STARGATE UNIVERSE #1:Intervention (3)/Season 2-2010

[Dire Bare]

Bumping off a major character is risky for the writers though. The strangest characters (not just leads) sometimes end up with a fan base, and sometimes those fan bases can be surprisingly large. Bumping off a well-loved character poorly can alienate a large segment of your watchers, and if they stop watching, you're going to take a rating hit. There's also actor contracts to take into consideration, if they have a contract for the show for several years, you might not be able to just kill the character off at a whim.

Heh, yeah, but the actors reacted so viscerally to some of the deaths that I had to think, "Should I know that guy who just got shot?" I liked that. It was able to broaden the story a bit for me beyond the main characters.

 

[Dire Bare]

PS: as for the space jesus aliens saving TJ's baby and the dumb cultist-wannabes -- I hope not. Or rather, I hope that the story he told is pure BS from the aliens or delusion on his part, and they're actually strapped into Matrix-esque pods being slowly disassembled by vivisectionist aliens or the like.

I have no problems with any of the "savior" aliens storylines so far. We haven't been given enough info yet to know what is happening . . . and whether it's dumb or not! After observing how the show has been written so far, I suspect this plot arch isn't done and it will be more complex that you give it credit for so far.

 

[Serra]

Rush forced the alliance's hand so well where the Redhead shot up the crazy commander who was ready to just get himself and everyone else killed from the next pulsar wave. I loved what they did with Rush in that last episode.

 

[TanisFrey]

Hiding in hydroponics makes works for me, because, water adsorbs many types of high-energy radiation. Water is used in many nuclear facilities to store materials that are very "hot," things will be radioactive for hundreds of thousands to millions of years.

 

[wolff96]

Hiding in hydroponics makes works for me, because, water adsorbs many types of high-energy radiation. Water is used in many nuclear facilities to store materials that are very "hot," things will be radioactive for hundreds of thousands to millions of years.

Different kinds of radiation, unfortunately.

Alpha and Beta particles are the types blocked well by low density materials such as water and plastics. These are given off by spent fuel rods and the reason that nuclear reactors use water-based shielding.

X-Rays (and other high-energy forms of electromagnetic radiation) are best absorbed by atoms with heavy nuclei -- like lead or depleted uranium. The heavier the nuclei, the better the shielding. Water (Hydrogen + Oxygen) offers very little protection against this type of radiation.

The kind of radiation put out by a pulsar is electromagnetic. My knowledge in this field isn't extensive, so I might be off a bit... but I've never heard of a pulsar that goes higher than the X-Ray band in EM emissions. As they die down, they fade down the band into the Radio Wavelengths.

And I've never heard of one that had a period of more than a few seconds, either. But then again, this is Hollywood Science, not the more normal kind.

 

[TanisFrey]

Different kinds of radiation, unfortunately.

Alpha and Beta particles are the types blocked well by low density materials such as water and plastics. These are given off by spent fuel rods and the reason that nuclear reactors use water-based shielding.

X-Rays (and other high-energy forms of electromagnetic radiation) are best absorbed by atoms with heavy nuclei -- like lead or depleted uranium. The heavier the nuclei, the better the shielding. Water (Hydrogen + Oxygen) offers very little protection against this type of radiation.

The kind of radiation put out by a pulsar is electromagnetic. My knowledge in this field isn't extensive, so I might be off a bit... but I've never heard of a pulsar that goes higher than the X-Ray band in EM emissions. As they die down, they fade down the band into the Radio Wavelengths.

And I've never heard of one that had a period of more than a few seconds, either. But then again, this is Hollywood Science, not the more normal kind.

Any EM radiation passing through water is partly absorbed and converted into heat. Many factors need to be considered in talking about water as a radiation shield.

How much water? What wavelength EM radiation are we talking about?

Radio (typical AM and FM frequencies) is not affected much water in the air but Microwaves are. Microwave transmissions are limited to about 20 - 25 miles on earth surface due to the cumulative effect of water vapor in the air. If someone try to increase frequency (like x-rays or gamma rays) beyond this the more limited the range will be due to water vapor. the more the frequencies increase the greater the absorption will be.

A lead shield an inch thick will do the job of several feet of water. Most of a space ship radiation shield will be on or near the skin of the ship.Yes, water is not as efficient shield as something heaver but we humans use gallons and gallons for everyday use.

A hydroponics lab in space will need hundreds to thousands of gallons every day depending on size. It is usually good logic to locate you water tank as close to the item that will the most of it so you don't have to wast energy pumping it halfway across the the ship.

Therefore the water in Hydroponics gives you the EXTRA shielding you need to survive the x-ray pulse.

As a side note the principles of a microwave oven were discovered by accident by a radar technician. He moved in front of the transmitter to adjust it with a chocolate bar in his pocket, it melted. Eventually someone used this knowledge to create the radarrange, an early type of microwave oven.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Red head girl; I figure is going to be Eli's love interest. Still would like it to be Jane, that has comic gold all over it.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

As far as I understand it, the frequency of a Pulsars... pulsing is based on its rotation, and it can be very different from Pulsar to Pulsar.

 

[wolff96]

As far as I understand it, the frequency of a Pulsars... pulsing is based on its rotation, and it can be very different from Pulsar to Pulsar.

Very true. However, they have a tendency to slow down as they get older (and they shift down the EM band).

The longest documented one (according to Wikipedia, anyway, so take with a grain of salt despite the citation) has an 8.5 second period. Pretty sure the one on SG:U was just a tiny bit longer than that.