Probably the WEIRDEST Sci-fi related question ever posted

[DeepCoverage]

Hi there,

First off, I hope this is the right place for this post. It's not a homework question so I can't really post it there. But it is a research based question.

Ohh and my apologies that my first ever post should be to ask for help from you knowledgeable peeps. It's just I'm way out of my depth on this one.

First a little context.

I’m an aspiring screenwriter currently writing a dark sci-fi story. It concerns one man’s life mission to achieve omnipresence. But sci-fi or not I need the science to be grounded in reality.

I want his method to concern breaking his entire body down to atoms (hence why I’m basing my queries around general physics) and then scattering himself to the cosmos. Bear in mind the character is psychologically unstable so he obviously can’t achieve omnipresence (which is what drives him insane) he just thinks he can.

Which leads onto my question. Albeit a strange one :)

How could he achieve this (or believe himself to be achieving it)? What is the science involved? What machines/equipment/reactors would be required? Put simply, how does one break down a human being into atoms and then scatter them to the universe? Are there belief systems based around this? That we all belong to a vast cosmic oneness when we die?

Anything would be helpful. I appreciate any of your input.

(Told you it was a weird one :). Oh if this is the wrong place then could someone kindly move me on... or just beat me with sticks. Whatever the protocol is here :) )

 

[Zaphys]

There is a simple way of achieving this goal. Just transfer an enormus amount of energy to the human body and you´ll get atomization and scattering. For example lie near a huge termonuclar explosion when exploding. Easy :)

 

[DeepCoverage]

Thanks, zaphys. So if a termonuclear (is that thermonuclear) explosion where triggered in a reactor with the main character inside that would work?

What would happen to the atoms then once he was vaporized?

 

[Zaphys]

Of course, to be said that its a non-sense willing to be omnipresent in the universe as one is one when him/her atoms are liked as a pseudoclosed system (biological living) and as universe is infinte.

 

[Borek]

Swallow a Tsar bomb.

 

[Zaphys]

To the atoms nothing but to some (few % of all) that may fusse, but nothing in general. It would cinematically work ;)

 

[DeepCoverage]

Of course, to be said that its a non-sense willing to be omnipresent in the universe as one is one when him/her atoms are liked as a pseudoclosed system (biological living) and as universe is infinte.

Yeah. As I said, it's not that he'll ever achieve omnipresence or that it's even possible. It's more that he'll gradually go insane and die trying.

 

[Zaphys]

Good then for your script.

 

[DeepCoverage]

Swallow a Tsar bomb.

Having googled Tsar bomb, I'm guessing that might be logistically a little cumbersome ... or impossible even. :)

 

[DeepCoverage]

So in keeping with the fragile psychological state of my main character, would it make sense (in his deluded head) that if he blew himself up using thermonuke in space then his atoms would be scattered over the universe thus achieving (in his mind) some kind of omnipresence?

 

[Zaphys]

Of course. it'd make sense even for a common audience :)

 

[Academic]

He should detonate in the deepest space possible too, otherwise many of his atoms will just settle on the planets and sun.

 

[DeepCoverage]

Cool. Thanks, Zaphys.

As you said, it's basically cinema so as long as the science holds up to an extent I'm okay with that. Nothing wrong with a bit of artistic license.

I believe it's better known as Movie-logic :)

 

[Zaphys]

Yes nice to help you I´ll be willing to see the movie :D

 

[DeepCoverage]

Thanks, Academic. Anywhere in space that might be poetic place to detonate? Some cosmic tourist trap? :)

 

[davidco2]

Can't he simply find a expiring black hole, calculate the time of its super explosion and jump in right before it explodes (but he should not reach it before the explosion). Since he would not die until he is inside the black hole, and as the black hole explodes he would be nicely and evenly distributed in the space. There is a nice scientific explanation of that phenomenon in or just buy his book "death by black hole" may be very inspiring for your work

 

[Born2bwire]

Having googled Tsar bomb, I'm guessing that might be logistically a little cumbersome ... or impossible even. :)

Good news! It's a suppository.

 

[Borek]

Thanks, Academic. Anywhere in space that might be poetic place to detonate? Some cosmic tourist trap? :)

Not easy to select place, if you wan't to be scattered throughout the Universe your atoms have to be fast enough (see escape velocity).

Technically it is impossible though - as the Universe grows with the speed of light, he will be always left behind...

Swallowing Tsar bomb was a poetic metaphore

 

[Hurkyl]

I feel I should point out that as long as you can write convincing insanity, any means at all should suffice for the method -- depending on plot details anyways.

My imagination paints a picture of a man who starts off with a reasonably accurate understanding of science, but starts to take a tour down crackpot lane -- his psychological need begins to replace empiricism as the justification for scientific theories. e.g. when he realizes Special Relativity would forbid him from every occupying any space outside of his future lightcone, he rejects it and starts to pursue more fringe theories.

So down these lines, the thing you don't want is accurate, mainstream science: instead you want to go dredging for some nutcase theories that wouldn't contradict his desires.

I confess I don't know enough examples crackpottery to suggest anything, though.

 

[DeepCoverage]

Thanks everyone. Although I'm not quite there yet, all this is helping.

The point is this is Sci-fi, so anything is possible. If I need him to find a black hole he can build a "blackhole detector". Failing that a "BlackHole Generator".

