What is Digg?267 Comments
- djepik, on 03/15/2008, -0/+160I'm sorry all-seeing and all-knowing physics chart, I wasn't aware that lasers traveled faster than light.
Now I know! Allow me to fire up my time-traveling laser pointer! - SquigglyP, on 03/15/2008, -1/+105Contact didn't have sound in space, and the communication with the aliens was all math-based. The 'sound in space' bit was just used in the opening bit to illustrate how far from earth our radio signals might have gone after they could generate signals strong enough to leave the planet. You hear the sound because it's hard to visualize 'radio waves'. Contact has a clean bill as far as I'm concerned.
- ghidorahnotweak, on 03/15/2008, -3/+104I think the author pointed out that she didn't include Star Trek because it was such a giant story that it managed to violate every single law. So it wasn't a good example.
- tehbored, on 03/15/2008, -0/+80Why would a hull breach kill everyone instantly? People can survive in a vacuum for as long as 30 seconds. Just remember, exhale, don't inhale (I'm lookin' at you, Dave).
- Richandler, on 03/15/2008, -3/+58I will leave my real physics in the real world. In my entertainment I want to defy physics and logic.
- deadlift, on 03/15/2008, -2/+56R.I.P Stanley Kubrick
- Ajajadude, on 03/15/2008, -1/+44And any species smart enough to build large spaceships capable of interstellar travel would probably be smart enough to design their ships to prevent a hull breach in one section of a ship from affecting the entire ship.
- vspazv, on 03/15/2008, -2/+43The Stargate ones are innaccurate. The planets were COLONIZED. That's why they all have the same gravity, genepool and languages.
- statik99, on 11/03/2009, -0/+38What, no Spaceballs?!
- manova, on 03/15/2008, -1/+36I'll pick Serenity to defend. All planets in that movie had been terraformed for humans so, yep, they would have picked similar size (therefore gravity) planets. Plus, I don't remember them flying to different regions on the same planet to say that each planet has only one climate. They really hopped from place to place on different planets. Actually, that is the way most movies do it.
- ZenMojo, on 03/15/2008, -0/+34Seriously? Alien and Stargate for "easy interbreeding with aliens?" They're genetically morphing symbiotic creatures, not knocked up girlfriends.
- amiga5000, on 03/15/2008, -1/+35Actually, on 2001: A space odyssey, Kubrick used the theory that men can live a few seconds on the vacuum.
- blakespoorbrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+32Brought to you by:
The people who take the fun out of everything. - LimeParrot, on 03/15/2008, -5/+36In the defense of super-futuristic movies, faster than light travel might be possible. I'm no expert (please intervene if I'm incorrect) but quantum effects such as quantum coupling seem to violate Einstein's Relativity and hence the notion of nothing-can-travel-faster-than-light. It's possible that quantum effects can be explained by less 'weird' theories on a more fundamental level, making things possible that we can't even dream of (including super-light speeds). And if that doesn't work, there's always the possibility of wormholes! If our species keeps advancing and advancing for many centuries, the possibilities are endless... (imagine telling a farmer living 2000 years ago that one day we'll walk on the moon...he'll think you're crazy and chase you with a plow!).
- ErrorS, on 03/15/2008, -3/+32I hate these kinds of lists.. people memorize one liners about physics and think they know enough to debunk *****, it's annoying.
For starters, most FTL travel in sci-fi finds its own way of fixing it. In Startrek, they lower the mass of the ship by bending the space around them ("Warp Field") to move faster than light. In others they create holes in space to travel through (I think FTL in Star Wars works like this).
Sound travels in space if it has an atmosphere to move through.. gas clouds will transfer sound waves, explosions will transfer sound waves (to the extent of the explosion and waste gas). Consider two ships right next to each other, one blows up, the fireball reaches the other ship, the other ship will hear the explosion.
Just about every planet and moon in our solar system has a single climate.. it's arguable that the gas giants do, but because they're giant balls of gas noone really cares. All hard planets and moons, EVERY SINGLE ONE, with atmosphere and without, have the same or similer climates across the entire surface.
and I dunno if people knwo what 'faster than light' is or not, but the lasers in StarWars obviously aren't your traditional laser.. I'm pretty sure they dont travel at light speed, as a matter of fact I seem to remember them moving slower than your typical bullet. Phasers in startrek (I know it wasnt brought up, but someone thought about it) aren't lasers at all, they're weaponized tractor beams.
you people suck at being geeks, im disapointed. - DelayedEraser, on 03/15/2008, -0/+27i'm not sure communication with aliens falls under laws of physics either
- DeskFlyer, on 03/15/2008, -0/+24Phil Plait, the author of Bad Astronomy, covered many of these and more in great detail: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/
- SquigglyP, on 03/15/2008, -1/+25There actually was an astronaut that was briefly exposed to the vacuum of space due to a tear in his suit.
- Multipurpose, on 03/15/2008, -0/+23Not trying to be "that guy," but were you trying to say faux pas? The way you spelled it was extremely creative, it was like a Hawaiian word.
- SpectreFire, on 03/15/2008, -2/+24There's a reason why they're all called science FICTION.
- chesstwin, on 03/15/2008, -0/+21which is true.....
- Ulteriormotive, on 03/15/2008, -1/+22This chart is more inaccurate than the movies.
All Planets have earth gravity: I don't remember these movies saying ALL planets
All Planets have one climate planet-wide: again don't say ALL planets
Communication with aliens : translator or colonies
Exposure to vacuum: some of these got it right
Fires in space: wouldn't most space craft carry oxygen tanks
Dodging weapons: what speed do energy weapons travel at?
