On 25/06/2012 11:07 AM, Warp wrote:
> Invisible<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>> - Why are these ships so damned loud in the high vacuum of outer space?
>
> It's a filming convention.

Still doesn't really explain why all ships have to make that low 
rumbling "I'm moving through space" noise, but hey...

> (Not that this cannot be done effectively as well. Space Odyssey 2001 did
> it quite well. However, that can be considered just another filming
> convention.)

I was waiting for somebody to mention the ONE TIME IN FILM HISTORY that 
this was done right. ;-)

>> - Why do they fall downwards in screen space if there's a major failure?
>
> Care to give an example?

I literally can't find the image I'm looking for, but near the end of 
Star Wars Episode I, when the "driod control ship" blows up from the 
inside, the pieces all dramatically sink downwards... despite the planet 
clearly being BEHIND the ship, not BELOW it.

(While we're on the subject, why do ships always park perpendicular to 
the surface of a planet's equator rather than parallel to it anyway?)

>> - Why bother with aerodynamic shapes when there's no frigging /air/?
>
> It can be justified in that many of those spaceships also need to fly in
> atmospheric conditions.

Yeah, that one I'll give you.

>> Then we usually have things like cloaking (rather difficult in a cold,
>> dark vacuum)
>
> What do you mean?

On Earth, you could conceivably render yourself invisible by simply 
emitting less radiation than your surroundings. (And by somehow curving 
nearby light around yourself. And making less sound than your surroundings.)

In outer space, which is perfectly jet black apart from a few tiny 
points of light, it's going to be a tad difficult to not emit a single 
stray photon of thermal radiation. A space ship is presumably quite hot. 
Certainly a damn site hotter than what little dark matter is floating 
around out there. I'm also unsure whether you can shield the /outside/ 
world from radio-frequency signals emanating from /inside/ a structure. 
(These ships have computers, right?)

>> tractor beams (how would that work?)
>
> Why not? Even mundane things like magnetism work. It's not completely
> inconceivable that in the distant future other forms of action at a
> distance are developed/discovered.

It's not completely impossible, just a little unlikely, that's all. I 
will agree, compared to faster-than-light travel, solid matter 
teleportation, and subspace radio communications, this is one of the 
more plausible ideas. :-P

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