Silly Sci-Fi Inventions

[Trekker4747]

I was just watching some show about X-planes and one of the things mentioned is that when a plane travels at speeds above mach 6(?), friction of the plane and the atmosphere is so great that it can even melt metals. Engineers have resorted to projecting plasma/air/whatever ahead of the plane to create a layer of air/vacuum that shields the plane's body from the abrasive atmosphere.

I can definitely imagine scifi shuttles having a non-aerodynamic shape because the shuttle's hull won't help a single bit with flying through the atmosphere at high speeds. The airfoil shape required for atmosphere flying can be created by projecting an invisible shield around the shuttle, and also serve to protect the shuttle from the immense heat.

The space-shuttle is non-impressed.

 

[Deckerd]

I think we've been twice around this block in this thread alone.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I think we've been twice around this block in this thread alone.

Hush. You know it'll do no good.

 

[cultcross]

Didn't they have a holographic pool table in that one too? [to Checkmate]

Yes, that started flickering in the middle of a game.
The glass I can see. I mean it could be an expensive commodity and if fights break out a lot it could be very expensive to replace, and that technology could be very affordable in comparison. But pool? I can't see it.

Silicon dioxide, expensive?

Glass has spent more of human history an expensive luxury than a cheap commodity. I could believe that it was hard to come by on a backwater terraformed world.

 

[diankra]

Not quite an invention, but one of the stupidest but most persistant (for obvious reasons) non-scienctific cliches in SF: lifeless planets with breathable oxygen in the atmosphere.