What Sci-Fi Got Wrong: Alcohol in Space

[OCR]

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Lol, you will never get bored. . . if you can watch. . . DUST !
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[sbrothy]

Generally it was assumed that technology would advance far more quickly than it did. Consider that in 2001 we were flying Pan Am to the moon. The big exception is the advances in electronics, which in real life often exceeded expectations in science fiction. Of course that too has its under performers, like AI.

In the sequel to 2001, 2010, we went to Europa. And we got a second sun. :)

I actually think 2010 is a much better film (or at least has a more plausible plot) than 2001. Specifically, it captures the paranoia of the cold war well.

 

[some bloke]

I know it's entirely because of the technology at the time, but seeing older movies set in the future where all the screens are CRT instead of flatscreens makes me smile a little (EG alien). The old models for warhammer 40k space marines also had curved CRT style screens on them, despite being set in the year 40,000!

It saddens me that the aspirations of technology have gone from optimistic to gritty in so short a time. Films used to predict flying cars, hoverboards, teleportation, space travel, and so on. Total recall was set on mars, then the remake was set in australia, because Mars isn't realistic.

Most sci-fi now is about AI and robots more than technological breakthroughs which make life easier or cooler for people! More gritty, but less optimistic. It might even be being driven by the desire to "get it right", rather than create a cool narrative. "I said there's be robots in 2050, and I was right! rather than "I said faster than light travel by 2050, and I was wrong!".

 

[nsaspook]

The Distress Call

You receive a distress signal from an unknown source. Do you A) Investigate or B) Run the hell away!
C) Can we talk about the bonus check first.

 

[Anachronist]

Science fiction books, at least the ones I've read, tend to get known science right, and whatever hypothetical science is needed for the story, well, it doesn't matter, that's up to the author.

Science fiction television and most movies, however, are replete with errors. A specific example would be an episode in Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Data says the surface temperature of a planet is something ridiculous below -273°C.

More general examples of consistent errors I have posted elsewhere and reproduce here. I call these my Rules of Hollywood Science, which movies and television shows seem to follow religiously:

• Sounds must always be present in the vacuum of space.
• Lasers must make interesting noises.
• The light of a laser beam must be brightly visible even in a vacuum, and it must travel slower than the speed of light, so that viewers can get a sense of the beam's trajectory over a couple frames of film.
• Ships maneuvering in a weightless vacuum shall bank when they turn, as if they are flying through an atmosphere in a gravitational field.
• Camera shots of an actor's face in front of a video display should show what's being displayed projected onto the actor's face, in focus, as if the display were projecting through a lens. It is not necessary for the projection to be reversed.
• Control panels must have high-current power running through them, so that when disaster strikes, the control panel emits showers of sparks.
• Two or more ships in space must always orient themselves as if there is a universal "up" direction agreed upon by all.
• When a ship flies by the camera while orbiting a planet, the viewer must see the ship fly along a curved path, as if the planet is small enough for an observer to notice the curvature before the receding ship becomes too small to see.
• Actors should wear helmets with bright internal lights that illuminate their faces, thereby preventing them from seeing anything in low-light environments. They have directors to tell them what to do; they don't really need to see.
• Aliens are always humanoid.
• A person escaping from an underwater confined space must be able to hold breath during extreme physical exertion longer than is humanly possible.
• Langauge barriers usually don't exist.
• Sound travels at infinite velocity. The sound from events (such as explosions) visible far away in the distance must be heard simultaneously with the event.
• Computers must always make cute little noises when keys are pressed or when characters or images appear on the display.
• Text communication via computer must appear on a display at average human reading speed, as if being transmitted by a 1970s-era 300 baud modem.
• Real space-time communication delays due to astronomical distances can be safely ignored.
• During any countdown sequence (such as with a bomb on a timer), it is permissible for each one-second time interval to contain dialog and action that far exceeds one second in duration.
• the list goes on...

 

[phinds]

GADS, you've really been paying attention

 

[Anachronist]

I know it's entirely because of the technology at the time, but seeing older movies set in the future where all the screens are CRT instead of flatscreens makes me smile a little (EG alien). The old models for warhammer 40k space marines also had curved CRT style screens on them, despite being set in the year 40,000!

That reminds me of the original Battlestar Galactica series, in which nobody thought twice about having microphones connected via a cable to a console. Then in the latest series, this was "explained" as being more secure than using wireless devices to communicate. That's true if nothing is encrypted, but even so, I thought that was a clever explanation.

