The following is reprinted from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into the Universe. Most of the time we're willing to shovel down the popcorn and watch Yoda lift X-Wings out of the swamp using nothing but the Force and a smattering of questionably parsed English, or let Jean-Luc Picard get the Enterprise out of a scrape by the convenient discovery of yet another type of particle beam. But every once in a while we just have to vent about some of the truly egregious "fiction" in science fiction.
1. Sounds in Space
The tag line from Alien got it right: "In Space, no one can hear you scream". The reason no one can hear you scream is that sound needs air to travel in, and there's none in space. Most of space is a hard vacuum, with a molecule or two of hydrogen floating around in every cubic meter - not nearly enough to transmit sound. Every sound in the movies, from photon torpedoes and laser beams to exploding starships and hyperspace booms, would never happen in real life. For that matter, you'd never see laser beams in space either, since in a vacuum there's no medium to reveal them. So a real-life laser dog fight in space would be really boring to watch.
2. Faster-Than-Light Travel
Warp drives and hyperspace are very useful in science fiction, but there's one catch. According to Einstein, the speed of light isn't just a good idea, it's the law. Nothing can go faster than the speed of light in a vacuum (that's about 186,000 miles per second). Even inching toward the speed of light is difficult - immense energy is required to get to even a fraction of the speed of light, and the closer you get to the speed of light, the more energy is required. The amount of energy you'd need to achieve the speed of light is infinite (i.e., more than you've got, even with those supercool long-lasting batteries). So just tossing in a few more dilithium crystals into the warp drives isn't going to make it happen. There are loopholes in our understanding of the physics that make faster-than-light travel theoretically possible. For example, it's theoretically possible to create a "bubble" of space that breaks itself off from other space and moves faster than light relative to that space (all the while everything inside both "spaces" moves no faster than the speed of light). This is known as an Alcubierre Warp Bubble. The catch (there had to be one) is that these bubbles require the existence of exotic matter that has negative energy, and wouldn't you know, there isn't really any lying around, and it's not clear that any actually exists.
3. Laser Bolts You Can Dodge
Aside from the issue of Imperial Stormtroopers being bad shots, let's review a fundamental fact of light (which is what lasers are): It travels at 186,000 miles per second. So the idea of ducking before the laser hits you is just plain silly. Not to mention (of course) the idea of a laser bolt being visible as a streak that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you were zapped by a laser from a laser gun, it would look like a single stream of light, with one end attached to the barrel of said gun, and the end attached to whatever portion of your head had not melted yet (assuming you're having a laser battle somewhere where there is enough air around to illuminate the entire beam). Most "laser" beams in science fiction movies travel slower than bullets do today. Let's see Obi Wan whip his light saber around fast enough to stop the spray of a Mac-10 (and let's not even begin to talk about all the things wrong with a sword made of light).
4. Human-Looking Aliens
This is endemic on the various Star Trek series, where creatures from entirely different sectors of the universe look just like humans except for the occasional bulging ridge on their foreheads. Yes, this is the result of having only humans at casting calls, but in a large sense, all these "humanoid" variations ain't gonna happen. Look, humans evolved on earth and shared a basic body format (four limbs, one head, side-to-side symmetry) with just about every other vertebrate on the planet. It's a form that works fine for this planet, but not even every vertebrate sticks with it (see: snakes, whales, seals, etc). Given that any planet with life on it will have that life evolve in it's own way, the chances of the universe being stocked with chesty alien princesses who crave human starship captains is slim at best. Related to this is the following.
5. Half-Breed Aliens
Humans don't even interbreed with other species here on earth. Our DNA is simply too different from other species to allow such a mating to produce offspring. Given this, what are the chances of successful mating with an alien species that may not even have DNA as its genetic encoding medium? Also going back to the idea that aliens probably won't look like Humans, how would you do it anyway? It's not exactly the "Insert Tab A Into Slot B" proposition it would be here at home.
6. Brain-Sucking Aliens
The Good News of an Alien Facehugger Attack T-Shirt, art by Mike Jacobsen Ditto aliens that control your body by using your brains, or gestate in your chest, or whatnot. Let's posit that any creature that controls the brain of any other creature (not that any exist here on Earth) does so only after a few million years of what's called "speciation" – i.e., one species eventually enters a symbiotic relationship with another species. This relationship would have to be pretty specific, as symbiotic relationships are here on Earth. Which is to say just because you're in a symbiotic relationship with one species doesn't mean it transfers over to another species, especially an alien species, who's body chemistry, DNA, brain wiring, etc., isn't even remotely close to your own. So don't worry about the "Puppet Master" scenario too much, or that you'll be nothing more than a glorified egg sac for some nasty breed of space monster.
