Scifi silly science

[Gotham Central]

There are many tropes in science fiction that we as fan accept as necessary for storytelling that defy current sceintific knowledge. However, there are some stories where the "science" is so absurd that its almost comical.

For instance, the 1960's film version of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, has the Van Allen belt of radiation catching fire and threatening to scorch the earth.

What are your favorite examples of silly science?

 

[Luminus]

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Lois breathing in space. That's completely unforgivable.

2012
The Limo ride. Nuff said.

 

[miraclefan]

Sci-fi in General.
Sound in space.
People EXPLODING in space

 

[shivkala]

Movies like Independence Day, where not only our our computers able to connect to alien computers, but we can also hit them with viruses.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Heroes: Not only do eclipses happen all over the planet at once, but they make you a mutant and turn your mutant powers on and off like a light switch.

District 9: Alien fuel just happens, by random cosmic accident, to interact with human DNA so specifically that it turns humans into aliens. Uh huh. (Kewl aliens anyway.)

Firefly: It's perfectly plausible for there to be "hundreds" of habitable planets within the same star system. It's also plausible that even with the immense expense of terraforming planets to be habitable (even if you assume two or three per star system), that land would nonetheless be so cheap that outcasts would be relegated to these worlds and cattle would be grazed on wide open pastures.

Star Trek: The galaxy is brimming over with Earthlike worlds and most of them just happen to have evolved bipedal mammalian humanoids as the dominant life forms. The first person to mention The Chase gets smacked.

 

[Kegg]

What always explodes my brain are the depth charges in Attack of the Clones. The extras on the DVD will offer a pseudoscientific explanation for why they make no noise - and create an absence of noise - when they explode in space.

Yes. There is an explanation offered for why they remove sound from space.

 

[Starbreaker]

The Core. That is all.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Well if we're talking about Star Wars - midichlorians!

sometimes pseudo-science should just stay pseudo-sicence.

 

[Australis]

Giant mutant bugs. They're giant because they're mutant. That is all.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

1) Sound in space

2) Aliens speaking English

3) Fast interstellar travel without any kind of FTL (or at least none that is mentioned or seen on screen) in the vein of Space 1999, the original Battlestar Galactica etc.


2) and 3) were mostly a problem of pre-1990 television.

Recently, 2) is often solved with some technobabble plot device such as universal translators (Star Trek) or translator microbes (Farscape).

1) is still ubiquitous, with 2001 and Firefly being notable exceptions (although Joss Whedon tried to bend his own rules in the Serenity movie by having a "noisy" space battle around a planet with some kind of special cloud/nebula... normally there's no sound in space, except when there's a cloud in space *lol* ).

 

[Kegg]

^
2) was never solved by universal translators or microbes, just handwaved away. It doesn't make sense that when these are used the lip synch matches up, unless they actually make the aliens speak English (which apparently is not how either tech works).

Basically, aliens speaking english has only made any kind of sense when that's exactly what they are doing - the recent Avatar did this, for example.

 

[C.E. Evans]

- Lightsabers

- Pistol-sized lasers, phasers, blasters, etc.

- People being able to dodge lasers, phasers, etc., at fairly close range.

- "The Force"

- Inertia dampers

- The idea in Space: 1999 that an explosion on the dark side of the Moon will cause it go flying into deep space rather than crashing into Earth.

- Superman. 'Nuff said.

- Countless alien civilizations within relatively close proximity of Earth (E.T. phone home my ass).

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

^
2) was never solved by universal translators or microbes, just handwaved away. It doesn't make sense that when these are used the lip synch matches up, unless they actually make the aliens speak English (which apparently is not how either tech works).

Basically, aliens speaking english has only made any kind of sense when that's exactly what they are doing - the recent Avatar did this, for example.

Yeah, Babylon 5 did it better. First contact with most species had been decades ago and aliens were usually diplomats or traders and therefore able to speak English from the start. Occasionally, there were also translator devices used, but those actually worked liked translators.

nuBSG and Firefly had no aliens, so no problems in that regard (although we're supposed to pretend that BSGers either speak "Caprican" or that Caprican is identical to English). I can't really recall how it was with Andromeda, but I think it also took place in a universe with rare first contact situations where aliens were expected to be fluent in "foreign" languages.

The worst offender of recent times is probably Stargate. They have many many English-speaking civilizations and don't even offer technobabble plot devices to explain it.


But I've got another one: Spaceships which don't move like objects in vacuum/zero gravity. This includes spaceships which slow down or stop when their engine fails or is shut down, two-dimensional naval battles in space, and of course the fighter-plane analogy popularized by Star Wars (although B5 and nuBSG tried to do away with it by finally introducing fighterplanes which move like in vacuum/zero gravity).

 

[The Wormhole]

The worst offender of recent times is probably Stargate. They have many many English-speaking civilizations and don't even offer technobabble plot devices to explain it.

There's been a behind-the-scenes explanation for a few years that travelling through the Stargate alters your brain so that you can understand the native language of the planet you're going to.

But really, just what the hell is the point to this thread? Silly science is a requirement for sci-fi. If you had a complete 100% realistic sci-fi show or movie, it would be boring as hell. Not to mention the fact that with no FTL, that pretty much prevents a show set in space from happening.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

The worst offender of recent times is probably Stargate. They have many many English-speaking civilizations and don't even offer technobabble plot devices to explain it.

There's been a behind-the-scenes explanation for a few years that travelling through the Stargate alters your brain so that you can understand the native language of the planet you're going to.

What about planets they reach with a X-303/BC-304 without going through a Stargate?


Anyway, I for one like stuff where they try limit the silly stuff as much as possible. This includes spaceships which move like in vacuum/zero gravity. Or aliens who only speak English because they actually learned the language. Does this make SF boring? Well, Babylon 5 wasn't boring to me. Of course, even they couldn't get rid of the "humanoid aliens" thing. But that's because they needed those aliens for plot reasons. However, there's no actual plot requirement for unscientifically moving spaceships... except it's supposed to be a parody or something.

Another observation about Firefly though: I think the "space-without-sound" stuff was only possible because it was a TV show without any space battles. And the first moment there was a space battle (in Serenity) they started to have sound in space again for dramatic reasons.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The worst offender of recent times is probably Stargate. They have many many English-speaking civilizations and don't even offer technobabble plot devices to explain it.

There's been a behind-the-scenes explanation for a few years that travelling through the Stargate alters your brain so that you can understand the native language of the planet you're going to.
.

I thought that Stargate explanation was just a fanwank excuse and not a behind the scenes explanation?

 

[The Wormhole]

What about planets they reach with a X-303/BC-304 without actually going through a Stargate?

The idea does not hold up to scrutiny, but then again, hardly anything in sci-fi does.

I thought that Stargate explanation was just a fanwank excuse and not a behind the scenes explanation?

No, it does originate behind the scenes. Joseph Mallozzi discusses it here.

I'll quote the relevant portion:

Okay, but why do they all speak English? The short answer is: Because if they didn't, it would make for some pretty dull episodes. But, in my mind, the Ancients foresaw the problems associated with gate travel and ensured straight-forward communication between worlds by building a default into the gate system itself. Every time a traveler goes through the gate, he or she acquires "conversion nanites" that allow them to understand and be understood wherever they go. Of course, certain symbiote-related physiologies may resist the process ...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I thought that Stargate explanation was just a fanwank excuse and not a behind the scenes explanation?

No, it does originate behind the scenes. Joseph Mallozzi discusses it here.

I'll quote the relevant portion:

Okay, but why do they all speak English? The short answer is: Because if they didn't, it would make for some pretty dull episodes. But, in my mind, the Ancients foresaw the problems associated with gate travel and ensured straight-forward communication between worlds by building a default into the gate system itself. Every time a traveler goes through the gate, he or she acquires "conversion nanites" that allow them to understand and be understood wherever they go. Of course, certain symbiote-related physiologies may resist the process ...

Weren't there a few episodes early on where they didn't understand the locals? So that doesn't really make sense either... but whatever, can't say it ever seriously bothered me.

 

[The Wormhole]

I thought that Stargate explanation was just a fanwank excuse and not a behind the scenes explanation?

No, it does originate behind the scenes. Joseph Mallozzi discusses it here.

