Science and mistakes in Firefly: Ask your questions.
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Thursday, September 8, 2005 08:45
VIEWED: 13068
PAGE 4 of 10
Quote:
Originally posted by R1Z:Quote:
Consider a present-day firearm. The cartridge is for all practical purposes a sealed unit containing both air and gunpowder
Actually, it seems that there's almost no air in a bullet. The oxygen for combustion is provided by the potassium nitrate in the gunpowder, which is an oxidizer.
See http://1.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GU/GUNPOWDER.htm
Well, actually most modern firearms don't use the original gunpowder (sulfur, charcoal, and saltpetre, more commonly known today as black powder) but more complex mixtures which combust at different rates, depending on the type, weight, and velocity of the projectiles they are designed to propel. You are right about the fact that they contain oxidizers of one sort or another(forgot to mention that. Damn that google anyway)
"Keep the Shiny side up"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by R1Z:Quote:
I still thing the Suit thing was because of some Government Regulation on the manufacture of firearms. A gun like Vera was probably built in a factory in the Core or on another Civilized world so it would be subject to government regulations. The Alliance wouldn’t want people owning weapons that can fire in vacuum since they could be used by pirates and outlaws when boarding ships.
Good point, although I imagine the Alliance wouldn't want common citizens to to have offensive weapons at all, and it's a little hard to imagine construing the Callahan Full Bore Auto Lock as a purely defensive weapon.
Jayne got it from the (late) best of the men who came to kill him.
Do you suppose it was originally military hardware that was diverted?
To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein
It could be the Civilian model of a military gun, or it could be military surplus converted to civil standards. Maybe what goes for a hunting rifle is a bit different in the Firefly ‘verse… or maybe it isn’t the Saiga 12 (The gun Vera is built from IRL) is marketed as a hunting rifle, despite the fact that its also used by the Russian Special Forces.
EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
First off, let me say there are no mistakes in Firefly.
Oh really. In the pilot Serenity and the Reaver ship are traveling very slowly when they should be going very fast. Joss has admitted that this is a mistake!
EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Even at far less then .99c many stars are well within that range. There are 50 stars within 16 ly of earth. Given a 300 year travel time, one would need travel at only ~36 million miles per hour to reach the furthest of them. Granted that’s pretty fast and still quite speculative to imagine that such speeds will be possible within a hundred years, but its no where near the speed of light, and if we are assuming a technology in the future capable of generating artificial gravity without the need for centripetal force then we might as well assume that the technology exists to build advanced interstellar propulsion.
Originally posted by Geezer:
The whole, carefully undefined, locale of Firefly is kind of improbable, but lets stick with the timeframe issue.
Assume that Earth-that-was is used up about 2100 A.D. FTL is still impossible, but say you have artificial gravity (A given. We've seen it in the Firefly universe) and can accelerate to .99 C relatively quickly. Also assume that the Firefly locale has been populated for 100 years (plenty of time to terraform and build some civilization). This gives us a slightly less than 300 light year globe that could be reached. Plenty of stars within that space from here.
My pet peeve is the relative velocity thing. Serenity is supposedly traveling between planets at velocities that allow it to reach its destination, usually, within days. At that kind of velocity you’d never be able to look out your window and watch an Alliance cruiser or a Reaver ship meander by, unless your velocities were pretty well matched. Also the volume of space makes it unlikely that even in a very traffic congested futuristic solar system, you are likely to accidentally come across another ship that close. These kinds of things really rake my fur the wrong way, but I suppose most people don’t really think it terms of the distances between planets.
Jayne and his Oxygen-breathing gun really make cringe. Serenity is approaching this ring-thing at probably unimaginable velocities by today’s standards and Jayne just pops his head out the airlock and shoots at it (from the hip no less!). Popular science fiction. Even the best of it is queer.
-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Jayne and his Oxygen-breathing gun really make cringe. Serenity is approaching this ring-thing at probably unimaginable velocities by today’s standards and Jayne just pops his head out the airlock and shoots at it (from the hip no less!). Popular science fiction. Even the best of it is queer.
Finn,
Nice analysis of the reachability of stars, and and of the relative velocities of ships in transit. But, a small comment on the scavenger ring: The ring has an orbital velocity of its own (all objects in space have velocity from a sidereal perspective), but they couldn't possibly try to capture objects with a significant velocity differential. The energy cost would be too high, unless energy were so cheap that cargo ships wouldn't worry about fuel costs - clearly not the case in the Firefly 'Verse.
