What Sci-Fi Got Wrong: Alcohol in Space

[Ivan Seeking]

Old episode of House: A woman put into an MRI has metal screws in her leg she didn't disclose. The story was the screws got hot due to the magnetic field.

NO! It is a static magnetic field. What generates the heat is the RF emitted to wobble the H atoms.The magnetic field does things like pull the screws out of the bone! We had that happen to an old WWI vet back in the 80s. [I worked on MRI units]

However, I think all screws and metal used internally is stainless and not a problem magnetically. Even the WWI vet had stainless pins in his leg but they were of such a low quality [because of the period] that they were still dangerous.

 

[pinball1970]

There are inconsistencies regarding the size of the alien in “ALIEN”
When it bursts out of Kane and runs away it is about the size of squirrel within a few hours it is so big it kills Brett and lifts him off the ground in the process.
Where did all that extra mass come from?
Assuming it did not raid the kitchen?
When it grabs Dallas in the air duct it is not as big again its human size.
I know they tinkered with the plot while they were filming but that was an inconsistency for me.
I still love the film, the ultimate sci fi thriller/horror combo, not many good ones.
Contact

Why didn’t Ellies kit record anything? Why ok before and after but static for 18 hours during the trip?
Assuming everything was not fried (everything else seemed to be ok) should not physical laws apply on near Vega? Just as they do here?
I know the ending is supposed to be bitter sweet so she could not be vindicated at the end but a reasonable explanation was not given.
The other thing is if she went to Vega and back at the speed of light it would take 50 years, I take it a worm hold just cuts that down to practically zero?
If that is the case why does 18 hours equate to an instant?
Should it not be the other way round at least to some extent?
Using the 1-v2c2 I can put Ellie to near to C I get 18 hours = 25 days

 

[gmax137]

There are inconsistencies regarding the size of the alien in “ALIEN”
When it bursts out of Kane and runs away it is about the size of squirrel within a few hours it is so big it kills Brett and lifts him off the ground in the process.
Where did all that extra mass come from?
Assuming it did not raid the kitchen?
When it grabs Dallas in the air duct it is not as big again its human size.
I know they tinkered with the plot while they were filming but that was an inconsistency for me.
I still love the film, the ultimate sci fi thriller/horror combo, not many good ones.

I saw Alien in the movie theater when it first came out, like the first weekend, before there were any spoilers. I still remember when it erupted from the guy's chest -- everyone in the theater jumped in their seats. A loud collective gasp with some screaming. Awesome.

 

[pinball1970]

I saw Alien in the movie theater when it first came out, like the first weekend, before there were any spoilers. I still remember when it erupted from the guy's chest -- everyone in the theater jumped in their seats. A loud collective gasp with some screaming. Awesome.

I was too young unfortunately, it was an 'X' in the UK so 18 or over only.
That would have been something to see on the big screen first.
The only real cinema experience I had like that was Jaws - I think it was an 'A' So accompanied by an adult (thanks mum) Scared the hell out of me.

Back to Alien, have a look at you tube cut scenes. Lambert is cornered by the Alien and Parker is screaming at her to get out of the way.
The Alien looks like a shuffling E.T. As in THE E.T. from the kids film, ridiculous. Good job they cut it but again the size. It yo yos mass size that makes no sense.
BUT...Love that film.
Got to mention molecular acid again too. Did that irritate @Borek ?

 

[Bystander]

Did that irritate @Borek ?

It did me, and I'll say "Yes" for Borek.

 

[DaveC426913]

One I've noticed often is the idea that in 400 years or a galaxy far, far away, people in space ships will be pouring brandy. There is an obsession with booze in much of sci fi. While I doubt the use of drugs will disappear, I don't think people and aliens will forever be pouring a glass.

No? You don't think that there are traditions we have today that are 400 years old and have spread throughout civilization?

Smoking a fine cigar.
Japanese tea ceremony.
Extending a hand in greeting (to show that it holds no weapon).
Making bread in a kiln.
Practicing archery.
"Good-bye" (God Be With Ye).
"Jesus Christ!"
etc.

I don't think it is an accident that a fine tradition like pouring brandy shows up in futuristic shows. I think it's thought through quite carefully as a timeless symbol of long friendships or new friendships, camaraderie, taking time for the good things in life - not to mention a reverence for timeless traditions.

 

[phinds]

There's also smoking on spaceships in some sci-fic movies and that always strikes me as silly.

 

[DaveC426913]

There's also smoking on spaceships in some sci-fic movies and that always strikes me as silly.