7. Shape-Shifting Aliens
Shape-changing aliens are all very well, but there's a tiny problem in having a roughly human sized lump of alien protoplasm turning itself into, say, a rat, to scurry around in the ventilation shaft: Where does rest of the alien go? You can't just make 99% of your mass disappear into thin air (or reappear, as the case may be); it has to go somewhere. Unless that "rat" is running around with a highly compressed mass of a human-sized object (which presents its own problems), shape-shifting in to different sized objects is not very likely (one of the smart things about Terminator 2 was that the T-1000 only shape shifted into things of roughly the same mass, like human beings or a floor).
8. Time Travel
Got an itch to spend time in the Arthurian England? Or perhaps Gettysburg during the Civil War? The same relativistic principles that keep us from going faster than light also keep us rom traveling backward in time and messing with the past. It's possible to slow down time - the closer you get to the speed of light, the slower time moves for you relative to your original frame of reference - but to get the clock spinning in the other direction would require you to go faster than light, and you can't do that. Again, there are theoretical loopholes that could allow it - worm holes, actually, which are "tunnels" in the fabric of space-time that could possibly allow travel back in time. but once again, keeping these wormholes open would require exotic matter with negative energy. Got any? Neither do we.
9. The Planetary Gravity Scam
Everywhere you go in science fiction, people are walking around like they weigh just what they do on Earth. Chances of that happening in the real universe? Slim. Consider our own solar system. On Mars, a 180-pound man would weigh just 70 pounds; on Jupiter, 424 pounds (not that you can walk on Jupiter, as it has no solid surface). That man on the moon? Just 30 pounds. The man's mass is the same, it's just that different planets have different gravitational pulls. The idea that all the planets that humans might visit would exactly match Earth's own gravitational profile is a little much. As is, alternately, the idea that all alien creatures would be as comfortable in our gravitational field as we are.
10 The Planetary Sameness Principle
Tatooine looks just like the Yuma Desert in Arizona. Actually, it is the Yuma Desert of Arizona! I stand corrected, it's Tunisia ... y'know, on the continent of Africa, Earth. Photo via Wookieepedia The desert planet of Tatooine. The ice planet of Hoth. The jungle planet of Dagobah. What do these planets all have in common? One planetary-wide ecosystem. Which isn't too likely. Our own planet has varying zones and ecological areas: desert, tundra, jungle, and so on; other planets in the system also show marked zones of varying atmospheric and weather patterns. Mars has ice caps as well as (relatively) temperate zones; Jupiter has distinct weather systems based in different areas on its globe. The planets that show a sameness are the ones we couldn't live on. Venus is all desert, but that's because a runaway greenhouse effect makes it hot enough to melt lead. Pluto is all ice, but it's so far away from the Sun that its atmosphere freezes for most of its orbit. There may well be purely desert or jungle planets, but most planets we'd want to live on would probably be able to accommodate both. |
secondly, you can't blame star trek for it's humanoid preference, this is explained in the series. specfically in star trek: the next generation i believe. although, maybe it was voyager?
all of the alien races in star trek were originally seeded on their home worlds by a great ancient alien race from which they all received basic traits. so, the differences in klingons, humans, and vulcans are in fact variations on an old design from which they were all spawned.
Plus there are parasites (which the facehugger/alien was) that control the brains of their prey, or use another creature for baby food. For example there is a species of wasp that lays its eggs inside of a species of spider, which is eaten alive by the wasp larvae.
Also I don't think it's ever stated that the "ray guns" of sci-fi movies are necessarily lasers.
also, altho there is the unlikely interbreeding in star trek, it should also be pointed out that on at least one occasion, a sexual encounter was startlingly impossible. i can't remember who it was, but there was definitely an episode where two characters, one human and another female humanoid alien, were going to have sex but then it just cut to approximately 5 minutes later with the both of them being very confused and saying "well, you looked anatomically very similar...but i dunno what that was"
also, here is the reference for that first dorky post i made:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Ancient_humanoid
I can understand the basic ones like how lazers dont travel as beams etc. but some you cant justify in black and white.
as commenters have already said in reaction to the star trek claim, it is possible for humans like us to exist on other plants, in fact its extremely likely. We did evolve on this planet, but if there is another 'Earth' planet out there, with the same kind of weather, eco systems etc. then its highly possible there are people just like us out there. Look out in to Space at night, at all those stars and galaxies with their own solar systems and the millions of planets. I'd say the chances are pretty good that there are human looking people out there.
And with the 'brain sucking aliens', as someones already said there are many species who choose hosts for their offspring.
Also re: planeys gravity system.
'Everywhere you go in science fiction, people are walking around like they weigh just what they do on Earth. Chances of that happening in the real universe? Slim.'
Hello? Mars? That has almost the same gravitational field and its on our doorstep. And yes, the chances are small, but there's millions of planets out there, maybe even infinite, so it does happen.
Space stuff is all things we know nothing about, we dont even know we can't travel at the speed of light, sure someone has put theories about it, but 100 years ago we said we could never fly, look at us now flying to Mars.
The ret-conned answer to this is that the Kessel run is perilously close to multiple black holes. Taking a shorter distance means putting your cargo and your life at risk.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kessel_Run
* The lancet fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum forces its ant host to attach to the tips of grass blades, the easier to be eaten. The fluke needs to get into the gut of a grazing animal to complete its life cycle.
