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PaulPacific Special user Yes, I used my toes to type all of my 907 Posts |
~WARNING~
This post has nothing whatsoever to do with magic.. With that in mind, I am a member of a science fiction forum elsewhere on the internet. I have posted a question to the scifi community at large but it occurred to me that I would like to know what you creative magicians have to say about the matter. Here's my post: Hi everyone, I need your thoughtful input on something that has been bothering me for a very long time. Your serious imput would be greatly appreciated. Remember the classic 1953 film, "The War Of The Worlds"? The Martian War Machines came to earth well prepared for battle. As a defense, they had an electro-magnetic shield-an invisible dome that would envelope the ships and essentially protect them from every single attack directed at them. They had three very powerful weapons. Their primary weapon was the infamous "Heat Ray" projector which was mounted at the end of their "cobra necks" on top of their machines. (This particular weapon taken from an idea from the original book.) The heat ray was a powerful and versatile weapon that allowed the Martians to project an intense laser -type ray of incredible power and heat that would destroy objects nearly instantly.. The Martians also had two wingtip mounted "Disintegrator Beams" These emitted green bursts of energy that would instantly cause the target to simply vanish in a flash of green light. In the movie, these were called "skeleton beams" because of their effect on humans when hit by them. A person hit would glow green and their skeleton would be briefly made visible as the victim vanished into nothingness. The Disintegrators woked (like most disintegrators) by severing the magnetic bonds (mesons) that hold all matter together. Once these lines of magnetic energy are cut, the item hit will simply cease to exist. Indeed, an extremely effective and powerful weapon... which brings me to my question. WHY would the Martians even NEED a Heat Ray when the Skeleton Beams are a far more powerful and effective weapon? My point being that the heat rays are rather primitive when compared to the destructive power of the disintegrator beams that destroy things at a clean molecular level. Can you think of any reason why the War Machines might need to have this "Heat Ray" in spite of having a "Skeleton Beam"? Thanks in advance for your responses. Happy Thoughts, Paul Pacific
Blessings on thee, little man,
barefoot boy with cheeks of tan... Outward sunshine; inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! :-D |
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balducci Loyal user Canada 227 Posts |
The "Disintegrator Beams" / "Skeleton Beams" could use too much energy. Or be prone to failure.
Make America Great Again! - Trump in 2020 ... "We're a capitalistic society. I go into business, I don't make it, I go bankrupt. They're not going to bail me out. I've been on welfare and food stamps. Did anyone help me? No." - Craig T. Nelson, actor.
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PaulPacific Special user Yes, I used my toes to type all of my 907 Posts |
I was thinking along the "energy requirements" line as well. I do know, for example, that the heat ray had a range of 2050' where the Disintegrator Beam was only 1600'. Also the heat ray could fire in ANY direction where the Disintegrators could only shoot straight ahead.
I also noticed the war machines could not move when their shields were deployed. Perhaps this is another energy issue where all the energy required to move the ship is re-directed to the magnetic shields while they are in defense mode. Any other thoughts about this?
Blessings on thee, little man,
barefoot boy with cheeks of tan... Outward sunshine; inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! :-D |
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Salguod Nairb Room 101 0 Posts |
I would say that the Heat Ray is used on larger targets and the Disintegrator for smaller targets. If you compare it to a tank you have a heavy gun to take out armored/fortified positions and a 50 caliber gun to take out combative groups. No need to use a bazooka to kill a single target when a hand gun will do... even thought they play it that way in most movies.
It could also be a short range/long range issue.
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness...
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EsnRedshirt Special user Newark, CA 895 Posts |
Half of me wants to go with the energy requirements issue, which was my first thought. The other half wants to say, "Who cares? It's fiction!"
Self-proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades and google expert*.
* = Take any advice from this person with a grain of salt. |
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Salguod Nairb Room 101 0 Posts |
Yes, but even Science Fiction should be feasible and have some merit. Star Trek is notorious for creating buzz words solutions when they can't find a feasible explanation. Putting real science in Science Fiction adds substance to the story.
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness...
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EsnRedshirt Special user Newark, CA 895 Posts |
Ever read the book, "The Physics of Star Trek"? Great read. So is "The Physics of Superheroes", though it's by a different author.
