Spacescifi

Would gas giant scooping for refueling be as viable as I think it would be using grav-inverters? Or have I overlooked something? I know planets like Uranus are the places to go, since methane is easier to store than hydrogen.

Could we make a flashlight powerful enough to emit god-rays (crepuscular rays)? Not by putting extra stuff in the air (too easy), but by pure power? I think we could, but the light source would probably be plasma, since any flashlight that powerful should melt the reflector I think.

True. This was just an exercise to see what man could do if he jerry-rigged an SVL alien drive. Lesson learned is... space travel is still hard. Just not as hard as before. Translation only works in vacuum. Grav-inverters make ship fall upward at same rate it would fall down. Translation drive does the rest in vacuum. Grav-inverters are also useful for gas giant refueling, since you can scoop falling down and fallling up. Probably still need a compressor and tanks to make it liquid fuel though.

So with a ship of this weight (97000 tons), it really is impractical to fly around in space with rockets of current technology? You would be better off with a ship that weighed less? What would be an optimal large ship's weight with this translation drive? Since 97000 tons is evidently pushing the limits of steering and propulsion with rockets that need refueling too far?

It is not always about clean though. These are limbs afterall, not wood. I am thinking that cauterizing will definitely kill nerve endings and such. Not to say they won't come back, but it just seems... excessive. By the way, they do use lasers for cauterising incision lines, so as to seal them.

"Friends let friends use reactionless drives in their universes because they already have FTL, which allows anyone with it to catch up to or outrun a reactionless drive." -Me Besides, there are numerous scifi ways to neutralize the threat. Easy ones that come to mind are: 1. FTL sensors that reach 7 lightyears out. 2. A warp drive that ONLY drops your ship out at the same speed and orbital heading as the target object, regardless of past speed or orbital heading. Why? You could detect a relativistic object long before it reached you. And if a ship was moving at dangerous velocities, the velocity and orbit matching warp drive would allow for easy intercept.

Money. As it is doctors have been known to order X-ray and other tests that are not absolutely necessary for the patient.... just to get some of the cost back of buying the machine. Kind of hard to justify use of lasers to get back the cost of the machine when cheaper options are available. Like automated blades/saws. Something tells me that a cutting grade laser would be expensive. Also, from a medical point of view, you may or may not want to cauterize the flesh around a cut. With a laser you will likely end up cauterizing the surrounding flesh of the cut, so if you do not want that... you get where I am going?

If it were a Ferengi trader: "Yes. 'Know your enemies... but do business with them always', rule of aquisition... " Ferengi passes out as he dies.

Basically this, which is same weight. 97 thousand tons.

In this scenario you have a 97000 ton spaceship that has been outfitted with a scifi FTL drive called Shift Velocity and Location drive (SVL). Basically it moves moves vacuum over the ship's hull, shifting it's position in space without accelerating it. To drop out of SVL, the ship must encounter the three kilometer radius of another object in space (at least a kilogram or more). That is called shift lock (my play on mass lock), upon which your vessel drops out harmlessly with a speed and orbital vector identical to the object that shift locked you. Basically, your ship is standing still relative to the object that shift locked you 3 kilometers away. Even though you gained it's speed and orbital heading, nulifying any you previously had. Here is the question: Your ship regularly docks with space stations in orbit of planets. 97,000 tons of spaceship is no joke. Therefore what would be the ideal fuel, rocket engine,and propellant you would have your spaceship stocked with ahead of time? Real fuels and engines only. Even nuclear is fine... antimatter or metallIc hydrogen is NOT. What will it be? A nuclear reactor with liquid methane? How long will it take your 97,000 ton spaceship to cross 3 kilomoters from a relative dead stop? EDIT: I know your not going to wanna burn tons of fuel. But at the same time I do not think waiting an hour to cross 3 kilometers and slow to dock will be acceptable to your passengers either. You have 300 passengers. Still the more you burn the more often you will have to refuel... so. What do you think.

