What Sci-Fi Got Wrong: Alcohol in Space

[Ivan Seeking]

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?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.

We've done it for recorded history? We also did blood letting and human sacrifices for most of recorded history. And for an alcoholic, there is no such a thing as moderation.

If you call brain damage healthy, okay.

This episode of Star Trek was about a race that didn't give up the booze. It was the only accurate future account I've ever seen.

 

[Melbourne Guy]

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

Written by James Gray (who also directed, that's a probity violation right there) and Ethan Gross (who wrote Fringe episodes, which is a parallel in vibe and thematic scientific accuracy), but I note that there did not seem to be a science advisor assigned. Had one been, it's unlikely they could have saved the film from terminal stupidity, because it needed a narrative transplant and that hardly ever happens.

 

[russ_watters]

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

The main remaining issue I see is the need for actors combined with the inability to fake gravity or lack thereof. That makes zero-g scenes really difficult to get convincing (higher positive g's are easier). Only a handful of movies have actually been filmed in zero-g.

 

[DaveC426913]

...there did not seem to be a science advisor assigned. Had one been, it's unlikely they could have saved the film from terminal stupidity, because it needed a narrative transplant and that hardly ever happens.

Agree. The very premise of the story was broken. To fix that, you'd write a different story.
Which would have been a blessing.

 

[DaveC426913]

The main remaining issue I see is the need for actors combined with the inability to fake gravity or lack thereof. That makes zero-g scenes really difficult to get convincing.

Oh phsaw.

Everybody knows that anyone floating in zero-G alllwaaaaaaays mooooooovesssss reaaaaaaalllllll sllllooooooowwwwww.

 

[russ_watters]

Oh phsaw.

Everybody knows that anyone floating in zero-G alllwaaaaaaays mooooooovesssss reaaaaaaalllllll sllllooooooowwwwww.

And oddly stiff.

 

[Melbourne Guy]

The main remaining issue I see is the need for actors combined with the inability to fake gravity or lack thereof.

That's being sorted...kind of!

https://www.space.com/russian-film-crew-soyuz-docks-at-space-station

 

[Filip Larsen]

Only a handful of movies have actually been filmed in zero-g.

The Apollo 13 movie was a real beauty in that and many other regards (and sorry for being completely off-topic here with a story that for once was done right).

 

[italicus]

And what about Star Wars? All people breathing the same air on all celestial bodies, without breathing apparatus.
gravity always the same, as on Earth, in fact they walk the same way. The Eagle (was this the name of the spacecraft ?) often jumping into hyperspace .
Anything else?

 

[Rive]

And what about Star Wars?

The general category of 'sci-fi' had to be extended with 'space opera' because of that, you know

And within that genre (opera) it is common to finish any important dialogues and sing some duets while dying from a sword though the heart.
Some troubles with the air and celestial bodies... Trivial

 

[italicus]

The name of the spacecraft driven by Ian Solo was Millennium Falcon (1977, first movie)

 

[PeroK]

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

Anyone who went to see that film can hardly complain. It had stinker written all over it.

 

[Melbourne Guy]

Anyone who went to see that film can hardly complain. It had stinker written all over it.

That's a bit harsh. Until you've seen it, you just don't know. Your mileage will vary, as the old saying goes. I thought it was a stinker, but the trailer looked good and reviews are so unreliable, so I can complain, I refute your claim

 

[PeroK]

Until you've seen it, you just don't know.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/movie-classics-that-totally-escape-me.976678/#post-6226561

I didn't have to see it. I knew!

 

[Melbourne Guy]

I didn't have to see it. I knew!

I wish I had your extrasensory powers of perception, @PeroK, it would have saved me many hours watching crappy movies

Ironically, one of the trailers during Ad Astra was that Will Smith movie where his younger clone is sent to kill him. It was silly, but much more fun than Ad Astra. It was also full of stuff that sci-fi will likely get wrong, like clones essentially 'being' the original person, but at least it was not taking itself seriously like Brad Pitt apparently was.

 

[PeroK]

I wish I had your extrasensory powers of perception,

It shouldn't take paranormal powers to recognise that that particular movie was going to be a stinker!

 

[Borg]

This scene from 2010 drove me nuts the first time that I saw it:

 

[DaveC426913]

The name of the spacecraft driven by Ian Solo was Millennium Falcon (1977, first movie)

 

[italicus]

There are other ships faster than the Millenium Falcon , here are 8 at least:
star-wars-ships-faster-than-millennium-falcon

One of them is this :

USS Planet Express Ship.
That ship, referred to as Old Bessie by the Professor, features an artificial intelligence system that has its own personality and communicates with the crew. It used to run on dark matter, supplied to the Professor by Lord Nibbler, which allowed the ship to travel at incredible speeds -- 4,870,000,000,000 times the speed of light. Now, it runs on whale oil. Interestingly, though, the ship is inanimate. In fact, it doesn't actually move, but rather moves the universe around it via the Dark Matter Accelerator.

It moves the universe via the Dark Matter Accelerator: enough interesting!

I’d have some of that whale oil.

 

[fresh_42]

I removed the inappropriate subdiscussion. I wanted to let you know whom to blame.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This scene from 2010 drove me nuts the first time that I saw it:

Why?

 

[DaveC426913]

Why?

Pretty sloppy sound editing, for one.

 

[Borg]

Why?

Because the ship is rotating away from them.

 

[BWV]

And what about Star Wars? All people breathing the same air on all celestial bodies, without breathing apparatus.
gravity always the same, as on Earth, in fact they walk the same way. The Eagle (was this the name of the spacecraft ?) often jumping into hyperspace .
Anything else?

Star Wars is fantasy, not SF - you know, save the princess from the dark lord’s castle with a magic sword

 

[Filip Larsen]

Because the ship is rotating away from them.

You mean because they wrongly "walk down the side" of the rotating Discovery as if they were in a parallel gravity field (like climbing down a vertical rock on Earth) or are you referring to something else? There is also the mysterious rotation "vanishing" occurring twice after the tether between them has induced a rotation on John.

 

[Hornbein]

You mean because they wrongly "walk down the side" of the rotating Discovery as if they were in a parallel gravity field (like climbing down a vertical rock on Earth) or are you referring to something else? There is also the mysterious rotation "vanishing" occurring twice after the tether between them has induced a rotation on John.

When the get to the end of the ship they complain they can't breathe because the artificial gravity is crushing them. But such gravity should be negative.

 

[Filip Larsen]

When the get to the end of the ship they complain they can't breathe because the artificial gravity is crushing them.

John (who plays Dr. Curnow) complains he can't breathe and someone on the radio say its because "he is hyperventilating". They pause and he calms down enough to start breathing normally. I don't hear or recall anyone saying anything about being crushed by artificial gravity.

 

[Borg]

You mean because they wrongly "walk down the side" of the rotating Discovery as if they were in a parallel gravity field (like climbing down a vertical rock on Earth) or are you referring to something else? There is also the mysterious rotation "vanishing" occurring twice after the tether between them has induced a rotation on John.

No, I mean that the ship is rotating away. They should end up free floating in space until the other end of the ship comes around and hits them.

 

[DaveC426913]

No, I mean that the ship is rotating away. They should end up free floating in space until the other end of the ship comes around and hits them.

This is what you're thinking.

I think you have to account for the fact that they've been imparted with a small transverse velocity component which will skew the net force.

But I think someone (else) should do a proper free body diagram.

 

[Borg]

Where exactly are the forces on the person coming from in your diagram? If the person is on the other side of the ship, the ship pushes on them and they experience a force. Nothing is pushing on them when they're on the back side of the rotation.