Most Misused Word in Science Fiction

[Storm Raven]

In the first Timothy Zahn Star Wars trilogy, it was said that Kessel was in a sector of space populated by lots of black holes. There were known safe routes, but they took longer than the shortcuts most smugglers used. Of course, those smugglers usually ended up dead by taking too-short shortcuts, and getting pulled into a black hole.

So, Han was boasting that the Falcon was fast enough to zip between the black holes on a very short path without getting pulled into them.

Yes, we know. Most Star Wars fans know about that after the fact rationalization for completely screwing up the original dialogue. The explanation is what many people simply don't buy. It is just too stupid.

 

[Pbartender]

IIRC, one of the technical manuals stated that replicators were really good at making "loose" molecular structures. So things like food, beverages, etc. were easily produced. However, things with "tight" structures (such as dense metals), or which needed extremely precise construction.

And yet, they can still replicate the dense molecular structures of the ceramic, glass and metal cups, glasses, plates and utensils that food arrives with.

Not to mention the fact that a transporter (which is practically the exact same thing as a replicator) has never goofed up a phaser, a tricorder, a space suit, or any other piece of excessively complicated, precisely made, artificial device.

Think about how precisely a human body must be put back together when it goes through a transporter... and they say a replicator can't make working electrical component?

 

[Numion]

Earth gravity is the most missused thing. It's everywhere .. in spaceships, in alien moons, everywhere

 

[Vocenoctum]

Michael Crichton had an good explanation of why you couldn't do this in his book Timeline. Basically, the process of "reading" the data destroys it (or at least changes it to the degree that you are left without the original object).

I can understand that "scanning" will rip the atom's apart (or whatever destroys the original , but once it's in memory, you should still be able to Print another copy, I'd think.

 

[Desdichado]

I liked that episode. I laughed my anatomy off watching it,

Huh?

Y'know, on second thought, I don't want you elaborate...

 

[Viking Bastard]

On the subject of gravity (though only vaguely sci-fi), one of the things that I've always found odd (or curious, maybe I'm wrong) is superheroes who can run at superspeeds. When you run, you always push up as well as forward, but if you were running at that speed, gravity wouldn't have time to bring you back down, so you would actually end up suspended in mid air, waving your arms and legs really fast.

Mark Waid gave us a silly Comic Book explanation in his Flash run: The Speedforce. It is
somekinda energy field into which speedsters tap to ignore the laws of physics. It's beyond
the understanding of modern science so don't know how it does it.

It's a perfect way to explain all these sci-fi thingamadings. Some wacky reality bending
energy/force/whatever with a silly name that's beyond our understanding.

 

[barsoomcore]

Here's a No-Prize challenge for those smug folks with their explosion noise explanations:

Laser beam sounds. Especially, laser guns being fired from some other ship at a third ship, so there's no contact between either target or firing vessel and the position of the camera, and yet, laser beam sounds are heard.

Huh? Huh? Do we have a winner? Besides reanjr's "cinematic convention" theory?


Oh, and anybody who wants to convince me that metals are more complicated at a molecular level than organic compounds (especially organic compounds that have to be assembled to form a LIVING creature) is welcome to take a shot...


Oh, and just for you, Trainz: if in 500 years "parsec" means "an hour" then maybe the writer of the screenplay ought to have used the word "hour" like he did in every single other instance of the word? You think? The only reason to use the word "parsec" (given that the REAL Han Solo probably doesn't speak English anyway, so presumably ALL of his dialogue has been translated) is because you mean "parsec". Which of course makes no sense whatsoever, but hey, nobody said George Lucas knew science.


And nobody's tackled my "stumbly bridge" problem, either. Come on, folks. I'm waiting...

 

[Wayside]

And nobody's tackled my "stumbly bridge" problem, either. Come on, folks. I'm waiting...

That one's obvious. The impact of the weapons on the ship causes its gravity generators to become momentarily "dizzy," like a shot to the head .

 

[barsoomcore]

Good one! Or possibly super-future laser guns have an effect on the ear canals, making the people dizzy. So they're just sort of stumbling around on a perfectly still deck.

The cameraman, too, explaining the jiggly camera stuff.

For some reason that amuses me immensely.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I once read a short story about a boy in the future who refuses to use the teleportation portals that can be found everywhere. His teachers and parents are troubled by this because you must use the portals - all normal people do. It turns out the boy once witnessed a power outage and raised the question: "What happens if you have a power outage in the middle of a teleport jump?".

It was a nice short story by Asimov. In the story the boy always used the Door (everyone does) but one day it breaks down, so he has to actually *walk* to his school. Nobody every walks outside *anywhere*. Thing is, he starts to like walking. The psychiatrists who try to understand his aberrant behaviour theorise that it is because he is worried about power outages, but in actual fact it is the sheer joy of walking (He is perfectly happy to take the Door on a trip to china, for instance). Eventually a psychiatrist comes to talk to the boy and the boy takes him outside and shows him the wonders of the outside world - the end result of which is that the psychiatrist decides to walk home too.

I must have read that story about 30 years ago, in a collection called "Through a glass, darkly". Funny that it made such an impression on me, it was nice to have the memories stirred up again.

Cheers