I meant reproduction of liquid fuels only. So assuming you had molten alluminum, then yeah, you could... no. I was thinking of a scifi way of reproducing like simple (just one element) fuels. So of you had liquid methane, you could make more by inserting a scifi fuel matrix core. Based off human bones in concept, which actually help generate more blood cells, so the fuel matrix would replicate more of the chemical fuel ot is inserted into. Of course, molten fuels would destroy the matrix, so room temp or cooler fuels are desired. How to still get good thrust? Use a separate matrix with an oxider and combine the oxider with the other fuel. Or just run the fuel over a nuclear reactor. You're not running out.

Does methane generate a lot of exhaust steam in atmosphere? Like typical booster and chem rockets? Methane seems pretty clean. Does not even leave a lot of smoke. Pretty flame too.

Wow. What chemical fuels would be popular now that we don't worry about running out? Hydrogen/oxygen stiil reign supreme in rocket fuel? Or will heavier chemical fuels dominate?

Magneto? Clarify please? Also I would love to see the yelp reviews klingons give your assisted living facility LOL.

I am not discussing the unlimited fuel mod. Rather what we could do and not do if we found a way to generate more liquid fuel from existing fuels? Liquid fuels only? My conclusions: Space planes are now viable. Jet airliners aren't obsolete, but for the rich they are. Rocketliners become popular with the wealthy. Virtually any scifi ship shape desired is possible as long as either enough nozzles are added or big enough ones are included. Missiles become so lethal that jet fighters become obsolete. Since the missile can keep flying till it hits something. The solar system is explored by man personally within only a decade. Because of unlimited fuel. What we could'nt do? Lifting some objects would be possible unless one had either an army of rockets or a few massive ones.

War is overrated. Even in fiction. Not so cool when it hits home personally in real life. Only fun to watch from afar How is this for a concept? In 2001 aliens show up. After language barriers are surmounted they tell us why they came. They want our stuff. And they are willing to work for it. We want their stuff, because hello? Starships! FTL! Since our money has no value on their worlds and their money has no no value on earth, they make a proposition. Groups of aliens of various races will agree to work on earth so they can buy stuff with human money on earth. Groups of humans will agree to work on alien worlds to buy alien tech, goods and services. There is one catch. An alien or human is not allowed to bring foreign goods back to their homeworld unless cleared by alien central command. Which means humans could do the scifi thing. Just not on Earth. Results? Cultural shocks and hilarity ensues without fail. Plenty of story material right there.

In star trek, it is not a subject ever touched on, but I still think it is a relavent one. Especially given the upcoming Picard series. People get old. Sooner or later they end up in an assisted living facility. Sooner or later someone other than them has to wipe their butt. That someone could be you. Would you do it if: 1. It was an old klingon who was on suicide watch. After all, he considers it highly dishonorable that he is too old to to wipe his own butt. 2. An old vulcan lady. Lived during the days of kirk (vulcans live long). Like vulcans, she never smiles and is generally boring. Also she has been known to do the vulcan nerve pinch on orderlies who upset her by feeding her messily, getting food all over her face. Granted it is hard, since her head bobs back and forth because of a medical condition. 3 This guy. The thought of his wrinkly butt would make me squirm, and the grand nagus is kept on watch from females too. He slapped Kira's bum right after she turned her back later on in the same episode. Kira did not retaliate because he is a foreign diplomat. Only reason. 4. Quit your job. Yet that is the only position starfleet will give you right now. Perhaps you should consider a career in botany? So which will it be? Personally, I think the whole concept of having to wipe an aged klingon warrior's bum to be the most hilarious. Given how much they pride themselves on honor and dying in battle. Speaking of which, you may have to watch that he does'nt start any fights with other patients or the staff. Or you. Even a plastic knife can be dangerous around an aged klingon warrior!

Ironic. Some will say scifi aliens are'nt realistic (human) enough. Others say scifi aliens are act too human (realistic). Based on my earlier comments in another post about not liking scifi aliens that act just like humans, I think you know what direction I will inevitably take. Middle of the road.

They are as I described them. You may take my words with more strict defintion than I actually do. Either way, I won't have them mimic us anymore than what I desire from them.

