What became of what was left of Earth-that-was?
POSTED BY: Caitlyn
UPDATED: Thursday, May 20, 2004 04:13
VIEWED: 14263
PAGE 4 of 5
here's a thought. Time Frame. Is it possible that in the relitivly short time of 500 years people pollouted and over populated the earth to the point that it was unlivable, then moved away from earth and had the time to imagrate too I'm going to say at least a hundred planets, plus set up a large system of government, AND have a major war?
Im no expert and I'm not even going to pretend to be one, but, it seems to me like it would take at least a couple of hundred years to make the earth unlivable, and that leaves virtually no time for all this other stuff (set up of the allainace, etc) to happen and develop to the point that it had developed at the time of the show.
So, what i am ever so gradually getting around to saying is that it almost had to be a nuclear war or somehing that screwed up the earth, and screwed it up fast. From what little i know about nuclear bombs, I know that the dropout (ie, the dangerous radiation) can get into the jet streams and travel around the world a couple times, causing radioactive poisoning to those far, far away from where the bomb was dropped. So, lets say some terrorist groups get a hold of some of these bombs and go about blowing each other (or a governmet or someting, take you pick) up. The drop out from it kills people and animals (a potential food sorce for all the living people) and messes up crops. Not to mention destroyed cities from the bombs themselves
The earth get's messed up and virtually unliveable, somebody gets the bright idea to leave and away they go.
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here's a thought. Time Frame. Is it possible that in the relitivly short time of 500 years people pollouted and over populated the earth to the point that it was unlivable, then moved away from earth and had the time to imagrate too I'm going to say at least a hundred planets, plus set up a large system of government, AND have a major war?
And here's another thought: Parallel reality. Since we've little solid info to go on at this point, who's to say that the future Serenity exists in is our future? Obviously there would be a lot of cultural overlap, since so much of their 'verse is familiar to us. But if that 'verse is two neighborhoods over from ours, there would be all sorts of biological/environmental factors that we don't yet know about that could have made the earth uninhabitable.
I don't think I believe that's the case, but it is a possibility, until we learn otherwise.
And I like thinking about parallel realities -- they're just interesting to me as a theoretical discussion.
Ankhagogo
"She was naked---and all...articulate!"
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Hey guys. . .
I REALLY think we MIGHT be over-thinking all of this stuff.
To paraphrase "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". . .'I suggest you not worry so much about all of that and just enjoy yourself!'
I mean. . .come on. We're dangerously close to dissecting the possibilities beyond our ability to truly enjoy it.
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"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."
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Static, I'm in complete agreement with you. When enjoying my favorite books, media or tv I'm always mindful of the saying, "There are those who would gut the cat to see what makes it purr.".
Starhand
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I'll combine several of the above theories.
A proto-Blue Sun group accidentally unleashed a Resident Evil-like virus on Earth. However, rather than admit to that, they called it a natural disaster or something else that would render Earth unlivable.
As a result, the slow process of colonization abruptly sped up, as everyone left as fast as they could and headed to the stars.
A few stayed behind, unwilling to abandon Earth. The virus infected them, and they mutated to become the origin of the Reavers.
No one knows where Earth is anymore, because its in the center of Reaver territory.....it could also explain why anyone who comes into contact with the Reavers becomes like them, if there's a biological agent at work. It'd have an incubation period, so that those around them are safe if the infected person dies within a certain timeframe.
You know, I really like my theory. I just might use it in my Firefly total-conversion plug for EVN.....
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Oh, I don't know, guy. Actually, I find this kind of speculation a fun way to keep the old brain wheels nice and lubed while we wait for word from On High.
Where these kinds of conversations become really tiresome is when people start to get heated (you know what I'm talking about: the "No you idiot it's OBVIOUS that it was a nuclear war because in epsiode number 9....!!" go-se that gives fannish types such a bad name). Proud to note that us Browncoats show virtually none of that kind of foolishness.
So far, this seems a nice sort of rocking on the porch shooting the breeze kind of recreational rumination. Thinking from inside the 'verse is a poor substitute for New Stuff...but I think it's shiny...for now...
[edited for typing impairment]
Department of Redundancy Department
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You know. . .I've written several posts that I re-read and deleted because I wasn't sure how to approach this. . .
But I guess I'll come out and say it. . .
I've noticed that as ENTHUSIASTIC and DEDICATED as we "Browncoats" are. . .we manage to artfully avoid falling into the stereotype of scifi fans that end up wearing prosthetic foreheads, spouting klingon and elvish and just generally creeping the regular public out.
"RAY. . .you're scaring the straights!"
Why is that. . .do you suppose? My theory is. . .
Firefly. . .compared to Star Wars, Trek and everything else. . .is actually FAIRLY EASY for someone to 'wrap their head around' . . .no uber-technology. . .no stupid holodecks, transporter beams, no friggin' 'aft thermocouple' that ALWAYS seemed to screw up, but Geordi never had the sense to have an EXTRA one. . .No alien races and wierd cultures where chewing with your mouth open might woefully offend them into war. . .
It's US. . .our SAME stuggles. . .our SAME conflicts. . .just spread out a bit more. Ya know? It's too close to reality for even the MOST die-hard fans to get unrealistic.
Am I making sense? I think I'll post this into a separate thread and throw it out there for everyone to chew on.
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"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."
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Some people have wisely remembered the conversation of matter and energy principle in the environmental discussions here. But we must also remember that 'the waste' products have lower usefulness to us and that given the inefficiency in returning them to a useful state it is not practical (or going to happen).
Take the simple fuel cell, you combine water and hydrogen to get water and energy. You could add energy to the water to turn it back into hydrogren and oxygen but the overall process would leave you with negative energy due to inefficiency. For a fuel cell to be viable you must get your hydrogen and oxygen elsewhere, by means that requires less energy to get than results from the fuel cell.
Fossil fuels are very convenient because we didn't have to make it (give it energy), oil starts with lots of potential energy to extract.
Even the sun, source of solar energy will eventually be extinguished having burnt up all its hydrogen. While it is quite possible to create hydrogen with enough energy, it will never be technologically feasible to do so. If 100% efficiency was achieved then the whole point is moot, but doesn't seem likely.
What I am getting at is that you always lose some energy to entropy (it still exists but is no longer accessible to us). We do have a lot longer than 500 years, but resources do have limits.
Arawaen
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Quote:
I just might use it in my Firefly total-conversion plug for EVN.....
You're making a Firefly plugin for Escape Velocity Nova? Why was I not informed? Unless you posted about it and I just missed it. When you finish, please tell us. I visit this site a lot more than the EV Nova plugin site. Though I gotta say that sound in space is one of the hallmarks of that game.
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[qupte]You're making a Firefly plugin for Escape Velocity Nova? Why was I not informed? Unless you posted about it and I just missed it. When you finish, please tell us. I visit this site a lot more than the EV Nova plugin site. Though I gotta say that sound in space is one of the hallmarks of that game.
I posted about it several months ago, back when I was first starting.
It won't be done any time soon; I've very nearly got the galaxy ready (75+ stellar objects, so far), but I still have to do outfits, weapons, dudes, persons, ships, other graphicy-type-stuff, junks......not to mention missions.
This is the third major plugin I've started, and I've gotten farther on this than either of the other two, so I feel there's a good chance it will eventually see some kind of completion.
And yes, the sound in space will be a bit of a complication. I haven't decided how I'm going to handle that yet.
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