ResearchExotics

Research Exotics
Solution
Research the "Exotic Materials" project when it becomes available.
Description		Resolution
It seems these alien materials are how they can get such crazy performance out of their technology. If we can figure out how it works, maybe we can close the gap.		I've never seen the research teams so excited. It's hard to get them to slow down long enough to understand what the hell they're saying. Long story short: these Exotics, as the eggheads are now calling them, act as a kind of universal materials enhancer. Exotic-enhanced circuitry conducts electricity better than our most conductive materials and Exotic-enhanced armor has a higher hardness and toughness than our best Earth equivalents. There's not a tool, weapon, or machine on our planet that can't be improved by this stuff. If we could make it ourselves, we could catch up to the aliens and then some. Unfortunately, we can't. Not a single one of our researchers has even a half-viable plan for synthesizing this stuff – it uses a substance that's not found on Earth treated by some process that we don't understand. They're going to keep working on it, but in the meantime, the only place we're getting this stuff is off the aliens – which means paying a price in blood. Every one of our science, engineering, and construction teams is begging for as much Exotics as we can give them. We don't have enough to satisfy even a twentieth of the requests. Spend it wisely.
Quote
Colonel, the science section has finished their analysis of the alien materials.
Prerequisite Objective(s)
Salvage Alien Warship
Can be completed by Project:		Exotic Materials
Notes

Data Sources
TIMissionTemplate_EN • TIObjectiveTemplate_CSV • TIObjectiveTemplate_EN • TIOrgTemplate_EN • TIProjectTemplate_CSV • TIProjectTemplate_EN
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Objective List • Factions

Research Exotics
Solution
Research the "Exotic Materials" project when it becomes available.
Description		Resolution
We are finally in a position to research the extrasolar alien materials, which we have designated as "Exotics." The project may be a dangerous one, and though we have taken some precautions, the very nature of working with an unknown substance means we must accept certain risks. Despite the danger, we have no shortage of volunteers. The men and women who unlock the secrets of these materials will go down in the history books ... and in doing so, will finally give us the ability to match and overpower the aliens in space.		Out of all the examples of alien technology we have had the opportunity to examine, their Exotics may be the most impressive. The material's actual composition, as well as its means of manufacture, is still a mystery – more than a few of our researchers have theorized that we may be looking at the first known samples of pico technology – but we have come to a basic understanding of how to use it. Our best approximation of its purpose is that it is designed to function as an kind of universal "enhancer" component that directly alters the physical properties of whatever material it bonds with. The versatility of the alien Exotics is astonishing, and completely transforms our understanding of materials science. As an example, consider the engineering problem of conductivity. When designing electronics, the ideal is to use a material with as high a conductivity as possible, in order to reduce energy loss, waste heat, and lag in data transfer. Copper is our most commonly used conductive metal – silver conducts marginally better, but is far more expensive and has lower tensile strength. By alloying copper with Exotics, we have created a new compound which possesses higher conductivity than copper or silver ... in fact, higher than any known material originating on Earth. And this new compound achieves this without compromising its other properties – there is no trade-off! Examining the warship's ablative armor tells a similar story. Our most common steel alloys boast tensile and yield strengths ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 megapascals, but a hardness of only 5.5 to 6.5 out of 10 on the Mohs scale. Conversely, our tungsten alloys can reach 9-9.5 Mohs, but often provide only 300-700 megapascals of yield and tensile strength. The alien armor is far superior to both, and our attempts to duplicate it by applying Exotics to our own alloying process have produced composite alloys that exhibit yield and tensile strength above those of steel alloys without sacrificing impact resistance. There is no field of engineering that these materials cannot revolutionize. There is, however, a catch. Despite their best efforts, our researchers have made no progress whatsoever towards synthesizing Exotics ourselves – we believe its production requires advanced infrastructure which we have no means of duplicating. For the foreseeable future, our only way of obtaining it will be to steal or scavenge it from the aliens. It is a precious and limited resource that must be spent carefully.
Quote
We're starting to unlock the secrets of the alien materials, Commander.
Prerequisite Objective(s)
Salvage Alien Warship
Can be completed by Project:		Exotic Materials
Notes

Data Sources
TIMissionTemplate_EN • TIObjectiveTemplate_CSV • TIObjectiveTemplate_EN • TIOrgTemplate_EN • TIProjectTemplate_CSV • TIProjectTemplate_EN
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Objective List • Factions

Research Exotics
Solution
Research the "Exotic Materials" project when it becomes available.
Description		Resolution
At last, we have access to a sufficient quantity of the extrasolar alloys used in the alien technology. We believe these materials are key to solving the riddle of interstellar travel.		The alien "Exotics," as our scientists are currently calling them, are found in varying amounts throughout every piece of alien technology we have so far recovered. While we still have only the crudest understanding of their structure, their engineering effect, as far as we can discern, is to directly modify the physical properties of whatever substance they are bonded with. The potential applications are quite literally limitless. We can produce circuits with higher conductivity than our best Earth conductors, protective shielding with better impact resistance than our toughest Earth armors, superstructure materials strong enough to withstand stresses beyond anything previously thought possible. Best of all, we can do this without any corresponding trade-offs! Instead of having to choose between properties such as low mass, high strength, and high heat resistance, we can build designs with high marks in all three! So long as we have a sufficient supply of Exotics, virtually anything is possible. Our hopes have been fulfilled: the alien Exotics are the key to advanced spaceflight and, ultimately, interstellar travel. Unfortunately, there is one great flaw in our plans. Despite all our efforts, producing Exotics remains far beyond our capabilities. For the foreseeable future, we will have only what we can scavenge or steal from the aliens.
Quote
Our mission is clear, Director: We must salvage as much of this Exotic material as possible for Project Exodus to go forward.
Prerequisite Objective(s)
Salvage Alien Warship
Can be completed by Project:		Exotic Materials
Notes

Data Sources
TIMissionTemplate_EN • TIObjectiveTemplate_CSV • TIObjectiveTemplate_EN • TIOrgTemplate_EN • TIProjectTemplate_CSV • TIProjectTemplate_EN
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Objective List • Factions

Research Exotics
Solution
Research the "Exotic Materials" project when it becomes available.
Description		Resolution
The alien Exotics are the key to their technological superiority. Could we discover some way to produce them ourselves?		The alien Exotics are quite impressive. They allow the production of new materials which are superior to anything that can be manufactured upon Earth. Our R&D personnel have already suggested dozens of entirely new markets that could be opened using designs that are only possible with Exotic alloys. The potential for wealth creation is enormous. Disappointingly, however, our researchers have been unable to suggest any viable way of reproducing these Exotics ourselves. Evidence suggests that producing them requires a large quantity of highly advanced infrastructure, which may be why the aliens have chosen to import them directly from their home. In the long term, matching the alien capabilities will require us to send teams to their native production facilities and study their industrial techniques in person. In the meantime, it has been suggested that we should "farm" Exotics from the aliens already present in our Solar System. Given their enormous value, even significant losses of ships and personnel in exchange for relatively small quantities of Exotics will still represent a favorable exchange. In light of this, the Board has authorized you to scale up our shipbuilding program.
Quote
We will need to harvest more of these materials from alien spacecraft.
Prerequisite Objective(s)
Salvage Alien Warship
Can be completed by Project:		Exotic Materials
Notes

Data Sources
TIMissionTemplate_EN • TIObjectiveTemplate_CSV • TIObjectiveTemplate_EN • TIOrgTemplate_EN • TIProjectTemplate_CSV • TIProjectTemplate_EN
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Objective List • Factions

Research Exotics
Solution
Research the "Exotic Materials" project when it becomes available.
Description		Resolution
For some time now, it has been clear that the greatest scientific gap between us and the aliens is in the realm of materials science. Now that we have alien technology to study, we can perhaps narrow that gap.		The alien Exotics are clearly the product of a far greater understanding of physics and chemistry than ours. I had – perhaps foolishly – hoped that their study might give us some clues to the theories that the aliens must have used to design them, but this has been in vain. It was an optimistic hope; our own history shows that true understanding of new branches of science is the work of decades or centuries. Still, we have reached a crude understanding of the alien Exotics, enough to begin employing them in our own construction. With no means of producing them, however, we remain dependent on the aliens for our supply. Perhaps, should we survive this war, we can found a new field of study devoted to understanding what our alien visitors can afford to throw away so casually.
Quote
We are making progress understanding alien engineering, Chancellor, but some of the underlying science still eludes us.
Prerequisite Objective(s)
Conduct Diplomacy With the Aliens Or Salvage Alien Warship
Can be completed by Project:		Exotic Materials
Notes

Data Sources
TIMissionTemplate_EN • TIObjectiveTemplate_CSV • TIObjectiveTemplate_EN • TIOrgTemplate_EN • TIProjectTemplate_CSV • TIProjectTemplate_EN
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Objective List • Factions

Research Exotics
Solution
Research the "Exotic Materials" project when it becomes available.
Description		Resolution
We have known from the first sighting the aliens must have mastered technologies well beyond ours if they were to bridge the gap between the stars. Their exotic materials, in particular, hold promise for our ability to establish ourselves as a guiding hand in Earth affairs.		The alien Exotics are indeed reflective of an understanding of materials science far beyond ours. We can understand what they do, and theorize how they were made, but those theories imply production processes with the capacity for heat, cold and pressures far beyond anything we can construct. Perhaps in a few centuries ... Until then our understanding is sufficient that we can reshape our stockpiles of exotics to employ in our own construction projects. With no means of producing them, however, we will have to obtain our supplies from the aliens themselves.
Quote
These amazing materials will help position us to guide the Earth through the coming disorder, Commissioner.
Prerequisite Objective(s)
Conduct Diplomacy with the Aliens
Can be completed by Project:		Exotic Materials
Notes

Data Sources
TIMissionTemplate_EN • TIObjectiveTemplate_CSV • TIObjectiveTemplate_EN • TIOrgTemplate_EN • TIProjectTemplate_CSV • TIProjectTemplate_EN
Related Pages
Objective List • Factions