at least the explanation never really completely convinced me that overlap is completely impossible. Being in a normal time bubble with a slow time bubble around you gives all sorts of benefits. In addition Pulser Bubbles make a great way to stop explosions temporarily as the momentum transfer should cause the explosion to enter in little waves that burn themselves out quickly without the rest of the explosive force pushing them on.

Cryogenic storage.

[Observer]

Cryogenic storage.

I've been imagining rich people getting hemalurgically spiked for this power for weeks!

[Observer]

Slowing yourself as you fall off a cliff.

(I always wondered if storing speed could do that)

Edited September 8, 2012 by Observer

[Straff Venture]

It might actually be useful in a defensive combat role. A pulser could pop up a bubble to cover an entrance, any enemy coming through would be going extremely slowly.

[Observer]

I love it!

Used on a building's foundations during an earthquake to hold them a little longer.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Observer

[Straff Venture]

If you were besieging somewhere you could pass the time much quicker in a pulser bubble

[Observer]

If you're starving I suppose it'd be useful too.

[Riddlesinthedark]

Slowing yourself as you fall off a cliff.

(I always wondered if storing speed could do that)

I'd think no, because Feruchemical storage is internally fueled.

[Riddlesinthedark]

+1 to all these

[Observer]

+1 to all these

I respond well to bribery.

I'd think no, because Feruchemical storage is internally fueled.

Point.

Saving food from spoiling.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Observer

[Millennium]

Slowing yourself as you fall off a cliff.

(I always wondered if storing speed could do that)

Wouldn't you just fall out of the bubble? Your own perception of time doesn't change, and the bubble's position is more or less fixed (relative to the surface of the planet, anyway).

Though I guess you could buy some time for rescuers to put something under the bubble that could catch you as you fell out, before you fell too far.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Millennium

[Straff Venture]

Wouldn't you just fall out of the bubble? Your own perception of time doesn't change, and the bubble's position is more or less fixed (relative to the surface of the planet, anyway).

Though I guess you could buy some time for rescuers to put something under the bubble that could catch you as you fell out, before you fell too far.

Pulser bubbles are big so one might cover the whole distance, plus you could always put up multiple bubbles while falling. Obviously inside the bubble you would be falling at relatively normal speed so I think it would only work if you left a bit of space before the floor, where you would suddenly slow down and hit the floor as if you had only fallen a few feet.

[ReaderAt2046]

1. Use the bubble as a sheild, putting it between the enemy and what you want to protect. Ranged weapons will go crazily awry and charges will be frozen in place.

2. Use it to freeze an audience to allow for better scenry change in the theater.

3. Survive drowning, especially since cadmium stores breath.

[Kurkistan]

Pulser bubbles are big so one might cover the whole distance, plus you could always put up multiple bubbles while falling. Obviously inside the bubble you would be falling at relatively normal speed so I think it would only work if you left a bit of space before the floor, where you would suddenly slow down and hit the floor as if you had only fallen a few feet.

I think you're misunderstanding the nature of what happens when you transition through "time zones." If you fall out of the bubble falling at 30 m/s from your perspective, then you will still have that speed in the outside world. So a cliff-faller might take half an hour to fall the whole distance, but they're still going squish at the bottom without outside intervention.

[Straff Venture]

I think you're misunderstanding the nature of what happens when you transition through "time zones." If you fall out of the bubble falling at 30 m/s from your perspective, then you will still have that speed in the outside world. So a cliff-faller might take half an hour to fall the whole distance, but they're still going squish at the bottom without outside intervention.

Is that a confirmed fact? If it isn't then I assume the same physics of the bubble which causes projectiles at high speeds to go awry when entering a bubble would apply the same for a body exiting at high speeds: the trajectory would alter to a different direction and (if you were lucky or skilled) you could exit at 30 m/s say, parallel to the ground.

[Lady_Yasha]

If you're going to use it in a defensive position though, doesn't the Pulser have to remain inside the bubble while it's up? And when the opposition enters the bubble they'll be travelling at the normal rate relative to the Pulser. All they'd have to do is kill the Pulser and be on their way. Sure they'd lose a few minutes-hours, but your force loses a valuable Allomancer.

[Kiwi]

3. Survive drowning, especially since cadmium stores breath.

That would be the Feruchemy use for cadmium, not Allomancy for the Time Bubble. Although that would be one lucky Twinborn... could have infinite breath underwater (Well about as infinite as your supply of Cadmium...)

I wonder if I could get away w/ using a Cadmium Time Bubble on slow days at work... that'd be nice.

Pulser bubbles are big so one might cover the whole distance...