I'll quote the relevant portion:

Okay, but why do they all speak English? The short answer is: Because if they didn't, it would make for some pretty dull episodes. But, in my mind, the Ancients foresaw the problems associated with gate travel and ensured straight-forward communication between worlds by building a default into the gate system itself. Every time a traveler goes through the gate, he or she acquires "conversion nanites" that allow them to understand and be understood wherever they go. Of course, certain symbiote-related physiologies may resist the process ...

Weren't there a few episodes early on where they didn't understand the locals? So that doesn't really make sense either... but whatever, can't say it ever seriously bothered me.

Twice, that I remember. They couldn't understand the monks on Chu'lak in Children of the Gods, and it took the fishman that captured Daniel some time to figure out English. And even then, he wasn't very good at speaking it. "What fate Omoroca?"

 

[Traveller]

Sci-fi in General.
Sound in space.
People EXPLODING in space

Shouldn't you be bugged by people on screen not exploding in space? Because exploding bodies is what you would realistically see if they're in a zero pressure environment...

Heroes: Not only do eclipses happen all over the planet at once, but they make you a mutant and turn your mutant powers on and off like a light switch.

Star Trek: The galaxy is brimming over with Earthlike worlds and most of them just happen to have evolved bipedal mammalian humanoids as the dominant life forms. The first person to mention The Chase gets smacked.

Heroes and Superman and, yes, Star Wars are fantasy to me ... superpowers and a magical "Force"... so I don't expect even pseudoscience from them.

As to Star Trek's humanoid aliens, I have an explanation that doesn't involve The Chase: there are as many non-humanoid aliens in the ST universe as there are humanoid ones, but we virtually never cross paths with them. Their "habitat" and their needs are so different from ours that there are no points of competition, cooperation or trade that would make contact necessary. We're too different to have a meaningful interaction. We don't have anything they'd want or need, and vice versa. Our thought processes and language structure are probably too different to make communication possible. So, there are no stories to tell about "them and us".

1) Sound in space

2) Aliens speaking English

<snip>

Recently, 2) is often solved with some technobabble plot device such as universal translators (Star Trek) or translator microbes (Farscape).

Nerys Ghemor's explanation of the UT as a cranial implant that changes the receivers' perception of the language by working directly on the speech center in the brain made the most sense to me (in case I interpreted her concept incorrectly, check out her "Sigils and Unions" on the FanFiction subforum where it's explained).

But hearing alien languages with subtitles would definitely be more fun. And the UT shouldn't be working at first contact, because even with Nerys' concept, that's just impossible.

- People being able to dodge lasers, phasers, etc., at fairly close range.

- Inertia dampers

- The idea in Space: 1999 that an explosion on the dark side of the Moon will cause it go flying into deep space rather than crashing into Earth.

1) Oh yes!

2) Inertial dampers = artificial gravity. So if you don't want them, you'd have to do away with the concept of AG entirely, which means people drifting in zero g all the time. That would make watching the show akward (at least for me... I have a sensitive stomach); besides, then you'd have to deal with all the medical side-effects of extended stay in a zero g environment and that's not a story I'm interested to see.

3) :facepalm:

But I've got another one: Spaceships which don't move like objects in vacuum/zero gravity. This includes spaceships which slow down or stop when their engine fails or is shut down, two-dimensional naval battles in space, and of course the fighter-plane analogy popularized by Star Wars (although B5 and nuBSG tried to do away with it by finally introducing fighterplanes which move like in vacuum/zero gravity).

Thanks, now I have a new detail to rant about that I never noticed before! The 2D battles were more a nuisance because they were so incredibly lame and I'm glad they got over that now.

But really, just what the hell is the point to this thread? Silly science is a requirement for sci-fi. If you had a complete 100% realistic sci-fi show or movie, it would be boring as hell. Not to mention the fact that with no FTL, that pretty much prevents a show set in space from happening.

Nobody asks for 100% realism, but stupid, glaring errors such as sound in space could easily be avoided. I think that cutting between scenes of silent battle from a space POV and scenes from inside the ships where you have thos loud explosions, people screaming, etc. would be more dramatic by this contrast.