I do not view them as an ideal. Their creation was inspired out of a desire to create a race that was not simply filling the lackluster role of villain. Furthermore they are just one of several races I am making. The only reason I fleshed them out this much is because is a main character will be thos type of fictional alien. And yes, she has her own distinct personality thrown in her with her alien side that accepts, supports, and provides harmony with facts. This is not a utopian harmonic civilization. These ones have more in common with us. They also do not need complete information per se. Harmony with facts is their primary concern after all.

Being empaths makes it easier. It's who you know not what you know. Being close or having a friend of a friend can net an alien confidential information about products. Or the legal way is to just fork over a hefty sum of cold, hard cash. Illegal company info sharing can get one fined, but not arrested.

And therein lies how they can be deceptive. I was already going to do that. But given what they can do (empath ability) deceiving each other is not easy. Plus any reasonably smart alien will shop around to see what competitors say. At any rate, navigating alien information would be a cakewalk compared to the maze of human information. Since at least with the aliens, it is ALL true. Humor can be done fine without lies. Stories can still be told, they just preface them with, "Want to hear a joke?" There is also stuff like this, I guess the main difference is that an alien kramer would say, "I hoped you would."

You are missing one vital point. They are'nt human. Thus they do not require all the motives humans do for the actions they take. Only the ones I give. They are human enough to be relatable to the reader. I gave them motives and that is enough for me to construct upon. I guess you could say that their alien qualities compensate for any perceived weakenesses. Perhaps their curiousity is simply greater, driving them to make 'what if's' a reality more often than not? For profit and to find their origins. Since unlike humanity, they do not have a ton of answers that they actually put credence in. That is why they seek out new life and civilzations, apart from profit. And you are right, they still have conflict. They are not a utopia. They really are'nt like vulcans though. They can laugh and even make jokes. And they still dream, they just look for ways to make it reality. Note that theoretical info is freely open to the public and one can choose it as an elective study course. Yet any theories that are not fully in harmony with known and observed scientific experiments stay in textbooks and classes only. One won't find them elsewhere often mentioned, and certainly not as a fact. Funny thing is, both alien religions (since they really do not have a native one) and theoretical science are treated virtually the same. Aliens can take both as elective study courses in school. Doubtful until proven otherwise, yet the search will continue. That is how they treat both

Ha. I never envisioned them quite so dark. As I was not playing on doing an invasion story. Besides, the facts would show that such a type of governance as 1984 would lead to civil unrest and mass rebellion. They do not rely on cameras so much as they do agents to observe and report. Since agents do not lie, and can hear and think, they are far more valuable than recording devices when it comes to getting market info of consumers. They could royally wreck earth companies if they ever put their companies to do business on earth. I did not mention it, but the fictional aliens are empaths. All they have to do is close their eyes and they can sense the emotions of all sapients around them within 10 feet radius. Some individuals have a empath radius of 30 feet, but that is rare. Their main motive in seeking new life and civilizations is to seek credible answers about their own origins and also to profit.

LOL. Never did I even think of our pets! The fictional aliens I tweaked in this case to be harmonic with observable facts. Nothing more or less. That is what they support, accept,and provide. The result is in their society that they never lie, and never jump to conclusions. This effects commerce, politics, and what views they have on religion. Commerce: They won't share false advertising. They do target individuals rather than groups with ads though, as privacy of personal info is not private to commerce unless one pays a large sum. They will go to great lengths. Even having agents marry people to get them to support their company. One out of ten people actually works undercover as an agent of commerce. Privacy advocates on Earth would cringe at how much personal info companies collect legally. Politics: No more lies. They will omit saying stuff at times though. So to get a full view one would need to hear words of from both opposers and supporters, as neither lie. Religion: They lack the massive religious past Earth has. Given that all life they have observed comes from life, they conclude so did they. Yet it does not go further than that. They do display a high curiosity about it with any race that does have such a background though. Occasionally individuals convert, although this is rare. Individuals tend to speak in an objective manner, unless one asks their opinion and they give it. In fact, they do have theories about things, but they are not allowed to be actively promoted to the public, but the public can still access such information. EDIT: fixed