Silly Sci-Fi Inventions
- Thread starter Trekker4747
- Start date
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.
That is true. For all we know a lot of the bar/decor could have been generated in that way.
Well, a lot of SW ships have shields but seem to take plenty of damage anyway. And the fighters are not designed to engage capital ships, but to destroy enemy fighters. Which is how they're used most often in SW. They can be deadly against individual ships en masse with perhaps a few of their own capitals, but you wouldn't send a few fighters alone against a Star Destroyer any more than you'd send a pair of F-18s to sink an enemy carrier. They'd be better used in their intended role of air superiority.
* shrugs *
I've never been entirely convinced of the whole "missiles are better than aircraft" argument personally. There is some merit to it, but there's a reason we still rely on aircraft and not thousands of missiles today for air defense and support. Just as there's a reason said aircraft carry both guns and guided missiles, and not simply missiles. A computer controlled weapons system isn't inherently inferior to a sentient, living pilot.
That's not silly, it's disgusting. Ever hear Stallone's explanation for it? Linky
(WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE A STRONG STOMACH)
"OK, this may be bordering on the grotesque, but the way it was explained to me by the writer is you hold two seashells like chopsticks, pull gently and scrape what’s left with the third. You asked for it…. Be careful what you ask for, sorry."
Checkmate
Commodore
Wouldn't really matter. A holographic pool table is just as stupid as the window (why they even had a window is beyond me since they left the doors open to help cool the place; normal everyday shutters would have worked just as well for when they had to close up shop).
What's the thought process, exactly? "Well, we have a massive fuel cell here. Do we want to use it to power anything worthwhile for making life better, or make some expensive, imaginary billiard balls and a non-window instead? I think I'm going to go with the latter." Even if the fuel cell for all of that couldn't be repurposed, they should have just sold it and bought something even mildly more useful. Assuming people wouldn't just try to steal it at the first opportune moment.
It's like having a shitty mobile home in a wretched part of town where you're all but starving to death because you're so poor and emaciated, but having a $10,000 home theater system inside. And worse, only using it to watch static.
But how would you know they were in the future, then? 
You're definitely onto something. In the episode in question, The Train Job, I expect Whedon threw as many futuristic things into that first scene to tip off to everyone that the series was in the future, since the episode was acting as a second pilot. But it sure doesn't make much technical sense.
You're definitely onto something. In the episode in question, The Train Job, I expect Whedon threw as many futuristic things into that first scene to tip off to everyone that the series was in the future, since the episode was acting as a second pilot. But it sure doesn't make much technical sense.
In Star Wars based video games fighters can inflict damage to capital ships using proton torpedoes. The bombers, such as the Y-Wing, go after the capital ships while the fighters either escort friendly bombers, or intercept enemy bombers.
I don't think we ever see a bomber firing torpedoes at a capital ship in the movies though.
And that's supposed to be more sanitary than TP?
I liked it not being expalined. In the book Lenina Huxley whispers in Spartan's ear at then end on how the seashsells worked (we, the reader, don't get to know what she tells him) afterwards Spartan reacts in a manner as if the answer was obvious in hindsight.
I don't see how any answer could be more sanitary and "protective" than a ball of paper. And Spartan using the "tickets" he got from the machine to wipe with? Ouch!
People say this a lot. They think the bridge is somehow vulnerable when it's on top of the saucer, and that it should be deep within the hull. Well, it's not the hull's job to protect the bridge. That's what SHIELDS are for.
Any attack powerful enough to punch through a ship's shields, will get to the bridge no matter where it is. So if a ship's shields hold, the bridge can be right there on top and still be safe.
The really funny thing is that, in the EU at least, plain SDDs are apparently just as capable of wiping all life from a planet. But no, we need a weapon that can overcome the gravitational binding energy of planet.
I really hate planet-busters in sci-fi. Species 8472, I'm looking at you.
In The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Heinlein's conception of the moon as the breadbasket of the world is questionable. The man was usually really good with his science, so I don't know for sure if my doubts are well-founded, but it just seems... really off. The disadvantages of lifting the needed materials to the moon and then shooting them back down are obvious, and the only advantage is greater sunlight--but even then, terrestrial plants are rather sensitive to extremes, and more sunlight doesn't mechanically equate to more biomass, and long periods of complete darkness are potentially deadly!
There's also two other arguments that I use to counter the "bridge on the top" argument.
1. Starfleet is a peaceful organization that spends most of its time exploring and charting and not getting to firefights. Weapons and shields are defensive systems, not offensive. So since they're not purposely looking for fights, obviously, protection isn't a big deal otherwise much of their ship designs would be outlandish and foolish. (Most notably having the vulnerable engines sticking out on long pylons.)
2. Taking out the bridge would give the attacker no clear advantage. Sure you'd have performed a decapitation strike but the ship is still staffed with hundreds of other people who can control the ship and make it a very real threat. It's more logical to take out defensive, offensive, and maneuvering targets.
Silicon dioxide, expensive?
Checkmate
Commodore
The most baffling thing is that I think I've only ever noticed one enemy who ever actually targetted it.
Yeah I've taken out quite a few Star Destroyers with just starfighters in the Rogue Squadron series, though I know it wouldn't be possible in a Star Wars film.
I was thinking about it again earlier today and at first I thought I had figured it out, in episode 4 the fighters are able to fly right through any shields the Death Star has. Then I remembered in episode 6 the entire rebel fleet, including the fighters pulled away from the Death Star 2 when the figured out the shields were up.
Shinzon did.
Might be on an alien moon, who knows what's available there, if it's hard to come by it would likely be expensive to import.
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.
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.