* The fluke Euhaplorchis californiensis causes fish to shimmy and jump so wading birds will grab them and eat them, for the same reason.
* Hairworms, which live inside grasshoppers, sabotage the grasshopper's central nervous system, forcing them to jump into pools of water, drowning themselves. Hairworms then swim away from their hapless hosts to continue their life cycle.
If there are tens of millions of Earth-like planets in the galaxy, it wouldn't make sense for us to colonize anything else that would be uncomfortable or deadly to live on.
I present to you the Zombie Ant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCeyW9m0SXA
There are a few theories to consider when talking about life on other planets and a few scenarios.
First of all: Are we the firs planet in the Universe to sustain life? 150 million years of evolution. Before us there were dinosaurs. What was before that? Nobody really knows. Is it up to us to populate the universe, are we the firts? Are we the first planet to host life, is it up to us to expand to other planets?
Secondly: Are we the last planet in the universe to host life? Did life die out in the universe 150 million years ago? If you think about it, we've been sending out radio signals and radiation into space for about 100 years. Let alone the chirping sound that is emitted by solar winds that cause the Aureole Buerola (sp.) that eminates a radio like signal into space for 150 million years. Given that we have been sending out signals for about 100 years of our own radio and tv etc., and the Earth has it's own radio signal - then how come no Alien race has tried to contact us? Furthermore if there are other aliens out there before us, even if their civilsations died out, how come in 150 million years of history have we not intercepted a radio signal, they've been travelling for 150 million years. Surely in the time we've been studying the universe we'd have picked up some transmissions. There are a few reasons why might not have. 1: We don't have equipment capable of interpreting their signals. 2: There are no signals to pick up, as there are no aliens out there or were out there. 3: Perhaps the signals didn't come our way, or past us before we had the technology to intercept them. So are we the last planet in the Universe to support life?
Thirdly: Are we in a remote sector of the universe. Are we in the corner? Perhaps there are other solar systems out there thriving with interplanetary trade and wars? Are we being shielded from other races because we're not sophisticated enough?
There is something we do know for sure. That we don't even know if there is life on other planets in our own solar system. Years ago nobody believed that fish could live so deep in the ocean, it would be too cold, to much pressure, etc., but when technology became available to go deeper in the oceans they discovered that there species of fish never seen before, heat coming from volcanic vents etc. that allowed life to thrive. Given that we don't even know how many speices of life there are on own planet how can we say there is no life on other planets, in any form? Some scientists believe the icey moons of some planets could in fact have life, which is interesting and missions are on going.
But the whole point is we are just one small planet in a small solar system in a small galaxy, a galaxy which has 1000's of other solar systems and galaxies with millions of other planets. IN 2003 it was estimated that 25% of the Sun like stars in the Universe have planets, it is estimated there are Trillions of planets.
There is something like 100 billion stars that have planets in our own Galaxy alone!
It's all conjecture to say that we are alone in the universe, but the odds speak for themselves. If one planet around 1 Sun (star) has as much life and as many species then the odds of at least 1 other planet in the trillions of planets having life on it is quite large.
That's not to say that it's humanoid life. As we evolved from a single cell, splitting into two cells and it just evolved from there. But given that life is traced back to one trillionth of a second after the big bang (science) then we have to assume that similar formations of cells occurred on other planets.
What we do know is that it's very very likely there are other humanoid life forms out there. But after 150 million years of potential radio signals being sent in our direction we are yet to recieve a signal that we deem to be intelligent life as we know it. That's not to say that we missed other forms of transmissions that we don't know how to detect.
Science fiction is based on actual science and then spruced up a bit for the fiction end of things. Of all the things in star trek, the only thing that wasn't theoretically possible it was the Inertia Dampners. That's the only thing that there is no scientific theory for in Star Trek, to the best of my knowledge.
But for all we know it could be just turtles all the way down.
As for brain-sucking aliens, pfft. There's plenty of terrestrial examples of that here, no matter than Uncle John's Reader says no by saying, "...any creature that controls the brain of any other creature (not that any exist here on Earth)". There's Dicrocoelium dendriticum, which takes over an ant's brain and makes it hang out at the top of grass blades so a passing sheep is more likely to eat it and then spread the parasite. Ditto for Toxoplasma gondii and rats. The toxoplasma bug takes over a rat's mind and makes it act very inclined to be eaten by a cat. So, aliens that zombify you are potentially possible in an infinite universe.
...and don't get me started on time travel.
The problem has nothing to do with the possibility of using another species as a means of reproduction. We have seen plenty of evidence of this on Earth. The problem is when you say an alien species would be able to arrive suddenly on a new planet and then instantly be able to use whatever animal material is around to act as a host for it's offspring.
As Sid's video clearly stated, 'there are a variety of these fungus and each one is specialized for one insect.'