 

[sbrothy]

Science fiction television and most movies, however, are replete with errors. A specific example would be an episode in Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Data says the surface temperature of a planet is something ridiculous below -273°C.

Far be it from me to defend the "science" of stupid scifi tvseries and movies, but are you sure that this particular temperature wasn't given in Fahrenheit?After all, the show in question is undoubtedly american and in all fairness absolute zero in fahrenheit is actually -459,67. :D

 

[sbrothy]

I know it's entirely because of the technology at the time, but seeing older movies set in the future where all the screens are CRT instead of flatscreens makes me smile a little (EG alien). The old models for warhammer 40k space marines also had curved CRT style screens on them, despite being set in the year 40,000!

It saddens me that the aspirations of technology have gone from optimistic to gritty in so short a time. Films used to predict flying cars, hoverboards, teleportation, space travel, and so on. Total recall was set on mars, then the remake was set in australia, because Mars isn't realistic.

Most sci-fi now is about AI and robots more than technological breakthroughs which make life easier or cooler for people! More gritty, but less optimistic. It might even be being driven by the desire to "get it right", rather than create a cool narrative. "I said there's be robots in 2050, and I was right! rather than "I said faster than light travel by 2050, and I was wrong!".

I know it's entirely because of the technology at the time, but seeing older movies set in the future where all the screens are CRT instead of flatscreens makes me smile a little (EG alien). The old models for warhammer 40k space marines also had curved CRT style screens on them, despite being set in the year 40,000!

It saddens me that the aspirations of technology have gone from optimistic to gritty in so short a time. Films used to predict flying cars, hoverboards, teleportation, space travel, and so on. Total recall was set on mars, then the remake was set in australia, because Mars isn't realistic.

Most sci-fi now is about AI and robots more than technological breakthroughs which make life easier or cooler for people! More gritty, but less optimistic. It might even be being driven by the desire to "get it right", rather than create a cool narrative. "I said there's be robots in 2050, and I was right! rather than "I said faster than light travel by 2050, and I was wrong!".

That reminds me of the original Battlestar Galactica series, in which nobody thought twice about having microphones connected via a cable to a console. Then in the latest series, this was "explained" as being more secure than using wireless devices to communicate. That's true if nothing is encrypted, but even so, I thought that was a clever explanation.

TvTropes has a name for this sort of thing:

Zeerust

As far as I understand the less zeerust the better the show stood the test of time but it's been a while since I read the article.

 

[Anachronist]

Far be it from me to defend the "science" of stupid scifi tvseries and movies, but are you sure that this particular temperature wasn't given in Fahrenheit?After all, the show in question is undoubtedly american and in all fairness absolute zero in fahrenheit is actually -459,67. :D

Yes, I am 100% sure. The episode was The Royale, and the gaffe is documented in the Wikipedia article about that episode, in which Geordi LaForge (not Data) says the temperature is -291°C.

 

[sbrothy]

Yes, I am 100% sure. The episode was The Royale, and the gaffe is documented in the Wikipedia article about that episode, in which Geordi LaForge (not Data) says the temperature is -291°C.

Yeah ok. I not surprised. I just hoped that for once we made a mistake. Fat chance. ;)

 

[sbrothy]

Yeah ok. I not surprised. I just hoped that for once we made a mistake. Fat chance. ;)

BTW: I'm sure I mentioned this site before:

Atomic Rockets

It's meant as a help for aspiring scifi authors to avoid the myriad of pitfalls, some of which are mentioned above. It's entertaining in and of itself though and there are a ton of scifi book suggestions mixed in. Especially the plethora of realistic (at least theoretically) engine types and tings usually overlooked by amatoer scifi writers (termodynamics, world building, economics, the reality of spare warfare etc).

 

[sbrothy]

BTW: I'm sure I mentioned this site before:

Atomic Rockets

It's meant as a help for aspiring scifi authors to avoid the myriad of pitfalls, some of which are mentioned above. It's entertaining in and of itself though and there are a ton of scifi book suggestions mixed in. Especially the plethora of realistic (at least theoretically) engine types and tings usually overlooked by amatoer scifi writers (termodynamics, world building, economics, the reality of spare warfare

My all-time favorite is this one:

Nuclear Salt Water Rocket

Remember to point the exhaust away from populated areas. :)

 

[BWV]

Then there is bad economics - why would anyone trade over interstellar distances, other than maybe high-status luxury goods? If you have the technology to travel between stars, you have the resources to manufacture anything you need for far less energy.