This is a deliberate antidote to the straight-laced, shiny-chrome, by-the-regs military organization of Star Trek.

They're not starship officers; they're blue collar labourers, whose job is on a spaceship.

In a society where regs are a cute fiction, why would normal people not smoke?

Not a safety thing; people smoke on boats all the time. Besides, I think the idea is they've solved the fire-in-a-closed-vessel danger by then. And that's is a message too:

Technology changes constantly; human behaviour does not.

 

[phinds]

I think the idea is they've solved the fire-in-a-closed-vessel danger by then

I wasn't thinking of fire but of needing a more robust air purification system, PLUS the fact that a spaceship is a closed environment and we already know the danger of second hand some. I KNOW I'm being logical in a situation where it really doesn't apply, but I can't help myself.

 

[BWV]

So how many human crewmembers does the Enterprise really need with nearly god-like AI? Just maybe one or two disposable ones for landing parties?

 

[Hornbein]

As for The Alien changing mass, that tradition goes back to King Kong.

 

[Filip Larsen]

So how many human crewmembers does the Enterprise really need with nearly god-like AI? Just maybe one or two disposable ones for landing parties?

The loss of crew is their own fault! One would think the computer or some of the highly intelligent crew onboard would have picked up on the correlation between uniform color (when that color is red) and fatality rate in landing parties, but noooo.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No? You don't think that there are traditions we have today that are 400 years old and have spread throughout civilization?

Smoking a fine cigar.
Japanese tea ceremony.
Extending a hand in greeting (to show that it holds no weapon).
Making bread in a kiln.
Practicing archery.
"Good-bye" (God Be With Ye).
"Jesus Christ!"
etc.

I don't think it is an accident that a fine tradition like pouring brandy shows up in futuristic shows. I think it's thought through quite carefully as a timeless symbol of long friendships or new friendships, camaraderie, taking time for the good things in life - not to mention a reverence for timeless traditions.

I think the fact that you are dumping poison in your body will kill it. Drinking will eventually go the way of smoking, as it should!

 

[DaveC426913]

I think the fact that you are dumping poison in your body will kill it.

But we've done that for all the recorded history. Why have we not stopped, and what would change in the future to stop it?

Drinking will eventually go the way of smoking, as it should!

We figured out that smoking causes death by cancer only in the last 50 years. And in surprisingly small amounts - unlike alcohol, which, in moderation, is considered healthy.

 

[italicus]

Let me throw my coin here.

Did anybody notice that , at least in old movies like Star Trek, the astronauts always stand still ? This is wrong, one can stand still in a spaceship only when it is accelerated...continuously accelerated...! No gravity is supposed therein.
An artificial gravity can be created by rotation with a given angular velocity. This is done in Interstellar.
But one as to be careful: moving into a rotating reference frame , like the Endurance, gives problems with the Coriolis force, which can displace you aside, it depends on vec\omega and vec\v.
There is a good lesson by Walter Lewin on the Tube.

 

[DaveC426913]

Let me throw my coin here.

Did anybody notice that , at least in old movies like Star Trek, the astronauts always stand still ? This is wrong, one can stand still in a spaceship only when it is accelerated...continuously accelerated...! No gravity is supposed therein.
An artificial gravity can be created by rotation with a given angular velocity. This is done in Interstellar.
But one as to be careful: moving into a rotating reference frame , like the Endurance, gives problems with the Coriolis force, which can displace you aside, it depends on vec\omega and vec\v.
There is a good lesson by Walter Lewin on the Tube.

??

The Star Trek universe has ships that generate their own gravity using technobabble.

 

[italicus]

The Star Trek universe has ships that generate their own gravity using technobabble

What ‘s a technobabble? Too many years have passed!

 

[DaveC426913]

What ‘s a technobabble? Too many years have passed!

Actually, I don't think they ever get into the tech of it. They're just talk about the "gravity generators". They are linked with the "inertial dampers" that stops everyone from being wall-jam.

Can anybody list a specific film or show that shows people acting as if there's gravity, even though there shouldn't be any? I was thinking of Space:1999, but I think they actually float when they are in the Eagles in space.

 

[russ_watters]

The other thing is if she went to Vega and back at the speed of light it would take 50 years, I take it a worm hold just cuts that down to practically zero?
If that is the case why does 18 hours equate to an instant?
Should it not be the other way round at least to some extent?
Using the 1-v2c2 I can put Ellie to near to C I get 18 hours = 25 days

Wormhole rules:

• Wormholes take as long to traverse as is necessary to prove how dangerous they are.
• Wormholes are violent; they will shake the ship to slightly less than the shields/dampers can withstand.
• Shaking/turbulence is always horizontal, never vertical, and certainly never producing negative g's.