Move in slow motion: hard to move fast in a space suit
Faster than light: people used to say we would never fly faster than sound - Darthyoshiboy, on 03/15/2008, -0/+19I can't believe I'm doing this but...
That's because all the species had been members of a galactic republic for thousands of years. We've only been speaking English on this planet for some odd 2000 years and it's just about universal. Not everyone in Star Wars understands each other either, in a New Hope, Luke has to be told what the alien in the cantina is saying to him, and Jabba needs a translator, so there must be some people that do not understand him. - inactive, on 03/15/2008, -3/+22They explain why there is no Star Trek listed. YOU MUST RTFA in its entirety.
BigManOnCampus fails. Too much time in gym. Not enough study. - Sornos, on 03/15/2008, -0/+19I think 2001 should get a clean bill.
A vacuum is not instantly deadly, and as for slow movement in space, it's more of a technical limitation of the film at hand. It's not like they could have easy movement. - holymrack, on 03/15/2008, -1/+20Same with Serenity / Firefly.
The planets were terraformed. Who's to say that process doesn't involve gravity and planet-wide climates? - radu79, on 03/15/2008, -3/+22The article is *****:
1. Not all planets have Earth gravity.
True, but humans/alines would probably only go to planets that are compatible with their bodies.
2. Planets should have diverse climates, instead of one unified climate across a "desert planet" or "forest planet."
No, it depends on the inclination of the axis of the planet, revolution period, rotation period, etc.
3. Asteroids or other objects shouldn't be able to float close together without falling into each other's gravity.
Like, say, those in the asteroid belt, or those in the rings of Saturn? - frakir, on 03/15/2008, -0/+17Someone tell me what was weird in space odyssey depiction of humans exposed to vacuum. Humans don't die instantly in vacuum...they can survive about 10-15 sec of vacuum exposure. Other then that it is a nice chart
- ooooo, on 03/15/2008, -0/+16They didn't speak every language and understand them all that's what C3PO was for, he is fluent "in over six million forms of communication."
- EpicSelekta, on 03/15/2008, -1/+17Something tells me that "Easy communication with aliens" isn't a physics issue.
And on what basis do they imply that it's difficult? - mr100percent, on 03/15/2008, -0/+15Also, I didn't see too much slow motion in space. I remember the scientist and the pod really flying out of there when HAL set it to attack him. Maybe they're thinking of the snail-pace space stewardess?
- ncdave101, on 03/15/2008, -1/+15"(I'm lookin' at you, Dave)"
What'd I do?!? :-) - AngusMustang, on 03/15/2008, -0/+14"Easy communication with aliens" for Contact??? The whole movie (which takes place over years) is about establishing communication and how difficult it is.
Lay off Isaac. - Ajajadude, on 03/15/2008, -3/+17Yeah, this author assumes our knowledge of physics is the end-all authority on everything in the universe.
- adml_shake, on 03/15/2008, -1/+14 * Faster-than-light travel is probably not ever going to be possible."
Well thank you for your little fact. I'm sure the guys at NASA and everywhere else working on this problem will just go home and give up now that you've weighed in on the subject. - MutatedNantuko, on 03/15/2008, -1/+14Where's Total Recall?
- SpectreFire, on 03/15/2008, -3/+16Let's see what's in Star Wars.
Lasers, scantily clad women, explosions, incest, big ***** giant moons of doom, space fights, robots, super powers, more explosions and a black guy.
What the ***** is wrong with you? - LimeParrot, on 03/15/2008, -1/+14Who knew my keychain is a time machine. Ebay, here I come!
- evodude, on 03/15/2008, -0/+13Yeah, that didn't seem right to me either. They were wrong. At least, that's what NASA says.
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answer ...
Although, in fairness, I think the normal human reaction would be to hold your breath, but it still wouldn't kill you instantly. - PabloIV, on 03/15/2008, -0/+13I was gonna sit here and debunk the hell out of this list but everyone above me did a pretty good job of it.
Way to go digg, this list sux. - Pillage, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11I think the "People Moving in slow motion in space" is more due to the large and bulky space suits then the physics.
- MrStabby, on 03/15/2008, -5/+16So I can boast the inevitability of your burial?
- holymrack, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11I believe you're the only person to say incest is cool on Digg and not be buried.
- diktator279, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11"why would a species go out of its way too bring other species to them if they didn't have a way to communicate with them?"
I have a bunch of Asian people tied up in my basement. Its just fun. - DephexTwin, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11Yeah, I have to say that spelling attempt was so bold and confident (and wrong), it was definitely worth noting... in the end, I really don't know how to feel about it.
- SquigglyP, on 03/15/2008, -0/+11you'd move slowly if you were velcro'ed to the floor (or ceiling... as the case may be) as well :P
- vangard, on 03/15/2008, -1/+11"all liquids (including the water in your body) would boil quickly"
Nope. Your skin creates a pretty good seal and maintains pressure in your body. Your blood only boils if your blood pressure drops below a point. Any surfaces exposed to the vacuum will have liquids like perspiration evaporate away, but nothing more. You loose heat very slowly. Additionally, the max mechanical counterpressure from your body is 101kPa. Lack of external pressure while in a vacuum wouldn't be fatal. Nor would radiation, save possibly the most regions of space, like around Jupiter.
Nope - it most likely would be suffocation that kills you. - senae, on 03/15/2008, -0/+10Galaxy =/= Universe
- evodude, on 03/15/2008, -0/+10Stupid broken link.
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answer ...
Digg seems to hate my link. The last part is s/970603.html - SquigglyP, on 03/15/2008, -0/+10they didn't speak english in the movie. They spoke a variation of ancient egyptian. It was very realistic. well... 'realistic' being a relative term in a sci-fi movie.
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