Interesting discussion

Comments

• Stingray Elite Ranger

  May 2006

  That discussion only proves that scifi authors don't let science get in the way of telling a compelling story.
  
  I don't think there's a single scifi show out there which doesn't take artistic license when it's faced with a choice to serve us realism or entertainment.
  
  There have been discussions like this one well before Babylon 5. Like those about lightsabers that would never work, or the Enterprise would never reach the speed of light (or go beyond it according to this or that formula....blah, blah). Beam me up Scotty, or that food replicator, which synthesizes food using energy and whatnot.
  
  I mean, that's what scifi is. Flying cars will remain fiction until someone actually builds one and will forever shut those people up who said it wasn't possible at the time (if they are still alive that is).
  
  So comments about lasers not cutting through ships like that make me laugh, because it's fiction and those people think they have to let other people know it's not possible. But that's exactly why people enjoy these shows in the first place, because they are not real. Next thing they'll do is analyze movies like Men in Black and say, hey that neurolizer can't do that, it's just a dumb flashlight.
  
  Anyway, thanks for the link, it made me laugh. :D
• croxis I am the walrus

  May 2006

  but on the flip side many argue that one of the inherent duty of science fiction is teach or explain science. Otherwise what you have is futuristic fantasy. Your flying car example doesn't work because it Can be done with physics as we understand them. They wouldn't quite look like what was on the Jetsons, but it can be done and explained and placed into a story realistically.
• Sanfam I like clocks.

  May 2006

  You *could* argue that, but I could also argue that pigs are born with unobservable wings and simply refuse to fly on their own accord.
  
  Of course, the border between Science Fiction and Fantasy is vague. It's gerally assumed that Fantasy seems to involve a particular combination setting and composition within the universe.
• croxis I am the walrus

  May 2006

  The problem is your claimisn't science as it is an unfalsifiable hypothesis ;)
• Stingray Elite Ranger

  May 2006

  [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by croxis [/i]
  [B]but on the flip side many argue that one of the inherent duty of science fiction is teach or explain science. Otherwise what you have is futuristic fantasy. [/B][/QUOTE]
  
  Well, ask JMS, Babylon 5 was never about technology or hard science, it was about the people and politics. If anything scifi exists mainly to inspire and motivate people, certainly not to teach them real physics or astronomy.
  
  I suppose your teachers were certainly impressed by your imagination when solving math problems. ;) :) At least they were in my case, until I stopped and solved the problems their way.
  
  [QUOTE][B]
  Your flying car example doesn't work because it Can be done with physics as we understand them. They wouldn't quite look like what was on the Jetsons, but it can be done and explained and placed into a story realistically. [/B][/QUOTE]
  
  Yes, the example works, as just a century ago, so-called scientists claimed mechanical flight was not possible, and the Wright brothers and many others proved them wrong. And just because it's possible doesn't mean it's going to get done. I mean how many car manufacturers do you see building flying cars? They are dragging their feet to build fuel-efficient cars, so don't hold your breath for the next step.
  
  Coming back to the initial topic, depictions of spacebattles in general are done wrong because we haven't had any yet, or the means to do them. The first attempts looked cheesy, because the filmmakers didn't have the tools to make them look realistic. Now we do have the means to make them look believable, but now people come and say the physics aren't right.
  
  People say you can't hear sound in space. Others say you can hear the sound of an exploding ship once you are engulfed in the gas sphere of the burning and the expanding mixture of oxygen, fuel and whatnot "connects" with the hull of the ship you are flying in. Who's right, who's wrong?
  
  Lab experiments show us that sound does not travel in a vaccuum, but what about gas/dust clouds and nebulas? Soundwaves only need a few molecules to travel.
  
  A theory is right until it's proven wrong, or vice versa. And then there are exceptions. :D And then there's Hollywood.