So, YoSafBrig-type operatives would have to match vectors, at least approximately, leaving the field clear for sharpshooters like Jayne. Who could probably have done it with a 30-06. But that's what Big Damn Heroes are for......
perfessergee
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey Chrisisall,
Glad to see that somebody has finally come forward to be the arbiter of Firefly Correctness (similar to, but not to be confused with "Political Correctness"). PC could never compete with FC in any decent 'verse. May the heavens forbid!!
But damn, dude, don't we need to lay another moniker on you for your FC role? Abby and Ann Landers have gone on to their reward (god must be PO'd about all their forwarded mail), but their kids have latched onto the copyright, so we need something new. How about "Dear Chrissy"?........ Well, maybe that doesn't have quite the right ring. But then "Your F-Correctness" might be open to unfortunate interpretation. So how should we address you in your new role? Enquiring minds (and perhaps some disabled ones, too) want to know.......
perfessergee
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
The only theoretical drive that I know of that could reach relatavistic speeds would be the bussard-ram scoop. This could reach distant stars in a subjective journey time also much shorter than the passage of time on earth, for example.
A ship can never obtain or surpass lightspeed using conventional drives, however. Special Relativity says that no object with a finite rest mass can even achieve the speed of light.
Therefore in-order to acheive lightspeed you have to 'get around' SR.
As a kind of interesting sidenote this can be done, Wormholes would be one way, or, since FireFly already has artifical gravity, you could generate an aculbiere Warp. A more fanciful way would be to convert the mass of the ship into Tachyons of equal negative mass, which would then mean the ship could no longer travel slower than lightspeed.
As for journey time the closest star believed to have planets is Lalande 21185 B, about 8ly away. Lalande can't be our star though, as it is a dim red dwarf star, and it is believed to only have gas giants. The closest system believed to have Earth like planets is Rho1 Cancri (55 Cancri). This can't be our FireFly verse either, as it is a binary system, FireFly's is clearly not. But assuming it is for a moment, this system is 43.7ly distant. Ignoring the fact that a ship employing a Bussard Ram Scoop would have to accelerate for half the journey, and decelerate for the other half, this gives us a subjective journey time due to time-dialation at relatavistic speeds of 7.25 years (remembering that 43.7 years would have passed on Earth).
As for ships meeting each other in the black, the distances aren't that great at all, at least not on a galaxtic scale. For instance a lot of bodies are necessarilly held in a very small area of the orbital system, by the nature of the system in FireFly.
I also seem to remember there being talk of space lanes, much as we have shipping lanes today. These would be narrow corridors that would necessarilly be quite busy, and would have Reavers floating about looking for victims.
So I don't see meeting other ships while using one of these space lanes as particularly fancifull.
Q: What do you have when you are holding two little green balls in your hand.
A: Kermit's undivided attention.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Geezer, he says it needs oxygen, not how much. Obviously regular Earth-like air has plenty enough to do the job. Does your air have enough oxygen in it for you?
Originally posted by Geezer:
If Vera actually needed "oxygen" around her to fire, she'd never work in an earthlike planet's atmosphere, which contains only about 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and 1% other stuff. I find it hard to believe that Jayne would have any regard for a weapon that could only be fired in massively artificial conditions. This is a major factual error.
Duh.
Atmo Chrisisall
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
The One-Way Single-Use Mass Exodus Jump Gate that was constructed just before the end of Earth That Is. A combined effort of mankind targeting a galaxy of possible new near-Earth type planets. The planetary engineers were the first to use it. It was the one and only time humanity was united in a single, selfless moment, making future inequity possible.
The gate remained functional for less than two years, and 88% of the population used it before it's collapse.
Chrisisall
Umm...
Is that cannon? if so, where did u get that information, because ive never heard anything like that said so definitively. is it instad just a possible theory? if so, it might prudent to say that it is instead of saying it like a cannon fact.
------------------------------------------------
When the stars shine bright through the engine's trail and the dust of another world drops behind; When my ship is free of the open sky, its a damn good day to my way of mind; Theres a barren planet you never can leave, theres a rocky valley where we lost a war; Theres a cross worn 'round a soldier's neck, theres a man's faith died on Serenity's floor, but i stood my ground and ill fight once more; Its the last oath that i ever swore
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:You make sense, however, I like my explanation better. Although yours is definitly possible.
Originally posted by R1Z:
Since the suit is not pressurized, it moves relatively slowly toward the holes in the faceplate. Oxygen that leaks out is continuously replenished until the supply is exhausted.
No Duh here.
Five by five Chrisisall
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME