The X-Rays question...
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Mary J. Rudy offered a good explanation concerning the X-rays questions in one of her fan fic stories. Considering that the whole series is set in the future, she theorised that X-rays weren't in use anymore - or that much in use, except for some doctors, like a certain Magnus, who still used it...
In the same story, she also offered a theory about the 'camera given silhouette' dilemma that is mentioned in 'Flight 104'. Brillant idea. Check the story at the following address: http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/ch ... fetime.htm
We all know that Mysterons are impervious to X-rays - as it was discovered during the episode "Operation Time" when the Mysteronised doctor Magnus accidentally was exposed to X-rays. Instead of going right through the skin, like for a normal human being, the rays would exposed a 'normal' pic of the subject... From that discovery was developed the Mysteron detector, that we saw for the first time in "Spectrum Strikes Back". In that same episode, we also learn that Scarlet, non only had retained the retrometabolism powers from the Mysterons, but is also impervious to X-Rays... So he tests positive at the Mysteron detector check.
Yet, in another episode, "Flight 104", came the absurd notion that when a normal picture was taken of Scarlet, instead of seeing a normal pic of him, his image will come out as a silhouette... Now then, if it is the case with Scarlet, so it should be the case with all other mysteronised human beings, is it? In that case... go back in time to episode One, "The Mysterons", where Captain Brown appears as normally as the World President beside him, on a tape that was taken before the Maximum Security Building exploded. Wouldn't he be shown as a silhouette on that tape too? We can add to that the fact that security cameras surprised Captain Black in the Culver Atomic Centre in "Manhunt", a few episodes after that, but Black being a case apart - as we're not certain he's really mysteronised - we can dismiss that last information. Let's keep what we are sure of for the moment.
In addition to the above mentioned dilemma, the 'silhouette' topic poses another problem - obviously, if normal photo would show Mysterons as only a silhouette, then why, oh did Spectrum NEED to wait to discover the X-Rays solution to come up with the idea of the Mysteron detector - while a simple Polaroid would have done the job as effectively? And less conspicuously? And of course, with surveillance camera everywhere, able to take picture - ALL Mysteron agents would be easily spotted! So much for 'exact likeness!'
That doesn't make ANY sense - and never have satisfied me.
I consider that Mary's suggestion is probably the most probable one to explain that abherration. The 'silhouette effect' demonstrated by Scarlet in "Flight 104" isn't a result of his previous mysteronisation, instead, it's the result of a 'cloaking device' used by Spectrum and worn by agents when on undercover missions, in order to protect their anonymity. In other words, if that reporter had taken a photo of Captain Blue, the result would have been the same. After all, it wasn't SPECIFICALLY said in that episode, or anywhere else in the series, that the silhouette effect was a result of Mysteronisation!
But of course, you may have other theories of your own concerning that annoying detail...

