I like a little more science in my science fiction

[WayneLigon]

I like there to be science in my SF but I don't get bent of out shape unless it's obvious that the writer is either just lazy, or cribbing from other TV shows.

In some cases - specifically Star Wars - I don't expect it at all. Star Wars is science fantasy, re-doing the classic WWII movie serials. Their ships move like dogfighting aircraft for that very reason, to evoke that sense of the serials.

I'd like for there to be more science in most SF but in many cases it's hard to do that - there would need to be some time for explanation as to why it's being done that way, etc, and that doesn't work so well in a quickly-paced visual media.

It doesn't even have to be a lot. Just a nod from time to time to reality. The most recent bit of that I saw was in Firefly, where Jayne puts his gun in a sealed space suit in order to fire it (Once, obviously, though once was all that was needed). You need to do that, since guns need oxygen to fire. I thought that was quite brilliant and it raised my esteem of the show even higher.

The important part was that they just showed it and made no mention of why. Show, don't tell.

 

[takyris]

Wayne, I thought I remembered the line, "(gunname) won't fire in a vacuum, so..." voiced as a complaint from Jayne at one point. But yeah, not a ton of explanation.

For the record, I can handle science in my SF, but it's not a priority for me. In fact, it's sort of the reverse -- the current state of SF-novel-dom has hard science fiction clearly on top (at least in terms of non-media-tie-in-novels). That's not to say that there isn't any good soft-SF or space opera or science fantasy, but it is getting harder and harder to find. Which is a shame, for me, since hard SF tends to get the science right at the cost of the characters, and I read, well, just about everything I read for the characters.

 

[Staffan]

The most recent bit of that I saw was in Firefly, where Jayne puts his gun in a sealed space suit in order to fire it (Once, obviously, though once was all that was needed). You need to do that, since guns need oxygen to fire. I thought that was quite brilliant and it raised my esteem of the show even higher.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure modern guns don't need external oxygen to fire. The oxidants are already included in the gunpowder.

 

[Templetroll]

... where wizards shoot fireballs out of their butts...

And I always thought the somatic gesture wuz ta point!

to be on-topic... so long as reversing the polarity of the neutron flow can accomplish great things I'm happy with the scientific content of what I'm watching.

 

[Dougal DeKree]

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure modern guns don't need external oxygen to fire. The oxidants are already included in the gunpowder.

Yep, the oxidants are included and function underwater, too.

But i think that WayneLigon wanted to stress that he likes that someone behind firefly obviously _thinks_ about such details, which i like, too. Thinking people are so hard to find...

Who does a fantastic job at such details is John Ringo in his "Invasion" books, plus they are a great read.

The opposite goes for my gaming - i prefer Space Opera over Hard SciFi any day.

Dougal

 

[Mad Hatter]

I like my Honor Harringtons and my Kris Longknifes as well as Star Treks and Star Wars. As long as the universe is explained and they stick to their own rules, I am content. Of course in scifi, they can't just pull a random fireball outta their blackhole.

 

[Rackhir]

It doesn't even have to be a lot. Just a nod from time to time to reality. The most recent bit of that I saw was in Firefly, where Jayne puts his gun in a sealed space suit in order to fire it (Once, obviously, though once was all that was needed). You need to do that, since guns need oxygen to fire. I thought that was quite brilliant and it raised my esteem of the show even higher.

The important part was that they just showed it and made no mention of why. Show, don't tell.

This actually was one of the reasons why I never warmed to Firefly since this was such a mindblowingly basic mistake in chemistry and demonstrated a profound ignorance of weapons. I mean think about it for a second, a gunpoweder cartridge based weapon generates its force from an explosion in a SEALED air tight enviroment, the cartridge. People who know nothing about something shouldn't try to get clever with it.

 

[Umbran]

Yep, the oxidants are included and function underwater, too.

Yes, but we don't know that Vera (that was the gun's name) uses the same mechanism to propel her bullets as current firearms. Listen when you watch - the guns on Firefly don't go "BANG!".

 

[Rackhir]

Yes, but we don't know that Vera (that was the gun's name) uses the same mechanism to propel her bullets as current firearms. Listen when you watch - the guns on Firefly don't go "BANG!".

The sound is down to the foley guys.

Not even a blackpowder muzzle loader would require atmospheric oxygen to function. This is off of a random website on the web, but is consistant with my knowledge of things. So it's accurate as far as I can tell.

"A very well known propellant is Black Powder, a compound whose weight is 63.5% Potassium Nitrate (KNO3), 23% Charcoal (Saltpeter - Mostly Carbon-6), and 15.4% Sulphur. Both Charcoal and Sulphur combine readily with Oxygen. By notation, KNO3 has three atoms of Oxygen, so it is an Oxidizer. When Carbon, Sulphur and Potassium Nitrate react together they produce intense heat and large amounts of Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Dioxide. Black Powder has the specific impulse of 65 lb-sec/lb, which is not a strong propellant at all. However, it benefits from being easy to store, create, and it comes from easy-to-get to materials. The reaction is as follows: 2KNO3+S+3C=K2S+N2+3CO2. That notation states that Black Powder burns into Potassium Sulfide, Nitrogen and three molecules of Carbon Dioxide. The Potassium Sulfide explodes when it reaches air and the Nitrogen ends up contributing to our air supply and Carbon Dioxide."

Essentially, an explosive as far as I know is defined as a compound containing its own oxidizer and a fuel. So any "explosive" is going to function in a vacuum. Even a pretty minimal level of searching on the internet would have told the writer this.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure modern guns don't need external oxygen to fire. The oxidants are already included in the gunpowder.

True. My XD-9 will shoot submerged so I'm sure it will shoot in outerspace. Now if I can only get up there to test it...