I saw THE CORE! [not completely OT]

[Mark]

Well done, jonrog1! I'm looking forward to your take on foundation also.

 

[orbitalfreak]

I hadn't realized there was an ENWorld connection to the movie! Cool!

Provided I can get to the theatre in the next couple of weeks, I'd like to see this one. It does look like a really cool flick. When I saw the trailer in the theatre (during LotR:TTT), I leaned over to my family and said, "Now that's a movie we'll have to see."

Once again, definitely looking forward to seeing it, since it seems pretty fun.

 

[WayneLigon]

It's a big, 1960's fun sci fi movie, smack dab between Andromeda Strain and Fantastic Voyage.
Glad you liked it, Barsoomcore.

I remember something in the AICN reply about you having to fend off people (executives?) wanting weird stuff like dinosaurs in the movie. Elaborate on that? I find fascinating the behind-the-scenes wrangling that most of us never hear about.

 

[Xeriar]

I was under the impression that it was the Inner Core getting started again, my apologies.

The bombs don't generate a current -- they re-establish motion in a non-linear fluid dynamic system of the outer core. It's a little fast-and-loose, but a hell of a lot closer than the "split the asteroid the size of texas with a single nuke" gig. Once again. Sci fi. You don't choke on faster-than-light travel in space movies, you won't choke on this. Of course, if you do, then you're an enemy of fun.

Wouldn't heat differences form between the poles and equator, and begin the process again with more energy than a measely thousand megatons ever could?

Sorry, had to pick

The Armageddon quip is true, and suspense of disbelief is always necessary, but understand it seems to be easier if you go to a different world where these changes in rules are par for the course.

The outer core also, as xeriar points out, does change rotational axes every half a billion years or so. That's why our north and south poles flip. I'm a little confused over your assertion that that movement isn't primarily responsible for the geomagnetic field, but I guess research sources can vary. The JPL guys seemed okay with it.

More like half-million We're on an unusually long stint right now at seven hundred thousand years. Also, though the overall field collapses, the field strength actually stays the same - it's just confined to countless local eddies that conflict with eachother.

This process is occuring now, which is where we get the 'half life of the Earth's magnetic field' from the Creationists :-/

As I said, I was under the impression it was the inner core since stopping the outer core would just be... weird. Way weird, I would expect volcanic more than storm activity as temperature differences built up, although I suppose, that would be over geological time, and that just kind of ruins the suspense in a movie

No extinctions can be tracked to the reversal, but that's because it's always gone smoothly up to this point. As for the effects from the collapse of the electromagnetic field, google up "Dr. Marvin Herndon". He recently published a peer reviewed paper for the Academy of American Scientists which proposes a potential collapse of the geomagnetic field (from a different origin than ours, but the same end) and confirms that the ensuing disasters would not only be similar to the ones in the flick, they would be worse. Nice bit of synchronicity actually.

I have two problems with people claiming this, though

1: The Inuit and residents of Antartica live under similar conditions, as far as solar storms are concerned. If they could survive, for so long, why couldn't the rest of us?

2: The reversal has happened several times within the period of human evolution, so 'everyone on the planet is dead' seems a little extreme to me.

It is true, however, that the Toba Supervolcano (if that is really what caused the 'bottleneck', of course, but I'm inclined to agree) would have eliminated any genetic trace such a weather event would leave. Not to mention Yellowstone erupted before the last shift as well.

---

Regardless, you've given me a bit more confidence in the movie - I may get the DVD - I don't go to the theatres much Congratulations and thank you.

As for killing Orcs in my basement, a part of that is actually tied to this - sometimes I just wanna toss all this real-world crap out the window and play God with my own rules, and see how I do. For some reason I do better with that as a premise

And for faster-than-light travel, at our current rate we will exceed the speed of light Circa ~2200. Now, if we can beat time dilation and REALLY do it, that would be something.

(You can go as fast as you want, a trillion times the speed of light, or whatever, but the rest of the universe still sees you plodding along at .9999999... of c)

 

[jonrog1]

I was under the impression that it was the Inner Core getting started again, my apologies.

Wouldn't heat differences form between the poles and equator, and begin the process again with more energy than a measely thousand megatons ever could?

Yes, after a while -- that's the theory of one of the mechanisms which in fact keeps the reversal stable. The idea is that the normal process has been at least temporarily disrupted. Not long enough to terminally affect the planet -- but planetary time is a bitch compared to biologic time. The big old timeclock planet couldn't care if the EM field hinked up for a year. We, on the other hand, would take whooping like a red-headed stepchild.