 

[nsaspook]

Then there is bad economics - why would anyone trade over interstellar distances, other than maybe high-status luxury goods? If you have the technology to travel between stars, you have the resources to manufacture anything you need for far less energy.

There are some things you just can't make on the home planet.

 

[dlgoff]

Space ships DO NOT fly aerodynamically, with banking turns and whooshing sounds.

In space, no one can hear you scream.

I know that's right.

 

[Hornbein]

Then there is bad economics - why would anyone trade over interstellar distances, other than maybe high-status luxury goods? If you have the technology to travel between stars, you have the resources to manufacture anything you need for far less energy.

That one always bothered me. It was just an excuse to recreate the British Empire with space ships. Avatar had a nice tongue-in-cheek touch : the white men were invading to extract Unobtainium.

It would make a lot more sense to trade things that can be transmitted electronically. I'd pay to hear/see art from another planet. Or just plain tourism. But not much drama in that.

 

[sbrothy]

I'm bored and wanted to share an idle thought with someone. As it doesn't really merit it's own thread I'll put it here. If it's merits sharing at all I'll let you decide. The answer is likely no but as I said: I'm bored. My "loneliness" is by choice though. :)

To my embarrassment I have "Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter" running on the TV in the background (which is my usual TV MO). It may or may not be making some kind of simile between slave drivers and vampires, very very loosely along the lines of "Django Unchained". I kind of doubt it because I haven't really been paying attention (I prefer RFMs as stated elsewhere.)

What I did notice though, was the anachronistic use of cool sunglasses in both (and probably other) movies where they don't really belong.

I can understand Tarantino, but what is it with sunglasses? Are they somehow replacing smoking identifying the one "you don't F with", good or bad?

You may go about your business again. Nothing to see here. Really!

Regards. :)

PS: Now I think about it (uncanny huh? I only think about what I write when I reread it!) this is more a case of what post-fiction got/gets "right"... or something... Nah I should have left it at that. I'm going to bed. :)

 

[gmax137]

what is it with sunglasses?

Remember in K-Pax, prot explains the sunglasses, "I forgot how bright it is on this planet" (or something along those lines...

 

[sbrothy]

Remember in K-Pax, prot explains the sunglasses, "I forgot how bright it is on this planet" (or something along those lines...

That's funny. This one seems to have escaped my attention. It rings a lot of bells though but these movies always do as many of the themes necessary repeat.

I I'll give it a go. Thank you. (Extra points for reading my half-intoxicated garbage
But ofcourse it doesn't really explain anything as most of those I talk about are born on Earth (presumably. who knows?) and should be accustomed to the "photonic ambiance" :)

Regards.

 

[Hornbein]

- characters speaking weird made-up dialects - i get that people in the future space empire might have different languages and dialects, but don't try to make them up and inflict them on the reader

It works quite well in A Clockwork Orange.

I once saw a Vince Diesel SF action movie that had been dubbed into a language I didn't recognize at all. It made it a lot more exotic and alien, very effective. It really seemed like something from another planet.

It turned out to be Thai, but not the polite Thai that foreigners are exposed to.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Remember in K-Pax, prot explains the sunglasses, "I forgot how bright it is on this planet" (or something along those lines...

That's what I love about PF. It takes a true nerd to go directly from cool sunglasses to K-Pax.

It's something I would do and then get strange looks from the non PF people around me.

 

[sbrothy]

That's what I love about PF. It takes a true nerd to go directly from cool sunglasses to K-Pax.

It's something I would do and then get strange looks from the non PF people around me.

I realize the comment wasn't aimed at me. Still, you wouldn't believe some of the strange looks I get from my immediate circle of acquaintances, not to mention complete strangers. Without even opening my mouth! :)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I realize the comment wasn't aimed at me. Still, you wouldn't believe some of the strange looks I get from my immediate circle of acquaintances, not to mention complete strangers. Without even opening my mouth! :)

I have to be very careful. I am an extrovert with a wicked sense of humor. And I can take over a room and have everyone cracking up. But my sense of humor can cross the line for some people. And if I say what I'm really thinking, most people would have no idea what I'm talking about.

Most people probably wouldn't know K-Pax. "K-Pax what? Is that a rap singer?"

 

[gmax137]

It takes a true nerd

Thanks! I take "nerd" as a compliment, unlike "dork" or "dweeb."

