Comments on: Most Scientific Fiction Can’t Come True (Jun, 1931)

By: Arglebarglefarglegleep

Arglebarglefarglegleep — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:09:09 +0000

On vacuum replacing lifting gas; it’s been postulated a envelope reinforced by say superconducting materials could be both light and strong enough when electrically charged to make vacuum lift possible. Of course, that’ll be right after pigs fly.

By: Jams

Jams — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:40:58 +0000

——————
2. Notice that the article says it would take over a minute for a radio signal to reach the Moon. I think somebody mixed up units, swapping minutes for seconds, as the Moon is on the order of a light-second away. – Richard
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3. No, it says that it would take minutes to reach “one of the planets.” That’s correct. – GaryM
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No, on the 4th page, the diagram show a radio signal taking 1 minute, 28 secs to reach the moon. As Richard pointed out, that is incorrect, probably should have been 1.28 secs. Someone didn’t catch it in editing.

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:21:13 +0000

John Savard: Correct, and it may be read here in it's entirety.

By: John Savard

John Savard — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:59:14 +0000

“ONE of the leading lights of the pseudo-scientific fiction writing school recently produced a story in which his characters used a marvelous German-built airship to reach an imaginary world in the imaginary hollow center of the earth. The airship was unusual because it contained a vacuum instead of gas, and was built of a mysterious metal so strong it could withstand the enormous air pressure on the outside.”

That was, of course, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core.

By: JMyint

JMyint — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:49:52 +0000

If’n 70 kilos of matter (say a human) were converted into pure energy it would be about 6.22 times 10 to the 18th power joules. A one megaton nuclear weapon is only 4.18 time 10 to the 15th power joules. I don’t think I would want to be within a few thousand kilometres of that.

I beleive te movie Frau in Der Moon had the gravity/free fall thing right.

By: Absolute

Absolute — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:28:38 +0000

“for a spherical metal hull will stand more compression from external pressure than it will expansion from internal strains. That’s why compression members in steel buildings and bridges present less of a problem than suspension bridge cables, which are under an expanding strain.”

This is false, Party Ballons, Helium ballons and even soft drinks cans hold more pressure on the inside than they can take on the outside. Thin sheet materials are strong in tension and deform in compression.

By: KD5ZS

KD5ZS — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:23:20 +0000

It may be easier to copy or emulate a human brain (with a computer) before teleportation become feasible.

By: jayessell

jayessell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:17:35 +0000

Dr. Michio Kaku had an episode about teleportation:

Explore the world of the seemingly impossible with the all-new series SCI FI SCIENCE. Hosted by internationally-renowned physicist and co-founder of string field theory, Dr. Michio Kaku, this series poses the idea that science fiction may not be so far from science fact. Examine topics that currently seem so far out… of the realm of possibility, such as invisibility cloaks, teleportation, time travel and more.
Series Premieres on the Science Channel – Tuesday, December 1 at 10 PM

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:09:53 +0000

Toronto: Nope, last episode he leaped and was never heard from again.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:02:58 +0000

It seems to me that on the chart of the planets the temperature on Mars is given as +113F/45C. This is warmer than almost any spot on the Earth’s surface has ever been, and a bit of a major mistake! Perhaps they meant to put a negative sign in front of it…

By: Toronto

Toronto — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:57:11 +0000

Dude – the Quantum level? Man, I’ve forgotten most of that show. Did Sam ever make the leap home again?

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:41:03 +0000

re: jayessell

“The brain would have to be scanned and recreated on the quantum level!”

For my brain, this would be a fairly easy task.

By: Zyzzyva

Zyzzyva — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:47:15 +0000

Yeah, this is a good one. I like the bit about how speed of light communication means turnaround time in communications; that’s certainly something you didn’t see in period SF much.

By: rick

rick — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:18:44 +0000

“There’s a mistake in the caption text on page 96 where they state the astronauts would be weightless at the gravitational midpoint between the Earth and moon.”
Wayne
The first time I know of that the mistake appeared in literature was Jules Verne’s 1865 novel “From the Earth to the Moon”. I read it as a kid and thought it made a lot of sense at the time.

Rick

By: jayessell

jayessell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:26:29 +0000

Wayne:
“First Men in the Moon”?
“Abbot and Costello Go to Mars”?
“Have Rocket, Will Travel”?
“The Mouse on the Moon”?

“Destination Moon” got it right.

Brett:
Not sending the original matter cuts down energy requirements doesn’t it?
I didn’t say it would run on flashlight batteries.
A SF story I read long ago had the scanning process using so much energy it vaporized the subject.
Something like flash photography!

Actual teleportation might manipulate space so that the object doesn’t have to be disassembled/reassembled.
Like when you move a jpeg from one folder to another in your hard drive.
The description of its location is changed, it’s not erased and rewritten.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:36:36 +0000

There’s a mistake in the caption text on page 96 where they state the astronauts would be weightless at the gravitational midpoint between the Earth and moon. This would be the point where the next force on the ship would be zero, but the astronauts would be in freefall from the moment their engines stopped thrusting.

I’ve seen this mistake in some early science fiction, but I can’t remember where. Anyone know?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:07:31 +0000

Brett: Fixed, thanks. Jayessell: The energy argument is actually a pretty good one. Charlie Stross did a really interesting analysis of it last year on his blog in this post: The Myth of The Starship

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:48:23 +0000

GaryM and Richard.
The transmission towers in the picture are located in NY. Obviously they are using a New York minute.

By: jayessell

jayessell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:40:58 +0000

Great find Charley!
To people of the 20th century, teleportation seemed impossible due the energy required.
To we in the 21st, it’s the quantity of data that would have to be transmitted with negligible errors that seems impossible.
The brain would have to be scanned and recreated on the quantum level!
The nearly obsolete fax machine seems to transmit documents in less than a minute, but actually the paper and ink is already at the destination and the ink mimics the pattern of the original.
If it were ever possible, teleportation receivers would use their supply of matter.

***ERROR*** REPLACE MAGNESIUM CARTRIDGE***

By: Brett

Brett — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:52:06 +0000

Top stuff. But the article’s title is actually ‘Most Scientific Fiction Can’t Come True’.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:19:07 +0000

GaryM, look at the picture on the top of page 97. It has lightning bolts with the time required for radio waves to reach other bodies. The one labelled “Moon” says 1 min 28 sec.

By: GaryM

GaryM — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:13:07 +0000

Richard: No, it says that it would take minutes to reach “one of the planets.” That’s correct.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:49:13 +0000

Notice that the article says it would take over a minute for a radio signal to reach the Moon. I think somebody mixed up units, swapping minutes for seconds, as the Moon is on the order of a light-second away.

The objection about the ionosphere reflecting radio waves overlooks the fact that not all frequencies are reflected. By the time Sputnik was launched, we knew how to use frequencies that would pass through the ionosphere.

This article has the earliest description I’ve seen of a “transporter beam”, similar to what was used on Star Trek. It’s a good science fiction device, though it will no doubt remain fictional for a long time, my best guess is eternity. On Star Trek, it was a budget-saving device, avoiding filming landing/takeoff sequences.

By: KD5ZS

KD5ZS — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:04:31 +0000

How attitudes would change in a couple of decades!

Sometimes reality is even weirder than science fiction!