It requires a bit of an evolutionary leap to be able to use different hosts for reproduction let alone being able to control a variety of different brain types. (which is probably a big reason why the parasitic fungus can only target one species)
So in summary
Parasitic mind control: Possible
Universal parasitic mind control: Quite improbable
On a side note, I've always been bothered when science fiction planets seemingly have one eco-system. I mean, if there was a planet where the poles were hot deserts, can you imagine what the equator would be like? :)
The basic blaster technology of intensifying a beam of energy into a deadly bolt is scalable, and largely the same despite the differences in weapon types and sizes. The interior mechanisms of a tiny hold-out blaster, a blaster pistol, a large blaster rifle, and a turbolaser cannon are based on the same theories and principles. A squeeze of a trigger emits volatile blaster gas into a conversion chamber, where it is excited by energy from the weapon's power source. The agitated gas is then funneled through the actuating blaster module, where it is processed into an intense particle or plasma projectile. A prismatic crystal focuses the beam, and passes it through a refinement chamber which galvanizes the beam into its final bolt shaped like a cone with a high ballistic coefficient.
there are indeed trillions of planets out there, and to say we are the only ones here is a bold statement.
(if there are christians reading this ill point out i dont believe in any god, therefore your 'adam and eve' fairy tale doesn't concern me much.
In regard to why aliens havent contacted us yet, i think this is down to technologies and such. say there are thousands of alien civilizations out there, they will all be at different stages of evolution - some just single cells, some extremely complex lifefors perhaps even we can't come to understand. Have they got the technology to come knocking on our door though? are they bound by the same technological restaints as we are? In space terms, a light year is nothing, in human terms a light year is something under our technological understanding, we could never travel in a concious life time. We simply can't travel far enough to discover other plents or lifeforms. We've never been outside our solar system, our back yard.
As to claim we've never been visited, thats also bold. Ive never seen a 'UFO' or a green man walking around my garden. but out of the hundreds of thousands of unexplained sightings of UFOs you'd think at least 1 is real. If you read far enough in to it you'll find some unexplainable occurances on this planet, such as objects on radars traveling from one end of germany to the other in seconds.
The evidence is there, but this planet insists on ignoring it, turning a blind eye or pretending its not there. im not some alien freak, im just saying it how it is.
Truth is religion keeps alot of our society in order, it also gives stronger nations reasoning to invade other countries. Religion keeps alot of things in our world in order, and gives a lot of people faith.
what would happen to society if an alien came along and told us all god was a load of s**t? Who said they even want to say hi? who says they're not going to destroy the whole planet next week?
A lot of questions sparking a lot of thinking. People have written books on it.
Um, what? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this is correct. Lasers are a form of EM radiation, visible to be specific, which require no medium to travel (that's how sun light, UV light, cosmic rays etc. hit earth), so what is meant by "medium to reveal them" ? This statement makes sense in the context of sound, since it requires a medium to vibrate as was stated, but I don't get the comment about lasers.
...And for that matter, how about the fact that many alien and human races in galaxies far, far away speak ENGLISH? (or worse, English with quasi-Jamaican accents).
There's a lot of "unrealism" going on in filmed entertainment, and you just have to accept it all to enjoy it. Otherwise, the only enjoyment you’ll get from watching sci-fi will be from having these nerdly debates with your fellow nerds.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if that makes you a happy. Just don’t expect to be invited back to any parties at my house.
There are trillions of planets, to say what stage of evolution they are at is unknown. I simply cannot believe that in an explosion such as the big bang that all the necessary material for life landed on Earth. It's just not plausible. Whether civilisations died out and we're the last ones, or we're the first civilistaion I don't know, nobody does. Could be there are billions or trillions of civilisations out there. And birth of life from two cells (call them Adam and Eve if you want) and splitting into other cells and forming life would be natural. But weather conditions and geographical climates produced what we are now through natural selection. To say that something similar happened on another planet isn't that far off, would they be intelligent humanoids?
But to say that the movies leapt in imagination with humanoid aliens is a farce really. It's based on science as we know it. Look at all the races we have here, some people in africa have flatter and fatter noses, because the air is thin due to the heat, they're skulls evolved differently to ours. And the chinese and japanese have distinctinve slanty eyes, and that's due to extra deposits of fat in their eyes, take that deposit of fat out and their eyes look like ours.
So different climates affect the way people's skin and bones form around our globe. It's not entirely out there that different climates and conditions on other planets result in different humanoid looking species.
And the movies have used blobs as alien lifeforms, Star Trek did it about 5 times, Star Wars had Jabba, the movie The Thing, and many many others.
It's just science fiction, as I said based on scientific facts that we know about, and spruced up for the movies. It's not a stretch of the imagination to think that people with different climates result in different appearances, we see it everywhere on this planet, so why not on others, and why not stretch the imagination and use ficticious skin tones and voices.
Even the klingons in Star Trek are based on a religion of a an African tribe (I believe) and also that it is a real language they use. Most of the aliens on Star Trek derive their beliefs and religions based on religions that we know about.
