Making sci-fi show tech real....

[shadowstriker86]

so i just started watching my firefly collection again, specifically the episode "war stories", and they started talking about a "griswald" which is a battery sized grenade. Im wondering why no one's bothered to make something like that yet. Idea seems simple enough you would think, but then again why not make lots of items from sci-fi shows, like the universal translator from star trek?

 

[Timotei]

*snip* and they started talking about a "griswald" which is a battery sized grenade. Im wondering why no one's bothered to make something like that yet. Idea seems simple enough you would think *snip*

Because it would only have enough explosive power to blow off your hand. It might work as a good suicide weapon though if you held it to your head. That is unless the grenade was made of C4, which requires it to be rigged with a charge, which adds mass to it and has to be prepared on the spot. It would also lack the sufficient mass, weight, or shape to be tossed any great distance.

It's just easier to use the grenades we have now.

 

[Sephiroth_deus]

There are lots of people trying to make things from sci-fi. I know there are several books and TV shows that cover the subject. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is the transporter from Star Trek. It's only capable of moving protons short distances but it does exist. The thing is though that most of the ideas in sci-fi are just plain impossible or not actually worth doing. Take the light saber as an example. If it were real it'd be so hot it would kill the person wielding it.

 

[shadowstriker86]

*snip* and they started talking about a "griswald" which is a battery sized grenade. Im wondering why no one's bothered to make something like that yet. Idea seems simple enough you would think *snip*

Because it would only have enough explosive power to blow off your hand. It might work as a good suicide weapon though if you held it to your head. That is unless the grenade was made of C4, which requires it to be rigged with a charge, which adds mass to it and has to be prepared on the spot. It would also lack the sufficient mass, weight, or shape to be tossed any great distance.

It's just easier to use the grenades we have now.

lol old methods still work best eh?

 

[martin's a madman]

so i just started watching my firefly collection again, specifically the episode "war stories", and they started talking about a "griswald" which is a battery sized grenade. Im wondering why no one's bothered to make something like that yet. Idea seems simple enough you would think, but then again why not make lots of items from sci-fi shows, like the universal translator from star trek?

Read: 'Physics of The Impossible': By Michio Kaku.

It takes a lot of the technology we see in fiction and explains how it's possible or could be possible within the laws of physics. It's a good book.

EDIT: Or 'The Physics of Startrek' by: Lawrence Krauss.
I haven't read Krauss' book but I have a man crush on him.

EDIT 2: And clearly you're not a man of Science, which is fine.

 

[Uber Evil]

What about the AA12 grenade [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn02le8e0nQ#t=06m22s]. A shotgun shell is roughly the size of a D battery. Seems to have plenty explosive potential too.

 

[Dags90]

I believe the taser was created based around an idea from a science fiction work.

 

[Berethond]

What about the AA12 grenade. A shotgun shell is roughly the size of a D battery. Seems to have plenty explosive potential too.

Well, yes, but those are contact explosives that only detonate with a high velocity impact.

 

[Uber Evil]

What about the AA12 grenade. A shotgun shell is roughly the size of a D battery. Seems to have plenty explosive potential too.

Well, yes, but those are contact explosives that only detonate with a high velocity impact.

Oh. Well that shows that technologically it is possible to have an effective grenade that is as small a a battery. In due time the timed detonator (well not exactly timed, but like an M67, the whole pin contraption) for a grenade will shrink, rendering a grenade that small plausible.

 

[Berethond]

What about the AA12 grenade. A shotgun shell is roughly the size of a D battery. Seems to have plenty explosive potential too.

Well, yes, but those are contact explosives that only detonate with a high velocity impact.

Oh. Well that shows that technologically it is possible to have an effective grenade that is as small a a battery. In due time the timed detonator (well not exactly timed, but like an M67, the whole pin contraption) for a grenade will shrink, rendering a grenade that small plausible.

Maybe, but it would be extremely hard to throw accurately.

 

[brodie21]

*snip* and they started talking about a "griswald" which is a battery sized grenade. Im wondering why no one's bothered to make something like that yet. Idea seems simple enough you would think *snip*

Because it would only have enough explosive power to blow off your hand. It might work as a good suicide weapon though if you held it to your head. That is unless the grenade was made of C4, which requires it to be rigged with a charge, which adds mass to it and has to be prepared on the spot. It would also lack the sufficient mass, weight, or shape to be tossed any great distance.

It's just easier to use the grenades we have now.

just hook one to a pulse sensor and you have a great way to avoid becoming a zombie... get yours today!

 

[Glamorgan]

Well, <a=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/op-ed/6480-Instructions-for-Making-a-Star-Trek-Phaser>here's the desructions to the Star Trek Phaser. In case anyone's interested.

 

[Necator15]

Regardless of how simple the idea may appear, it rarely ever will be that simple. Otherwise, if it is that simple, it's extremely dangerous to actually put into practice.

Or it simply just isn't possible. Unfortunate that this is the case a lot of the time, but that's the sad truth.