As I've noted previously, the EU's official continuity policy (OCP) was a creation intended to keep the storylines of individual licensed products continuous and uniform . . . and as we've seen, this care and concern did not necessarily extend into the technological arenas. (That's not a denigration, mind you . . . merely an observation.)
This is how we've ended up with A-Wings with titanium hulls (not unlike the old US spyplane the SR-71 Blackbird) on the one hand, and an uber-advanced neutronium-hulled culture in the other. This is how we ended up with EU fighter weapons that over the years have managed to leap from kilojoules to kilotons and starship weapons that have leapt from terajoules to teratons. In both cases we're looking at an increase of, oh, only about four-hundred twenty billion percent.
Of similar interest is the meandering history of cloaks in the EU. Just check out how many times the author, a writer of SW EU reference books, mentions retcons (retroactive continuity fixes . . . i.e. rationalizations of past continuity glitches and absent info), and how many of the ideas still make only sporadic sense even when repaired.
And yet this is what the EU Completist Vs. Debaters would prefer to use for tech info over the films . . . provided, that is, that they get to choose only the highest possible figures.
(I mean, really . . . how many times did you see Imperial admirals order weapons set to 0.000000000002% yield?)
2005-12-06
2005-12-04
"Smart Mass Thinking Putty" Armor
Ever since I bought some "Smart Mass Thinking Putty" way back when, I've wondered whether a similar compound might be usable as body armor. To be sure, this wasn't the most obvious idea . . . in general the material acts like somewhat gooey silly putty, and when it doesn't act like silly putty it's because it's been torn or shattered.
However, the basic idea was to have a material that would bend and flow but, in the event of impact, would act like Kevlar plating.
Well, we're not quite there yet, but we're close.
Add this to the list of things that would look goofy on televised sci-fi ("Behold my impenetrable jello armor!") but are actually workable.
However, the basic idea was to have a material that would bend and flow but, in the event of impact, would act like Kevlar plating.
Well, we're not quite there yet, but we're close.
Add this to the list of things that would look goofy on televised sci-fi ("Behold my impenetrable jello armor!") but are actually workable.
2005-12-02
Long Chains of Water
I've previously commented on reading about carbon nanotubes managing to create long chains of water in a polymer-like configuration (see link). This amused me, since it would provide a plausible path toward a mechanism for the otherwise-unlikely 'complex strings of water molecules' that were involved in creating the quasi-drunkenness from "Naked Now"[TNG1].
However, it now appears that the 'complex strings of water molecules' might not have been all that unlikely to begin with. According to some reports, long chains of water might actually be water in its normal state (see link). I'm not sure of all the implications of this idea (that is to say, I feel sure this sort of thing would have some sort of verifiable effect on biochemistry, water-as-a-solvent, and so on), but if true I find it even more amusing on a Trek-geek level than the nanotube idea.
However, it now appears that the 'complex strings of water molecules' might not have been all that unlikely to begin with. According to some reports, long chains of water might actually be water in its normal state (see link). I'm not sure of all the implications of this idea (that is to say, I feel sure this sort of thing would have some sort of verifiable effect on biochemistry, water-as-a-solvent, and so on), but if true I find it even more amusing on a Trek-geek level than the nanotube idea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)