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chrisbishop
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It's possible of course that by the time of Scarlet and Thunderbirds, cameras might have changed out of all recognition in terms of their basic operating procedures, but that seems a little unlikely to me - after all, cameras haven't changed in their fundamentals as oulined above ever since they were invented. Maybe Scott's detector worked by spotting the rapid shutter movement of a camera in its vicinity, or perhaps more likely, by recognising the electronic signature of a shutter release mechanism in operation. If so, then a mechanical shutter release of the type used during the 19th and 20th centuries could not be detected by such means - but then, who in the mid 21st century would ever consider use such a primitive device?
Okay, so if we assume that the detector is capable of recognising that a photograph has been taken, how does it counter it? In the case of Thunderbirds there isn't a problem - it just warns Scott that someone's photographed the instrument panel - but the Spectrum example is more complicated. I can believe that such a device might be able to fog the image if taken by a digital camera by interfering with its electronics in some way, but not in the case of a conventional camera. Unless... could it perhaps emit a concentrated burst of X-rays which fogs the film? After all, we get worried about putting photographic equipment through security scanners at airports for that reason.
However that won't do as an explanation in Scarlet's case, because whatever the mechanism, it only blanked out Scarlet's features - not the whole photograph. And there I'm stuck - because I can't see any way that a countermeasure could be so selective, in that it would have to cause the area of the photograph occupied the wearer of the anti-photography device to be fogged without affecting the surrounding region. I suppose it might be possible to do that if the anti-photography device in question caused some kind of fogging ray to be emitted from Scarlet himself - so that it's focussed through the lens along with the light rays that cause his image to be recorded on the camera. Whatever those rays were, they would need to be susceptible to being focussed by an optical lens in the same way that visible light is, which suggests that they'd need to come from the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum (after all, an optical lens doesn't focus radio waves or microwaves - at least I don't think it does). This all sounds a bit fanciful to me... but it's the best I can think of. Has anybody else got any ideas?
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Clya Brown
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Kind of a sticky question, isn't it. I don't imagine that the writers and producers ever imagined anyone (let alone us) would be working on it 30-odd years later, though.
The Mysteron detector question never really crossed my mind, but Chris and Doc Brown are correct - what would you need the detector for if a bad photo proves exactly what you''re trying to find out in the first place? Must be the R&D guys justifying their jobs....
However - this is something that's crossed my mind as I was always trying to figure out why we could get a decent 'video' picture of Mysteron agents (i.e. - as in Brown at Spectrum Security HQ) but not a decent 'photo' with a camera. Assuming, of course, that they still use light exposed film, and not just digital cameras in 2068 and beyond. I'd more or less made up my mind that only 'film' gave the silhouette effect, and electronic records came our 'normal' though I couldn't (and still can't) think of any good reason why that might be, unless it's a Mysteron-given sort of thing. (Sorry, broken record time - it's the infamous transdimensional conduit again....)
So I finally decided that it was one of two things:
1) possibly a Mysteron 'design' feature, something custom built into their constructs, simply so that Spectrum could have a way and a means of detecting them for War of Nerves purposes. It goes back to the interdimensional field connection theory that I like so much, and which happens to explain away even this troubling little item - if the Mysterons are always in touch with their constructs, they might well be aware whenever a detection opportunity is present and could deliberately tweak the resultant photos (either optical or X-ray - surely this is not beyond their capabilities) as a way of dropping a blatant, if sometimes belatedly discovered clue for their adversaries. We know that the Mysterons always leave a loophole or two for Spectrum to take advantage of - so I don't suppose it's beyond the realm of possibility for the 'picture' problem to be a part of the whole game that they play.
OR:
2) even if it's not a 'conscious' moment-by-moment attention and response tweaking on the Mysteron's part, it's possible that the Mysteron's interdimensional field has absorbtive properties that don't allow light to bounce back into an optical lens at a visible wavelength (in the case of a normal photo) and only allows more energetic x-rays to bounce back at a lower electomagnetic (i.e. - visible light) wavelength - hence the 'normal' photo on the x-ray film. (Perhaps normal optical photos would turn up on infa-red sensitive film? I don't know if R&D thought to test that.)
All for now! Ciao!
Doc Denim

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Doc Denim
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I'll stick to the security device to protect undercover Spectrum agents, if you don't mind, Doc D.

... and it's less hassle for my brain.

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chrisbishop
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I do, however, have a question regarding the pictures taken by the Mysteron detector. It's Mysteronised objects/people that are impervious to the X-rays, so why exactly does Scarlet's uniform show up on the picture taken of him? The other agents I can understand more, if they're still wearing the clothes they were recreated in, but surely, if they've had a change of clothes, as I'm certain Scarlet must have done in the months between 'The Mysterons' and 'Spectrum Strikes Back', they would appear naked in X-ray pictures?
Maybe it's just me being kinky?