Regarding lasers, yes you are right about not being able to dodge a laser at the speed of light and yes lasers would not have a start and end point. However, you can dodge someone's aim. And a faster traveling bullet (or laser) doesn't immediately make you a marksman. Which is why it's possible to make yourself a hard target in real life against something that travels at the speed of sound, which is marginally easier that dodging the speed of light.
Finally, regarding Shape shifting aliens that are human sized then changing into a rat. You assume that alien isn't mostly hollow when they are human shaped.
The same photo is used in the Wookipedia entry for Sidi Bouhlel, Tunisia.
Either way I guess it wasn't filmed on an alien planet. Who knew?
While the lasers could travel through space, unless they have air to bounce off of you just couldn't see them. If this wasn't the case space would just be a blinding white sky of light at night and we wouldn't be able to see anything in space.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're going to point out other peoples scientific errors, don't make claims like "sound needs air to travel."
How is the Earth visible from the moon then? The moon has no atmosphere, yet the light given off (reflected from sun) by the earth is plainly viewable. Moreover, you can see the sun itself from the moon (given you are at the right location and proper time in orbit), where the sun has no atmosphere either. A source of EM radiation is being projected within your field of view, you can see it.
Lasers only slightly bounce off of air. If they did to any measurable extent, the diffusion caused which undermine the use of the beam. Lasers can illuminate smoke, which "reveals the beam" but mainly pass through unreflected. You need a good solid surface to reflect the light for you.
Of course, you wouldn't be able to see the entire beam (we rarely can on earth, and that's why laser shows use smoke), but you could definitely view the light at its source and destination given your field of view permitted it.
A laser beam is only visible in two situations - if you're directly in it's path, or if the light from the beam is scattered out of the beam. Even in air, they're usually invisible to the unaided eye.
Somebody already raised the point, though - in science fiction, ray guns need not be lasers. The weapons in Star Trek use a few different mechanisms, but they're all based on some type of charged particle, not coherent light.
About the brain sucking aliens, though? There's actually a few pretty good examples here on earth of parasites that radically alter the behavior of their hosts, and most of them can infect different species with similar results. A fungus that infects a specific species of ant and causes them to climb to high places and release their spores has been shown to work on almost any ant species. A parasite that causes rodents to seek out predators has been linked to behavioral changes in multiple species it has never evolved to infect.
All this is based on the similar chemistry accross life, but a few scientists are finally starting to fight back against the growing trend that alien life must be so radically different to our own. No example of a viable silicon organic compound has ever been found or created, it's still purely theoretical if it's even possible. Carbon organic molecules follow pretty predictable forms - we've found the simplest ones all over in space already, up to and including amino acids. There's growing evidence that, while alien life will be radically different to us physically, if it's carbon based, there will likely be a great deal of chemical similarities.
http://filmsound.org/starwars/dramatic.htm
This common complaint really annoys the hell out of me. The sound effects during space scenes are for the audiences benefit. You might as well complain about the music score or subtitles. Now if a character ever actually heard something in space, it'd be one thing but they never did. That argument is just people trying to lord their third grade physics knowledge over the rest of us.
3. Laser Bolts You Can Dodge
The "lasers" in Star Wars are clearly not really lasers and were never meant to be. They're bolts of energy. "Laser" is obviously a slang term they use.
All of the other examples they give are artistic license, making this the list most full of fail ever.
And the 4-minute mile was impossible until somebody did it.
Some of the things in this list are 'artistic license' (sound in space, 'lasers' that are visible) and the rest is just thing we haven't found out how to do, yet.
Science FICTION
There are estimates that visible universe contains over 5X10^22 stars so for the sake of argument let us say that there could be 10^24 stars even if we overestimate the number.
“Sun-like” stars of the correct size and composition are probably 1/100 of the total stars (10^22).
Approximately 1/1000 of the total number of stars are in the galactic habitable zone (10^19).
Approximately 1/10 of the sun-like stars will have a rocky planet in orbit (10^18).
Approximately 1/10 of the sun-like stars will have a gaseous planet in an outer orbit that helps protect the rocky planet from catastrophic impacts (10^17).
Approximately 1/100 of the rocky planets will have a large moon that helps protect the rocky planet from catastrophic impacts (10^15).
Approximately 1/100 of the rocky planets will have an orbit that allows surface temperatures necessary for the establishment of long term evolution (10^13).
Approximately 1/100 of the rocky planets will have a sufficient amount of water that will allow the formation of large oceans necessary to buffer temperature fluctuations and help form the correct atmospheric conditions necessary for life and long term evolution (10^11).
Approximately 1/10 of the rocky planets will have a correct atmospheric composition necessary for life and long term evolution (10^10).
Approximately 1/10 of the potentially inhabitable planets will evolve single cell life(10^9).
Approximately 1/10 of the planets with life will evolve different life forms that will generate a CO2-O2 carbon cycle (10^8).
Approximately 1/10 of the planets with life will evolve life forms that will have “mitochondria” for energy utilization (10^7).
