Probably. Still, at least Cowboy Bebop and things here and there to make it look more like the future, like common civilian space transports, wireless headsets (even if they were new and as it turns out, rigged) holograms in amusement parks and, my favorite, everyone going "The FUCK is a VCR!?"Soviet Heavy said:
Sci-fi technology not used to its potential in sci-fi settings
- Thread starter Zontar
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And then promptly going on a suicide mission to recover a betamax player instead.erttheking said:
This is something I've always wondered in both sci-fi (and fantasy) settings, but if they've invented stuff like med-gel (from Mass Effect) and healing potions (from basically every fantasy RPG ever) wouldn't medical doctors be nearly obsolete?
I guess they could stick around to diagnose diseases, but if I can fix bullet wounds, broken bones, swords stabs, and electrical shocks via some magical gel (or potion) what the hell would I ever need a Medical Doctor for?
I guess they could stick around to diagnose diseases, but if I can fix bullet wounds, broken bones, swords stabs, and electrical shocks via some magical gel (or potion) what the hell would I ever need a Medical Doctor for?
It's been ages since I've read the Thrawn trilogy, but I do seem to remember him saying something to that degree.Zontar said:
As for the Clone Wars, I recall reading on Wookieepedia that non-clones also fought for the Republic military, including conscripts, volunteers and mercenaries. However, clones tended to see the most action due to their sheer numbers and relatively expendable role.
That doesn't make sense though, just have one in a hundred thousand on Coresant alone be conscripted and then you suddenly have an army that dwarfs the clone army even at the most liberal estimates of their number.Neverhoodian said:
My real question was why didn't the SGC try and find a way to repurpose the staff weapons in some way. They may not be accurate or shoot fast, but they are plentiful so using something like a gatling gun for rapid fire support and suppression fire. Hell, given the slapped together nature of the 303 I'm surprised they didn't do that with staff cannons. Wouldn't work for a primary weapon, but it sure would work as a secondary one.Shanicus said:
As I understand medi-gel (which we have actually invented, it's being called "Veti-gel" if I recall) and healing potions only stop the bleeding and act as an antiseptic and anesthetic. They won't help much if, say, your heart were hit by a bullet or an arrow, but they will keep you alive through less serious injuries so that you can make it to a physician/doctor/surgeon.Ihateregistering1 said:
There was a bit in Mass Effect 3 where you're in the hospital on the Citadel and you can overhear a wounded marine talking to a nurse about getting a new leg cloned. His story was that he was hit, his squadmates slapped some medi-gel on his wound, but they did it wrong and his leg got infected. Queue amputation and six month wait for a new leg. Now, I'm not saying it isn't used to it's fullest potential, but it also isn't really some kind of panacea, just a high-tech bandage.
Healing potions, I don't even know about. I sort of imagine they are less a drink and more something you splash on a knife wound to keep from bleeding out.
OT: Gotta go with the boltgun/bolter from Warhammer 40,000. I've seen the real life Gyro-jet "gun" and while it's a piece of crap, it is ridiculously easy to make. All it needs is for a competent engineering team to show it some love. I've no idea what could possibly be so complicated about bolters that only the Emperor's Finest, the Astartes, get them. We invented the Gyro-jet in the 1960s! We still don't have anything close to a man-portable, infantry use laser rifle. The lasgun is WAY more complex than what amounts to a model rocket engine behind a small explosive. The Russians and Germans invented small-caliber rifle ammunition with an explosive tip in the 1930s. It's terrifying and horrendously unethical, but it works. It doesn't require anything even remotely close to the tech base a laser does. My point is, you give every guardsman or woman a boltgun and the 40k universe would be devoid of aliens and heretics in a matter of weeks. Plus, Imperial Guard players would be laughing all the way to the game store.
Well boltguns aren't unique to the Astartes, the Imperial Guard get them a lot in the form of turrets and pistols for their officers.Ironman126 said:
Though the main reason for this is probably because the Imperium is run by monkies and technological innovation is HERESY PUNISHABLE BY DEATH! Sometimes. Sorta. It's ok if Tech Priests do it sometimes.
I dunno.
Yeah, I know. That's why I don't buy the whole "few million clone troopers" estimate. When the Kaminoans referred to the 1.2 million "units" in AotC I always thought they were calculating the number of divisions or armies raised instead of individual clones. However, a few EU authors that clearly weren't thinking things through established "1 unit = 1 trooper," and the next thing you know it's considered canon by legions of fans.Zontar said:
It's part of the reason why I stopped paying attention to the EU after a while. Too many crazy assumptions and not enough quality control.
This is true, but my statement about Coresanty conscripts dwarfing the clones after only a single round of drafting was under the assumption a unit was a 5000 man legion, which would still put the clones at 6 billion (a more reasonable yet still far too small number for the million worlds that the Republic had).Neverhoodian said:
It was established the replicators use a large amount of power even for the paltry cup of tea (Earl Grey, Hot) hence Neelix and his kitchen in Voyager. They also weren't similar to teleporters, they resequenced amino acids to mimic food stuffs, so unless you fancy fighting the Borg in the USS Springbok you're a little hosed.
The final product is beamed into the chamber (so cup/plate is included) and gives the resemblance of the tech being teleporter like but really it's an apple and an orange.
Though using teleporters to clone people (ala Riker's incident) or curing people (it breaks down the person and reassembles them, so theoretically you could reassemble them without the pathogen) should've been steps taken - the latter was actually used one - ONE FREAKIN' TIME! They should've been all over that shit.
Stargate did do a good job of retrofitting advanced tech back to the human side, they even got a small space armada out of tech. I even recall rifle size energy weapons but believe there was an energy density issue (not many rounds for it's size, staff's were larger and therefore could hold a greater capacity)
The final product is beamed into the chamber (so cup/plate is included) and gives the resemblance of the tech being teleporter like but really it's an apple and an orange.