How big is big? Is there solid info about how big one can be?

I like Lyrebon's idea, except pair it w/ a Feruchemy ability like Steel or Pewter, and you'd have quite a deadly Twinborn. Depending on how skilled he/she is, and depending on how big of a bubble they could make, it could be possible to take down a room full of enemies (Not just make them lose a few minutes or hours).

Edited September 10, 2012 by Kiwi

[Kurkistan]

Is that a confirmed fact? If it isn't then I assume the same physics of the bubble which causes projectiles at high speeds to go awry when entering a bubble would apply the same for a body exiting at high speeds: the trajectory would alter to a different direction and (if you were lucky or skilled) you could exit at 30 m/s say, parallel to the ground.

Not "confirmed" per say, but definitely true in the books. Observe bullets leaving Wayne's bubbles: they're thrown off course (by a small amount the only time we saw it) but are still travelling at rather standard bullet velocities upon exit. If it wasn't the case that objects maintained constant velocities from their own frame of reference, then the bullet Wax shot at the end of AoL would have already been far gone by the time Wayne dropped the bubble for Wax's miraculous redirect. Instead, the bullet "moved forward sluggishly, spinning as it cut through the air" from Wax's perspective inside the bubble.

As for the alteration of trajectories, it's been my impression that it's always a pretty small effect, enough to throw off a careful aim but not enough to through someone sideways. Most theories attribute the redirect to either agitated air particles at the borders of bubbles or to some form of refraction when crossing that self-same border.

Also, because I can, my credentials:

Definitive Allomantic FTL Theory (not so definitive, as it turns out)

Traversing the Border of Time Bubbles

I'd dare say that I've put as much thought into the nature of time bubbles as anyone in this forum, so I forgot that some people want this "evidence" to back up random claims they read on the internet.

EDIT: It actually is confirmed directly, as it turns out. I'd forgotten about this one:

Not really. A bullet shot out of a speed bubble IS robbed of kinetic energy—not all of it, but just enough to slow it down to the speed it would have been moving at had it been fired outside the bubble in the first place.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Kurkistan

[Thought]

"Free" energy! Specifically, its possible to make a device that harnesses the earth's own magnetic field to generate energy. It doesn't work in the real world, because you get 1 cycle per revolution of the earth. It would take centuries for such a device to power even a nightlight. But if a pulser can manipulate time enough, that 24 hour cycle could be compressed to a few minutes, making it much more likely to be of use.

Used on a building's foundations during an earthquake to hold them a little longer.

I'd assume that would cause the building to collapse all the sooner, actually. Supports are meant to be able to absorb vibrations, causing the building to sway but not collapse (you can notice this effect in very tall buildings even when there isn't an earthquake). The pulse bubble would make the supports caught in it instantly rigid (in comparison to the rest of the building). That's a recipe for collapse.

...

So, terrorist weapon! Send a pulser in to make the supports of a building rigid. Wouldn't even need an earthquake to cause tremendous amounts of stress.

[Kurkistan]

I'd assume that would cause the building to collapse all the sooner, actually. Supports are meant to be able to absorb vibrations, causing the building to sway but not collapse (you can notice this effect in very tall buildings even when there isn't an earthquake). The pulse bubble would make the supports caught in it instantly rigid (in comparison to the rest of the building). That's a recipe for collapse.

...

So, terrorist weapon! Send a pulser in to make the supports of a building rigid. Wouldn't even need an earthquake to cause tremendous amounts of stress.

No worries about that, I think. Objects appear to follow an all-in or all-out rule with time bubbles: Anything else and some truly horrendous things happen to whatever is on the border. Something like the foundations of a building would probably just be entirely outside the effect of a time bubble.

[king of nowhere]

I think pulsers would be very useful in hospitals or other emergency stuff.

possible circumstances where they would save the day

"we need those medical supplies that will arrive in two days, but the patient will not survive that long."

"This guy will die before the medics can reach him"

"our freezer is broken, all the supplies will go spoil before we can fix it"

"the building is burning with people trapped inside, and firefighters are trapped in the traffic"

I'm sure I could think of many more

[Observer]

Pulsers are turning out quite useful it seems

Can time bubbles be exitted? If not, it could easily trap somebody inside it for years (Provided it can reach some poor sap through a wall)

[Lady_Yasha]

I believe they can be exited. If objects - like bullets - can enter and leave as we've seen described and acted in Alloy of Law, then I imagine it reacts similarly for people.

[Voidus]

People can leave time-bubbles, we see Wax falling through the bottom of a Bendalloy bubble without apparent harm.