Self-proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades and google expert*.
* = Take any advice from this person with a grain of salt. |
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Salguod Nairb Room 101 0 Posts |
I've seen the Discovery program about the Science of Science fiction and they covered Star Trek. A bit of trivia... the term humanoid never existed before it was used in science fiction especially on Star Trek. The correct term is actually hominoid.
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness...
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NicholasD Inner circle 1458 Posts |
I think it just seemed like a neat idea to H.G.
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balducci Loyal user Canada 227 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-07-25 21:37, Salguod Nairb wrote: Is that from Discovery? If so, I question their research. Apparently the Oxford English Dictionary dates "humanoid" back to 1912. Back then, it was used in a manner more or less consistent with hominoid to refer to bones that were similar but not identical to human bones. My understanding is that the words humanoid and hominoid today have quite different meanings, and that may be because science fiction adopted and changed the meaning of the former.
Make America Great Again! - Trump in 2020 ... "We're a capitalistic society. I go into business, I don't make it, I go bankrupt. They're not going to bail me out. I've been on welfare and food stamps. Did anyone help me? No." - Craig T. Nelson, actor.
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PaulPacific Special user Yes, I used my toes to type all of my 907 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-07-25 21:09, Salguod Nairb wrote: Ooooooo Thanks Brian! I like the idea of target-size being a reason too. This makes sense with the movie as well because the Disintegrators were used on men but the largest item hit was a tank with those beams. The Heat ray, on the other hand, was used in sweeping motions sometimes and also on large buildings! Perhaps target-size combined with range and power restrictions is enough to satisfy my discomfort about this matter. Any other ideas?
Blessings on thee, little man,
barefoot boy with cheeks of tan... Outward sunshine; inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! :-D |
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Salguod Nairb Room 101 0 Posts |
Balducci my point of reference was an Anthropology professor from back in 1986. It was in reference to the description of humans that science fiction used humanoid.
Paul, from a tactical point it would be logical. I actually like the way people popped and turned to dust in the remake (the rest of that movie sucked though). I think of disintegration more of an unzipping of the atoms and molecules.
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness...
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PaulPacific Special user Yes, I used my toes to type all of my 907 Posts |
Blessings on thee, little man,
barefoot boy with cheeks of tan... Outward sunshine; inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! :-D |
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Salguod Nairb Room 101 0 Posts |
Now, the original with the skeletons shining through were considered cool back in the day as well. Sometimes Hollywood breaks the rules just because it looks cool.
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness...
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Pakar Ilusi Inner circle 5777 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-07-25 20:43, PaulPacific wrote: Them Martians are just mean sadistic mofos who want their enemies to writhe in pain and suffer before they die.
"Dreams aren't a matter of Chance but a matter of Choice." -DC-
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PaulPacific Special user Yes, I used my toes to type all of my 907 Posts |
EXACTLY, Pakar!!!!
Watch this clip. At the five minute mark, you can see both weapons being used. Watch the tank that's hit by the pulses from the Disintegrator! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYmLK9E3RNA&feature=related
Blessings on thee, little man,
barefoot boy with cheeks of tan... Outward sunshine; inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! :-D |
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Pakar Ilusi Inner circle 5777 Posts |
Yes...
When our Mars Rover gets on Mars, they should just KILL 'EM ALL! Microbes I think...
"Dreams aren't a matter of Chance but a matter of Choice." -DC-
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PaulPacific Special user Yes, I used my toes to type all of my 907 Posts |
Blessings on thee, little man,
barefoot boy with cheeks of tan... Outward sunshine; inward joy, Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! :-D |
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Ray Chelt Special user Changing the world with my 988 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-07-25 22:15, PaulPacific wrote: Have you asked your girlfriend ? Oh wait no ...silly idea ...forget it. However your question did prompt me to think of other sci-fi related questions---e.g. why the heck, in the original Trek, did they never carry spare Dilithium crystals...they were always running out !!! |
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Ray Chelt Special user Changing the world with my 988 Posts |
And another question-- who were the health & safety folk on the Death Star ---I mean seriously--those huge shafts were an accident waiting to happen.
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