Approximately 1/10 of the planets with life will evolve multi-cellular life (10^6).
Approximately 1/10 of the planets with multi-cellular life will evolve complex organisms (105).
Approximately 1/10 of the planets with complex organisms will evolve life on land (10^4).
Approximately 1/10 of the planets with life on land will evolve advanced animal life (10^3).
Approximately 1/1000 of the planets with advanced animal life will evolve civilizations (10^0).
With this type of calculation there are X number of plantets with civilizations.
Or: Make the post "10 things you can get away with in Sci-Fi"
If I recall, the Aliens were genetically engineered by the Preditor species, specifically to infect other species and breed scary monsters that were hard to hunt.
If that's the case, I'm guessing they could have 'redundant DNA' or other genetically engineered apsects that would make the 'compatible' to gestate within a lot of different species.
Thousands of generations being born and dying on a starship traveling at a crawl to distant places trying to find some other intelligent beings out there.
You are retarded.
Not the article. The comments.
"how do u now we cant travel faster than light u dont ha ha" (and other words, if you can call them words, to that effect).
The level of ignorance displayed by the posters here is terrifying. We DO know why you can't travel faster than light. It's not something someone arbitrarily made up because they want to ruin all your fun. It's an aspect of a model of the universe which is constantly tested, and constantly proven. As someone once quipped, changing laws of physics is like eating peanuts -- you can't stop with one. They all fit together in an intricate puzzle, and the only way to prove them wrong is to build an entirely new model which a)explains absolutely everything the old model explains, and, b)explains something new the old model doesn't. No one's managed to come up with one yet... and I wouldn't bet on one arriving anytime soon.
(As for humanoid life on another world... think of all the many ways life evolved on this one world, the incredible diversity of species. Do you honestly think that some other world would produce anything remotely like humanity? Even if you go with the idea of some alien 'seeding' program as Star Trek did, consider this: The difference between a shrew and a blue whale is about 100 million years of evolution. Planting the same 'seed' a BILLION years ago on two different planets, and the resulting life forms will have nothing in common.)
Most of the "mistakes" noted in the article are not so much errors as plot contrivances -- they're no more mistakes, per se, than the "computers" on CSI (which do things no real computer can do), or the acrobatic stunts of any action movie (most action heroes would be dead or crippled for life before the first act was over...). If you want to say the author of the article is just trying to be a downer, well, that's cool -- but to claim that the things he points out AREN'T error of science is to show an astounding level of ignorance.
There's nothing he lists which falls into the category of "We just don't know". We DO know. YOU may not know, but that's your problem, lint-for-brains.
I can only assume that your education on scientific concepts has been relegated to force-fed classical textbooks only. You yourself have just made multiple errors in your refutations. Case in point:
While it is true that the speed of light cannot be exceeded via classical methods (i.e. force-generating reactions), nothing in physics denies the possibility of "shortcuts" through space via wormholes, space-time distortions, etc. In fact, several theories already exist on ways to construct such methods of travel, although they are admittedly far beyond our technological means. Enlighten yourself on the topic here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light#Space-time_distortion
As for humanoid life evolving on alien planets, first consider why humans, the only intelligent species on earth, look the way they do. We stand on two legs in order to enable us to see distant objects and also to free our hands for tools. More limbs would mean more energy consumption and also more evolutionary complexity. Our sensory apparatuses are in our heads because observing objects from above is more advantageous than from below. We have two eyes in the front of our head to offer stereoscopic vision (depth perception). Jointed limbs offer a wide range of movement and the ability to climb trees and other obstacles. I could go on, but I hope you get the point - in similar environmental conditions, it is likely that evolution would produce similar solutions to the ones widely seen on earth. Humanoid life is thus merely improbable, not ludicrous as you seem to think.
Other explanations in the comments are equally plausible and demonstrable via a bit of searching and logical deduction.
Please, in the future I beseech you to at least seriously consider the possibilities of what others say before calling them "lint-for-brains".
In the original Terminator, the plasma weapons that wer briefly seen in the flash-forwards were somewhat realistic: when fired, the result was a brief "strobe" extending in a straight line from the weapon to the target, along with a kind of crackling/popping sound. And these were some kind of "plasma rifle" (in the 40 watt range), no specifically a laser weapon.
Alas, by the time of Terminator 2, the weapons more more traditional: like a slow tracer bullet.
One could imagine, perhaps, that such a weapon was firing some high energy plasma, perhaps encased in a self-propogating soliton wave bubble ... or some other technobabble.
That leads to another false trope: the hand-held energy weapon that can selectively incenerate a human target. First: that's an awful lot of energy! Second: wouldn't the target turn into a giant light bulb filiment and roast everyone and everything in the immediate vicinity?
You've never heard of the larva that attach themselves to snails and control their brains, creating zombie snails?
Time travel is impossible.
Why?
If it were possible we would know about it.
If time travel becomes possible a thousand years in the future, that would open up any era of time to be visited. Which means they could come back to a time before time travel was invented.