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Thanks! I take "nerd" as a compliment, unlike "dork" or "dweeb."

Me too. I often refer to myself as a nerd, and proud of it!

 

[White Hole]

In the movies we are almost always able to put up a fight against invading aliens. There is almost no chance that we would be anywhere close to evenly matched. It would likely be like ants rising up against humans.

And any invading aliens probably have antivirus software in the mother ship. Don't expect Jeff Goldblum to save you.

The aliens from Independence Day seemed to be brainwashed; they have no reason for antivirus, because nobody had ever thought about viruses. Computer viruses wouldn't exist in their civilization, no reason for them to

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here is something they almost always get wrong. In fact I don't think I've ever seen it done correctly. Whenever we see a show or movie using an MRI scanner [Magnetic Resonance Imaging for medical purposes], they imply or write the plot suggesting the magnet doesn't turn on until they start the scan. FAIL! The magnet normally remains on indefinitely. The only thing involved in a scan is the emission of RF to wobble your Hydrogen atoms; and then detecting the emissions back from those atoms.

 

[White Hole]

Science fiction books, at least the ones I've read, tend to get known science right, and whatever hypothetical science is needed for the story, well, it doesn't matter, that's up to the author.

Science fiction television and most movies, however, are replete with errors. A specific example would be an episode in Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Data says the surface temperature of a planet is something ridiculous below -273°C.

More general examples of consistent errors I have posted elsewhere and reproduce here. I call these my Rules of Hollywood Science, which movies and television shows seem to follow religiously:

• Sounds must always be present in the vacuum of space.
• Lasers must make interesting noises.
• The light of a laser beam must be brightly visible even in a vacuum, and it must travel slower than the speed of light, so that viewers can get a sense of the beam's trajectory over a couple frames of film.
• Ships maneuvering in a weightless vacuum shall bank when they turn, as if they are flying through an atmosphere in a gravitational field.
• Camera shots of an actor's face in front of a video display should show what's being displayed projected onto the actor's face, in focus, as if the display were projecting through a lens. It is not necessary for the projection to be reversed.
• Control panels must have high-current power running through them, so that when disaster strikes, the control panel emits showers of sparks.
• Two or more ships in space must always orient themselves as if there is a universal "up" direction agreed upon by all.
• When a ship flies by the camera while orbiting a planet, the viewer must see the ship fly along a curved path, as if the planet is small enough for an observer to notice the curvature before the receding ship becomes too small to see.
• Actors should wear helmets with bright internal lights that illuminate their faces, thereby preventing them from seeing anything in low-light environments. They have directors to tell them what to do; they don't really need to see.
• Aliens are always humanoid.
• A person escaping from an underwater confined space must be able to hold breath during extreme physical exertion longer than is humanly possible.
• Langauge barriers usually don't exist.
• Sound travels at infinite velocity. The sound from events (such as explosions) visible far away in the distance must be heard simultaneously with the event.
• Computers must always make cute little noises when keys are pressed or when characters or images appear on the display.
• Text communication via computer must appear on a display at average human reading speed, as if being transmitted by a 1970s-era 300 baud modem.
• Real space-time communication delays due to astronomical distances can be safely ignored.
• During any countdown sequence (such as with a bomb on a timer), it is permissible for each one-second time interval to contain dialog and action that far exceeds one second in duration.
• the list goes on...

My rules:
Sounds, of course, are not present in space; the viewer can hear them, but nobody else should respond unless they are connected via platform
Lasers do make interesting noises...
Lasers of course travel at the speed of light, but plasma guns don't
Space travel is complicated
Can you fix that?
It takes a lot of energy to power a spaceship, and there is a safety warning
They don't need to be oriented, but there IS a universal Up, just like there's a universal North, East, South, West, and Down
I agree, this needs to be fixed.
I agree, this needs to be fixed.
There are pigs, and spiders, and birds, and trees; most of them are humanoid because the evolution stops with humans.
I agree, this definitely needs to be fixed
Translators
I agree, this needs to be fixed
It has the same purpose as the ping you sometimes get on your phone
This can be fixed, depends on timeline
This should definitely be fixed, quantum communication is the way to go
This should be fixed and applied to all movies (Looking at you James Bond)

 

[pinball1970]

The thing that always gets me is where the alien is a monster that constantly drools acid or some other fluid and you never see them off-screen chugging gatorade to replenish their bodily fluids.

Dallas: 'ive only ever seen that with molecular acid...'