The nukes are used ... well, you're obviously physics-savvy enough. Tipping-point theory. Forget the mathematical term, but the old physics degree is a bit rusty.

Sorry, had to pick
The Armageddon quip is true, and suspense of disbelief is always necessary, but understand it seems to be easier if you go to a different world where these changes in rules are par for the course.

Yeah, I wonder why that is. Space movies never take this kind of tech heat. Maybe once you've clean-and-jerked suspension of disbelief for the loss of bone density, etc., everything else is cake.

More like half-million We're on an unusually long stint right now at seven hundred thousand years.

Mistype. I three-finger type (which is weird for a professional screenwriter, I know) and I flip b's and m's all the time. All my "from"s come out "form"s, too actually, which spellcheck never catches.

Also, though the overall field collapses, the field strength actually stays the same - it's just confined to countless local eddies that conflict with eachother.

Ayuh. But living under one of those "eddies" would be a bitch. We use colloquialisms for the audience but that's essentially what we say -- although once again, we're going on the assumption this is not a standard-case scenario.

This process is occuring now, which is where we get the 'half life of the Earth's magnetic field' from the Creationists :-/

Speaking of junk science ...

As I said, I was under the impression it was the inner core since stopping the outer core would just be... weird. Way weird, I would expect volcanic more than storm activity as temperature differences built up, although I suppose, that would be over geological time, and that just kind of ruins the suspense in a movie

See, why couldn't the previous criticisms of the science been this literate? Instead I got an idiot living in his mom's basement name-calling.

Anyway, right again. Geologic time isn't a factor here. Who cares if tectonic instability occurs after we're all dead?

I have two problems with people claiming this, though

1: The Inuit and residents of Antartica live under similar conditions, as far as solar storms are concerned. If they could survive, for so long, why couldn't the rest of us?

2: The reversal has happened several times within the period of human evolution, so 'everyone on the planet is dead' seems a little extreme to me.

As to 1.) we're postulating that the exposure's going to be a lot higher than even the most extreme functional conditions. Broken system. That leads to 2.) the problem in the movie's not from the reversal -- but chaotic reversal's the first suspect, and what the extrapolated effects are based on.

And for faster-than-light travel, at our current rate we will exceed the speed of light Circa ~2200. Now, if we can beat time dilation and REALLY do it, that would be something.

(You can go as fast as you want, a trillion times the speed of light, or whatever, but the rest of the universe still sees you plodding along at .9999999... of c)

Now, you put those relativistic guns back in those holsters, son -- you think I need that explained? I'm aware of that estimate, but personally I think we're going to have a bitch of a time coming up with the practical mass-driver idea.

And, I need to say again, all this matters not a whit to our average viewer. It's a fun ride a lot of people are digging. I just sleep better at night knowing I'm not treating the audience like chimps.

 

[jonrog1]

I remember something in the AICN reply about you having to fend off people (executives?) wanting weird stuff like dinosaurs in the movie. Elaborate on that? I find fascinating the behind-the-scenes wrangling that most of us never hear about.

And, as my agent has warned me, one should probably never hear about. Ahem.

Let's just say the last thing you want to hear in a development meeting are the words "I mean, nobody knows what's down there, right? Anything could be down there!"

Uh-oh.

 

[Goodsport]

 

[Plane Sailing]

Jonrog - I wasn't originally planning to see this movie, but now I might just change my mind - if only to check out you 1337 writing skilz

Well done!

 

[WizarDru]

All that said -- it's a frikkin' journey to the center of the earth movie. If you're reading and posting on these boards, you pretend to fight orcs in your basement. I'd ask for a little suspension of disbelief. Where we could keep the science real we did, and where we couldn't we bent it rather than break it. The primary difference between our flick and Armageddon is that they assumed you're too dumb to know when they're making up science, and we assume you're smart enough that we have to at least lie to you convincingly.

[wipes a tear from his eye]

That's....that's just beautiful, man.

Now I'll have to go see the film. I'm willing to suspend a lot of disbelief, if you I just get entertained, and there's an attempt made to either A) keep things vague, or B) lie convincingly. Hell, Irwin Allen couldn't even do that, and we enjoyed his flicks.

Thanks, jr. BTW, Jackie Chan Adventures rocks on toast. Thanks for making a show that my kids and I can enjoy equally. Really.

 

[WayneLigon]

And, as my agent has warned me, one should probably never hear about. Ahem.

Aww. True, though.

Yeah, that's a pretty big warning sign...