From the instant time travel is possible it opens up any time in the past (or future) to visit. So, if it's made possible in a thousand years, someone could come back to now and say "Hey we have time travel in the future" therefore giving us the knowledge of time travel.
You can't say "...but it hasn't been invented yet!" It doesn't matter, if it is made possible any time n the future, someone could come back and we would know about it.
All the regular arguments:
"You're not supposed to alter time in any way, so you can't tell anyone about it in a time where they don't already know" C'mon... you can't say some idiot, or disgruntled scientist hasn't tried out the time machine and went back in time and said "Hey look at me!!!"
"Maybe you can only travel short distances..." You can add a bunch of small distances together to make a long one!
"The future hasn't happened yet so no one can come back!" OUR future hasn't happened yet. By definition time travel allows you to go to any time that isn't NOW. So technically someone that doesn't 'exist' right now, does exist in their present, our future. We are in George Washington's future right now. When he was running around, his future hadn't happened but it's happening right now.
Any way... that's what I think! Wish I had more patience to explain, but it gets too confusing for a text comment. I'm also in class and I need to get to listening!
you can only see light if light comes into contact with your eye
lasers are very focused light. This means *ALL* the light goes in one direction. The only person who might ever see a glimpse of a laser beam in space would be the person whose eyeball it just seared through.
Even in atmosphere, unless there is dust, fog, or something else to cause some of the light to go off in different directions, a laser is invisible.
There are a few possible exceptions to all your explanations. :)
1) Time travel requires use of massive scale phenomenon, and manipulating something like black holes into exotic configurations to produce a proper wormhole that was large enough to not simply squeeze your ship into a thin stream of atoms. This would prevent casual/easy use, and might be very limited in aiming, such as going only so many years&days back in time, so the exact same amount of time passes on each end of the portal.
2) Time travel is like the idea of a teleporter, that requires a sender and received. So you can't Time Travel to any point before the activation of the very first receiver.
just some thoughts :-D
As others have said, your assertion that travel faster than the speed of light is IMPOSSIBLE reminds us of everything else that was impossible before someone did it.
Now, we are not arguing with you about getting in a car and raveling faster than the speed of light as you go down the highway. We're (I'm) saying there are probably ways: wormholes (as mentioned above) or bending space, or entering a different type of space where such limits don't apply.
There may certainly be flaws with the way FTL travel is presented in some media, but simply saying it is impossible is... neanderthalish.
May I add a number 11 to your list: The classic exposed-to-radiation explanation for why ants became as big as buses, or why people become homicidal zombies.
Radiation damages DNA so that the victims offspring are born with mutations. A gecko exposed to nuclear fallout doesn't turn into the Thing That Messed Up Bakersfield during its own lifetime, assuming it still has a lifetime after being irradiated. But if it lives to reproduce, those offspring may have birth defects. The irradiated gecko is more likely to die from slow, agonizing radiation poisoning.
Also, there's a standard ratio between surface area and body mass. If the creature's body does not stay close to that ratio, then it can't maintain it's body temperature. Therefore, it can't live. (Especially if it's cold blooded.) So, giant ants, a la "Them," or giant spiders a la "8 Legged Freaks" are entertaining fiction with no science to support there existence.
The article is not quite accurate. Einstein's theory doesn't say that traveling faster than light is impossible; rather, it says that getting -to- the speed of light is impossible.
Anything that travels faster than light would have the same problem decelerating to the speed of light.
Science fiction often assumes that we remove ourselves from spacetime, and thus from the restriction of reaching lightspeed.
Some of these claims are dubious, in that we simply don't know enough. The planet wide ecosystem and gravity levels are one of them. We only have a sample size of a few planets to judge from, and we can't detect earth size planets (yet) that are outside of our solar system. Also, if you poke around the anthropic principle you could deduce that life (as we know it) would probably do best on planets similar to earth. So every planet we would visit would be pretty comfortable.
But the mind control one is flat out wrong. it says no earth species preform mind control. Wrong. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_9_57/ai_70872766 parasites drive ants up blades of grass to their deaths because it is the best place for the parasite.
another reason why writers end up ignoring the small details that are "wrong" is simply because it isn't relevant to the story. if necessary, an explanation is added as an afterthought -- "retconned".
a very skillful scifi writer would know exactly what niggling details need to be justified and what needs to be ignored. for example, "Dune" was able to justify a planetwide dessert (via a biological entity) convincingly. it was also able to convincingly justify a medieval society in an apparent high tech future (fear of uncontrolled AI and technology that renders projectile weaponry useless).
a bad scifi writer would end up ignoring the wrong facts and causes the viewer/reader to think "WTF" and it ends up ruining the suspension of disbelief (see "Armageddon" and "Jurassic Park 3")
Now... FTL itself is impossible... but as it was mentioned, sci-fi usually deals with warp drives or hiperspace. NONE OF THOSE are FTL travel really. In fact, the article author fails to mention WHICH books mention FTL travel as really going faster than the speed of light.