Though using teleporters to clone people (ala Riker's incident) or curing people (it breaks down the person and reassembles them, so theoretically you could reassemble them without the pathogen) should've been steps taken - the latter was actually used one - ONE FREAKIN' TIME! They should've been all over that shit.
Stargate did do a good job of retrofitting advanced tech back to the human side, they even got a small space armada out of tech. I even recall rifle size energy weapons but believe there was an energy density issue (not many rounds for it's size, staff's were larger and therefore could hold a greater capacity)
So called "science fiction" is often really bad at that. There's nothing wrong with making a silly magic in space story, but at least admit that's what you are doing. Stick robots and space in it, and it is "sci-f", science optional. Exploring the ways this new science would affect things is very optional.
The replicators in star trek are never used sensibly. They constantly run into (or cause) "dampening fields" to stop their energy weapons from working, the Borg can adapt to energy weapons, but nobody replicates a Glock or other firearm.
No, that's not true. In a DS9 episode, someone on their spare time replicated a special firearm that teleported bullets to its target and could see through walls, so you could murder anyone on the station very easily. The Federation has the design for a while, but didn't make any using their perfect technology that could create one in minutes, because they weren't interested in snipers being able to see through walls, or take out targets from perfect concealment. Yeah, not a big fan of DS9.
The replicators in star trek are never used sensibly. They constantly run into (or cause) "dampening fields" to stop their energy weapons from working, the Borg can adapt to energy weapons, but nobody replicates a Glock or other firearm.
No, that's not true. In a DS9 episode, someone on their spare time replicated a special firearm that teleported bullets to its target and could see through walls, so you could murder anyone on the station very easily. The Federation has the design for a while, but didn't make any using their perfect technology that could create one in minutes, because they weren't interested in snipers being able to see through walls, or take out targets from perfect concealment. Yeah, not a big fan of DS9.
The bolter is a bit more complicated than that, and it's mentioned that it's the maintenance and logistics that are the problem. It's mentioned over and over that lasguns will keep working despite more or less anything, they don't require particularly skilled users or facilities to keep them running. Also, a bolter won't work without the right type of ammunition, but a las weapon can be charged from any power source.Ironman126 said:
In one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, someone thinks of that and blows up a Borg ship. There was no technobabble reason preventing them in the past, they were just too stupid.inu-kun said:
Of course, given that the transporter works by converting stuff into energy, moving the energy to the destination and converting it back, you don't need a nuke. Just don't convert the energy back. 1kg of matter converts to a bit more energy than from a 22 MT nuclear device.
Yeah, I understand that. There are valid plot reasons for it, because as the TNG technical manual puts it, if you can build a starship at the push of the button, it takes all the drama out of things, and why would you even care at that point if a few get blown up?Zontar said:
In-universe it seems replicators suck up a lot of power, but there also just seems to be a scale issue. It seems even an industrial replicator is more along the lines of a device for making stuff about the size of a fridge, not giant objects like spaceships...
The energy issue is a bigger point though. Consider I once had a discussion that raised the point of why voyager had so many shuttles.
The argument came up that perhaps they were replicating new ones, which someone countered by saying, 'well if they can replicate a shuttle, why couldn't they replicate new warp coils?'
But there's an obvious step missing here. The technical manuals aren't canon, but they do give hints as to the nature of the potential problem.
Not only do the replicators require energy to run, but they can't make matter out of energy. They make objects out of raw matter. (There's arguments about whether they can transmute elements. I would say yes, some disagree though)
A type 6 shuttlecraft has a mass of about 3.5 tonnes... (3.38 according to the tech manual).
The Enterprise D has 36 warp coils, which collectively account for about 25% of the total mass of the ship. (each coil is actually said to be a pair of 2 half-coils) A single such pair is said to have a mass of 34,375 metric tons.
That's the same as about 10,000 shuttlecraft...
Given that the replicator is a matter rearangement device rather than an energy to matter converter, it starts to be obvious for these reasons alone why a starship could not feasibly replicate parts for itself.
The amount of raw matter required would be insane.
Equally, if you were to try and replicate an entire starship, for most designs you'd have to do so in orbit, and you'd have to ship sufficient mass to the replicator to construct the entire ship.
At what point do you decide that this is a more effective method than manufacturing the parts elsewhere and assembling them onsite?
(And how many parts are manufactured using traditional techniques, and how many are replicated? Just because they aren't replicating whole ships, doesn't really tell you how the parts are made...)
Still, replicators as a whole are always an incredibly troubling technology in any setting. Writers rarely think through all the consequences implied by their existence. The Federation at least covers the economic effects somewhat given that it's not operating a capitalist economy... Because a replicator would mess up an economy pretty quickly...
Ahem. That aside, let me see if I can think of anything else, given that wasn't really the point of the thread... XD
Aah... Nope. I don't ever seem to think of anything when it comes to it... Silly me... >_> XD
The only flaw here, borg weirdness aside is that it is established over and over that you can't transport through enemy shields...thaluikhain said:
So you have to take down the enemy's shields anyway, and if you have to do that, how is transporting explosives all that much more effective than just firing a torpedo.
True (well, odd that everyone's shields always block transport, but still). Lots of times someone does teleport onto enemy ships or facilities, though.CrystalShadow said:
ironically that's the point of most of the TNG tech, it is replicated, then hand assembled. (in one ep they replicated a new part for a Romulan ship)SaneAmongInsane said:
that's done by writers, not a limit of the technology.
Replicators is totally my big one. if they can transport a human intact there is pretty much nothing a replicator can't make.