This is fantasy, sci-fi movie logic, so feel free to suggest anything and then it will be up to me to make it seem plausible within my mad little universe.

I kinda like the black hole idea at the moment, since I read up (and listened on youtube) as to how your body, battling between two opposing gravitational forces, would be ripped to atoms and reduced to a swirly. Then a super explosion...and bam!

Although how exactly would one know the exact second of super explosion.

Oh and how could one purposely create a black hole (remember movie-logicwise :) )?

I know scientists say the H cylinder thing could achieve that, but I wonder if that's just paper talk.

 

[Cleonis]

I’m an aspiring screenwriter currently writing a dark sci-fi story. It concerns one man’s life mission to achieve omnipresence

What extraordinary physics can the mentally unstable main character latch on to for achieving his goal of omnipresence?

I've seen the suggestions of using some form of explosion. One big problem that has been pointed out earlier: assuming the Universe keeps expanding forever there is no way to catch up. No matter how thoroughly a body is scattered, the scattered remains will only be present in a part of the Universe. Also, getting even a somewhat uniform distribution is unlikely.

How about the main character somehow convincing himself that he has access to a time machine that will take him physically to the very beginning of time: the Big Bang. That would ensure that the scattered remains are present in the entire universe. (Just don't mention that the Universe may be infinite; we cannot know about that.)

Astronomers describe that on very large scale the Universe is exceedingly uniform. Astronomers feel a need to come up with theories such as inflation, that has the early Universe going through a phase that has a huge homogenizing effect.

Are there speculations that some black hole configuration will allow traveling back in time?

Cleonis

 

[QuantumPion]

Good news! It's a suppository.

That is such a perfect use of a futurama reference.

 

[Incyder]

If you are trying to use a black hole, you could always have your main character break into the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to "create one" like all the superstitious people thought was going to happen anyways.

To be omnipresent, I would think, would involve quantum coherence. That is, two atoms acting as one. If your main character somehow got all of his atoms in phase with all the other atoms, however impossible that may be, theoretically he would be omnipresent.

 

[bjacoby]

Thanks everyone. Although I'm not quite there yet, all this is helping.

The point is this is Sci-fi, so anything is possible. If I need him to find a black hole he can build a "blackhole detector". Failing that a "BlackHole Generator".

This is fantasy, sci-fi movie logic, so feel free to suggest anything and then it will be up to me to make it seem plausible within my mad little universe.

I kinda like the black hole idea at the moment, since I read up (and listened on youtube) as to how your body, battling between two opposing gravitational forces, would be ripped to atoms and reduced to a swirly. Then a super explosion...and bam!

Actually anything is NOT possible in Sci-Fi. If you start violating the laws of physics and the universe with no explanation then your story is crap. (Typical hollywood example: Somebody being electrocuted when someone wires into the high voltage of a TV set as if they contacted a power substation. Boo.) So if you violate the laws of the universe you had better explain in some detail HOW you (main character) managed to achieve this God-like action.

Lets talk about scattering your atoms to the "universe". First cut would be to vaporize your body. Assume your body is mostly water. What is the volume of the typical (or your character's) body? How much energy would it take to "boil" that much water. That would be the energy, first cut, to "vaporize" a person. I'd say it's in the chemical explosive range. But that does not tear the chemicals in your body apart down to elements. To do that one needs to supply enough energy to break all chemical bonds and ionize the material of your body. This is considerably more! Hence people talking about atom bombs of various types.

But there's something else as well. What if you did get enough energy to vaporize or atomize yourself? Most likely the Earth's gravity would still trap the atoms and molecules and hence would not allow you to be scattered "to the universe". So now the story has to take a different turn. Either the guy has to manage an atomic explosion in space (yeah lots of things that could work here... Old SDI satellite, buys passage on commercial space trip( or hijacks it) etc. ... OR you choose a method that automatically scatters the atoms "somewhere" presumably to the universe and that would be a "black hole". After all who knows where the other side of a black hole spews it stuff to? Is it a "white hole" somewhere?

so How to FIND a black hole. Well there is one at the center of this galaxy, but that raises all the space travel stuff again. The other way would be to take advantage of all the public uproar over the claim that the Euro Haydron Collider will create black holes. Yep, lots of room to build a story with lots of REAL science and then give it that little black hole twist. Hey, nobody really knows if the machine could do it somehow or not anyway!

This is all kind of a broad outline but it's science that is real and works. Just compare to a hack line that the guy builds a "black hole detector" and just happens to find one slicing through Pennsylvania and jumps into it to scatter his atoms. Feh.

Good luck.

 

[mheslep]

I believe it was Asimov that said good science fiction comes about by relaxing one scientific principal, or imaging the an answer to one scientific unknown, but holding true to the remaining scientific principals where the story allows. Applying that to this story outline, it might help the to narrowly focus the character's possible routes to oblivion, and not simply have him omniscient and flying around on magic carpets until he throws the final switch.

 

[EinsteinII]

I got a better story! The Russian Skylab (still there in the space in the movie) which is rendered unfit for human occupation is converted into a makeshift "human accelerator" in a covert operation. The main character of the movie accelerates himself and collides with his girl friend and the binding energy between them(love) is released deep into the space. In that way the universe looks more beautiful from that day because of omnipresence of his love and himself. You can make it more fictional by bringing in the CIA, NASA, NSA and USAF! Let me know when you win an Oscar for this!