Author Topic: Speed limit reasoning in a series of books  (Read 4435 times)

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Offline Barkhorn

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Re: Speed limit reasoning in a series of books
« Reply #15 on: December 09, 2017, 12:31:43 PM »
I don't think there is any sci-fi, no matter how hard, that can completely avoid handwaving anything.  Take the book/TV show The Expanse.  That work is mostly really great about getting the physics of space travel right.  But even they have a magic engine that gets ludicrous delta-V, and they don't even try to explain how it works.  When you get right down to it, we handwave things in real life even.  Nobody knows why bicycles are so stable, but that doesn't stop us from using them.

I think things which are both vital to the plot, but get no explanation are handwavium.  How people walk around inside ships in Star Wars is handwaved.  Why there is sound in space in Star Wars is not.  For something to be handwavium, to me, it needs to be both important AND unexplained, not just unexplained.
 

Offline Tor Cha

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Re: Speed limit reasoning in a series of books
« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2018, 10:18:34 PM »
People Many years ago I read the Star Trek tech Book in there it stated that the Main Deflector Emitted two fields One a Cone with the Point of the cone away from the ship, and the base of the cone was the size of the ship ( roughly ), the field was weak at the point, somewhat stronger the closer it got to the base of the cone ( the weak force moving Micro to small Mass objects out of the way of the ship. Other objects would be seen and Maneuvered around . The second part was a field that acted like a close in shield, With many secondary Emitters all over the ship. Now it was over 20+ years ago so i may have Miss stated it. and sadly i no longer have it