 

[russ_watters]

So how many human crewmembers does the Enterprise really need with nearly god-like AI? Just maybe one or two disposable ones for landing parties?

I mean at what point do they stop inviting junior crew on away missions and issuing them red shirts?

 

[DaveC426913]

Why didn’t Ellies kit record anything? Why ok before and after but static for 18 hours during the trip?

(It never occurred until now to me that my assumption wasn't the assumption every one else made:)

It was deliberately jammed by the Vegans.

I think the monologue by ersatz Dad avatar said something about humans "aren't ready yet", that they had to be led there one small step at a time, or some such. So, they've essentially made Ellie a modern prophet.

 

[russ_watters]

What ‘s a technobabble? Too many years have passed!

Technical-sounding gibberish.

Actually, I don't think they ever get into the tech of it. They're just talk about the "gravity generators".

According to the technical manual, they provide a controlled stream of gravitons similar to the functioning of the tractor beam. Power from the electro plasma system (EPS) is channeled into a hollow chamber of anicium titanide 454. Suspended in the center of the cylinder, in pressurized chylon gas, is a superconducting stator of thoronium arkenide. The stator rotates at 125,000 rpm, generating the graviton field.

 

[DaveC426913]

Technical-sounding gibberish.

According to the technical manual, they provide a controlled stream of gravitons similar to the functioning of the tractor beam. Power from the electro plasma system (EPS) is channeled into a hollow chamber of anicium titanide 454. Suspended in the center of the cylinder, in pressurized chylon gas, is a superconducting stator of thoronium arkenide. The stator rotates at 125,000 rpm, generating the graviton field.

I wonder if they ever explain how it manages to be perpendicular to the decks at every point in the ship - as if the emitter is near infinity.

 

[russ_watters]

I wonder if they ever explain how it manages to be perpendicular to the decks at every point in the ship - as if the emitter is near infinity.

Were you not listening? It's a controlled stream of gravitons!

 

[pinball1970]

(It never occurred until now to me that my assumption wasn't the assumption every one else made:)

It was deliberately jammed by the Vegans.

I think the monologue by ersatz Dad avatar said something about humans "aren't ready yet", that they had to be led there one small step at a time, or some such. So, they've essentially made Ellie a modern prophet.

That rings a small bell. I think that has been asked and answered before on pf.
Makes sense too thanks.

 

[Vanadium 50]

What ‘s a technobabble?

Treknobabble!

The in-series explanation of why gravity is vertical is "gravity plates". These are apparently self contained with no central control, for plot reasons. "Captain - the creature is isolated to Deck 7" "Set the gravity plates to 1000 g's and send Ensign Timmy down with a mop."

 

[phinds]

"Set the gravity plates to 1000 g's and send Ensign Timmy down with a mop."

But issue him a red shirt first, just in case.

 

[BWV]

Got to cut people in the pre-CGI era some slack, no excuse now though

 

[Melbourne Guy]

Got to cut people in the pre-CGI era some slack, no excuse now though

There is no excuse, is there, apart from science and storytelling don't always play nicely. Exhibit A, Brad Pitt's abominable Ad Astra. I am conflicted vis a vis a recommendation, because it's so lame, but there is the scene with the monkey, and that's hilariously dumb, so what you gunna do?

The in-series explanation of why gravity is vertical is "gravity plates".

I'm using gravity plates in my latest novel, @Vanadium 50, and I thought about this issue for a bit, but it's too complicated to describe anything but 'flat' gravity. Besides, we don't really know how they might work, so I figure it is fair to adopt a degree of narrative license with them.

 

[DaveC426913]

There is no excuse, is there, apart from science and storytelling don't always play nicely. Exhibit A, Brad Pitt's abominable Ad Astra. I am conflicted vis a vis a recommendation, because it's so lame, but there is the scene with the monkey, and that's hilariously dumb, so what you gunna do?

It is a rare film that drives me to anger. Ad Astra was such a film.

It was the whole gravity-pulsey widget that was activated for no apparent reason and could destroy the world - but could not be shut off by anyone except our hero with his mad social skillz (oh but first we'll grind to a STOP in space for a Wellness check before continuing on our way with our infinite fuel supply) that was the entire premise for the plot.

Was this written by a grade school kid with delusions of grandeur?