Turtledove
Hydrogen

Hydrogen glows purple in its plasma state.

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an atomic weight of 1.00794 u, hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75 % of the Universe's elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly composed of hydrogen in its plasma state. Naturally occurring elemental hydrogen is relatively rare on Earth.

Hydrogen-based fuel was popular in airship travel until the LZ 129 Hindenburg disaster of 1934.

Hydrogen in "Getting Real"[]

In Los Angeles in 2117, transportation within the city was primarily by foot, bicycle or pedicab. However, there were occasional hydrogen or electric-powered cars on the roads.

Hydrogen in Southern Victory[]

Shortly after the end of the Second Great War, captured Confederate physicist Henderson V. FitzBelmont shared the theoretical possibility of a hydrogen-based superbomb with U.S. Army General Abner Dowling. FitzBelmont shared the theory only because he knew that the U.S. was already building the theoretical "sunbomb". The possible destructive power such a weapon might inflict horrified Dowling.[1]

Hydrogen in The Two Georges[]

For much of the history of airship travel, hydrogen was used for lighter-than-air buoyancy. However, it was eventually supplanted by the non-flammable coronium.[2]

Hydrogen in Worldwar[]

The Race had made use of hydrogen as a fuel for their vehicles for millennia before they invaded Tosev 3 in 1942.[3] The Race was initially perplexed by Tosevites' decision to use petroleum for transportation, as they saw it as an utter waste of the resource.

After the Peace of Cairo, most of the oil-rich regions of the world were under Race control. The free not-empires of the world soon adopted hydrogen as a fuel.[4]

References[]

  1. In at the Death, pgs. 497-498.
  2. The Two Georges, pg. 7, MPB.
  3. In the Balance, pg. 422, generally.
  4. Second Contact, pg. 6., generally.