Warp Drive was explained by the author. Yes, it probably needs strange matter... or something else similar. So what? Still its possible. As for the creation of strange matter or devices to distort space-time, thats up for fiction. But still its fiction that follows physics rules.
Hiperspace is usually described as an alternate dimension/parallel universe of the sorts, where distances are smaller than in our space-time. Thus, a ship doesnt travels faster than light at hiperspace. But travelling 1 million km in hiperspace, at 1km/s speed will get you to a point in space-time several light years away from the point where you entered hiperspace. But you NEVER travelled faster than light.
Faster than light travel is quite possible.
Yes, their are creatures on earth that control the brain of other animals. (For example: one that makes a rat/mouse not afraid of cats, so they will be ingested and the creature will be able to grow up in the cat its self)
And time travel? The theories are sound, and its possible. But then again, we're also beginning to realize...time is but an illusion.
so, it may be possible civilizations may have already existed well before our time or will exist after our time. in 6 billion years the sun will die, earth well before that. maybe we are the 100th earth like civilization with our technology to exist but we dont know it. its a suprise our earth has lasted this long.
secondly, if you were an alien life form would YOU want to just come down and say hi? we are a violent and volitile society. we need more time to develop! and if you were an alien life form smart enough to travel faster than the speed of light etc, maybe they are waiting for the right time as an advanced alien race would actually use their brain and would not need the use of religion ( humans scapegoat for our existance )and are waiting for our development before we are made savvy to an interplantary federation lol.
also...maybe time travel has already been possible...maybe our future has been changed ten times over. maybe the powers that be in the future took control of this and moniter it aka timecop? and if someone did comeback to say "hey its possible" im sure you could time travel just before he landed and execute him effectively "cleaning up" any "ripples". the brain cant comprehend this technology yet so until we do its speculation.
also what if...WHAT IF... "aliens" are us? the "ufo's you see could be us time travelling...maybe we as an advanced human race, came back in time to give basic technology to egyptians...which could explian alot...to speed our evolution up. so that we dont end up dead in a couple of billion of years?
whilst this is all speculation, and the arguments could be infinate, we wont be around to see any result, as technology to bend space and time, or travel to other systems ( disregarding the technology to create and build this, how would humans even survive a 12 parsec run with hyperdrive set to max is another issue haha) is all well hundreds of years away.
we have alot to learn, humans need to evolve to another level to comrehend turning fiction into reality, but who knows. maybe tomorrow something happens to change the world?
has some 'no sound in space' tshirts.
;)
Funny, but the equations for the increase in a vehicles mass at the vehicles speed at light speed is of the same format. infact, are identical. the only difference is that the vehicle mass approaches infinity.
When the engineers solved the problem with the intake pressure it was through a configuration of the inlet shape. they managed to change the flow parameters so that the behavior of the atmosphere was localized differently. in a like way, we can expect this to be true as well for the variations of the local mass.
Unlike the so called commonly understood belief, mass is not a constant in the quantum regime. and thus, can have its properties altered as a function of localized geometric behavior.
OK. Enough of this. Suffice to say that the statement that "Einstein Proved that the speed of light was a impossible barrier" is a complete fallacy. He did nothing of the sort. He wrote an equation that stated that...
Provided that the object mass is constant, and the the relativistic effects of speed at the light speed is UNABLE TO ALTER THE PROPERTIES OF MASS AT A QUANTUM LEVEL, then the vehicles mass approaches infinity at the speed of light in a vacuum.
"But... but... but..."
Not to mention that it makes no sense for a battle droid as infective as those to be manufactured at all let alone in such vast quantities as depicted in the movies.
If you're wondering how he eats & breathes,
And other science facts...(la! la! la!)
Then repeat to yourself its just a show,
I should really just relax.
Relax.
Well, penis is a spungy meat which grows into less spungy and quite bigger meat. So the conclusion would be that penis is a shape-shifting alien.
As others stated, it's not actually "air" that is required for sound but just something for sound to reverberate off of. It's true that much of space is a vacuum but in our solar system, especially in our little corner of it, space is actually filled with plasma, in the form of Solar Winds. These "winds" provide something for sound to travel on.
Still, there is some truth to this misunderstanding of sound: most of it would vibrate at a different frequency than the human ear can interpret. That doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, just that we can't hear it (sort of like a dog whistle).
Just thought I'd complain about something like the rest of these yahoos.
Toxoplasma gondii, the protozoa that causes toxoplasmosis, is known to change the behavior of rats and mice causing them to be drawn to the scent of cats as opposed to fearful of the scent. This results in the mouse being eaten to allow the parasite to sexually reproduce in its host, the cat. There are other similar examples in nature.
And, just to nit-pick, your examples of earth's animals that do not share human's basic body shape is incorrect. Seals have four limbs, bilateral symmetry, and one head. Earlier ancestors of snakes and whales did as well, and vestigial remnants remain in many modern species of these animals.