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Captain Indigo
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Now then, Colonel White, being budget-conscious as all good administrators are, therefore no doubt rescinded Scarlet's laundry allowance immediately after the Car-Vu incident in the interests of saving a few dollars a month on the cleaning bill. And naturally Scarlet, just like any other man, doesn't actually bother to do own washing unless he actually needs a clean set of clothes (see "Washing Day" in the fan-fic section for Captain Black's slant on this universal truth).
Of course, it may well be that Rhapsody does his washing for him every now and then, in exchange for the photographs of him in his alternative uniforms that come out of the Mysteron detectors...
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Clya Brown
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Captain Indigo
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chrisbishop
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Doc Denim.
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Doc Denim
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I'm wondering if the human aura plays some part in all of this, just as a Mysteron aura was suggested by Chris just a couple of postings ago. The human aura - and I'm assuming here that the existence of such a thing is generally accepted, even if the physical nature of it isn't yet understood - could probably be assumed to envelop both the subject and any clothes he was wearing. Suppose that by Scarlet's time the aura has been scientifically analysed, and has consequently been lifted clear of that superstitious awe that usually surrounds in people's minds any phenomenon that they can't explain. The next step after the scientific comprehension of something is usually the production of a plethora of practical commercial applications for it - one of which could be a device capable of modifying the properties of the aura in such a way that they interfere with the electromagnetic spectrum. A mid-21st century camera might routinely record not only the visible frequencies but also a range of non-visible ones in the infra-red and/or ultra-violet ranges, just as current CDs record audio frequencies outside the response range of the human ear (which I have a feeling are stripped out when audio files are compressed into MP3 format, to cut down the space required to store them). If so, Scarlet's security device might create an interference between the aura and one or more of those invisible frequencies - the practical effect of which would be to fog that part of the image occupied by himself. This could explain why the camera is fooled by the process while the human eye is not.
A question that follows on from this is whether the aura is faithfully reproduced in a Mysteron construct. In Mary J. Rudy's superb story "Chance for a Lifetime", she raises the question of whether Scarlet's pet Labrador retriever would be expected to be able to detect the change in his old master following his "rebirth" - the implication being that had Scarlet not been released from Mysteron control, the dog would have been aware of the fact long before any human would. If so, perhaps an army of dogs ought to be recruited by Spectrum to augment the Mysteron detectors - after all, even though "electronic nose" technology is at least twenty years old now, any bloodhound will do a better job considerably quicker! Whether a dog is sensing the human aura when it recognises its master from a distance or whether that recognition is based on one or more enhanced perceptions of other characteristics with which we're more familiar is probably an open question. I'd be very interested to read any links that anybody can provide on this subject.
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Clya Brown
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I doubt they would recognise if a stranger is a Mysteron - but they would feel if the said Mysteron is their master, and would act accordingly.
If Humphrey didn't react as if Scarlet wasn't himself - or a total stranger - that was because he could sense he was the same person.
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chrisbishop
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Heres the photo, with the window in the back:

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mb2000
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Remember what Blue said to Scarlet when the latter told him about the guy taking his photo? He fully expected this silhouette effect to happen, and this is obvious. More to the fact, the reporters - who probably already took photos in their life - were quite surprised by what they discovered when the photo developed! (and beside, when you end up with bad photo due to too background light which is too bright, you can see the light reflection on the photo - which is not the case here).
I still prefer the 'jamming camera' device... Maybe an invention of a certain Mr. Hackenbacker, who first worked with International Rescue... for which he built a similar device, who knows?!
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chrisbishop
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"... but a new anti-paparazzi gadget that blurs the faces on photos could be just the answer for the lens-shy.
"Worn like a badge, it sends an infra-red signal to nearby cameras to make faces fuzzy on any resulting digital images.
"The digital protection system is the electronic equivalent of putting a cross in the 'no publicity' box, say scientists from computer giant Hewlett Packard..."
Trouble is, I can't find any other references to this, either on metro.co.uk, Hewlett Packard, The Register, or on the BBC's online science site. I also looked at New Scientist online - not a sausage there, either.
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hazel
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