Most convincing and likeable form of faster than light travel

[slug]

Warp drive is probably the most painstakingly explained of these and has the benefit of not being a throwaway plot device (At least, over the years.)

 

Hyperspace has the advantage of providing some kind of explanation whilst not requiring that mankind has developed insanely powerful methods of manipulating spacetime allowing for more convincing near future settings (Arguably the case with Babylon 5, but it could also be argued that implicit interdimensional travel is itself rather far fetched.)

 

The compelling idea of using wormholes in Stargate is somewhat undermined with being combined with an unexplained generic use of conventional travel, in hyperspace, somewhat abusing the term.

 

The leapfrogging in BSG looks great and is a nice way of setting the show apart. The problem is that as of yet there has been no attempt to explain it in technological terms, perhaps RDM's dislike of techy scifi goes too far here. Also, what? are they going to leapfrog all the way to Earth? It kind of robs the show of any kind of graceful journey, voyage feel. It brings to mind pictures of the Jewish Exodus being conducted on pogo sticks.

 

Sometimes the most realistic entertainment is provided by an admission of the virtual impossibility of lesuirely interstellar travel and a belief that it could only be achieved through suspended animation. At the same time it must be pointed out that Planet of the Apes is a rare example of recognition of time dillation effects at high velocity, the astronauts were only supposed to be in suspended animation for a period of months, arguably a period easily spent awake, so this film's primary method of survivable interstellar travel is time dillation not suspended animation. Not that they really got anywhere. This whole idea has the advantage of allowing the traveller to return to Earth completely disenfranchised and lodly claim 'its a mad house!'

[TetsuoShima]

ooch, difficult question. I've never seen BSG btw, so I can't 'judge' that.

 

Most convincing is a hard question, I find niether technology extremely convincing, but since I know most of Star Trek 'technology', I'd go for that one. The least convincing is imo Stargate travel. Don't get me wrong it is a nice solution and it provides great storylines, but it just doesn't sound like something that might ever be invented...

 

The time effect for close to light speed is very often ignored, yes, too bad, since that would make it possible for a crew to cross great distances, while the rest of the world grows old. :p

 

The most likeable...hmmm, I'd have to go for Star Wars. It seems a nifty solution, somewhat like B5 but more extreme and powerfull (I think).

[Tenebrae]

While Warp has been explained, it's been somewhat undermined by the unimpressive continuity of Trek. So basically, you stick enough

 

I probably like hyperspace the best - although

 

BSG's virtue is that it doesn't bother having an explanation. They have FTL - that's all there is to it. Sometimes it breaks, sometimes it works fine.

[Antipodean]

Leapfrogging, big instantaneous jumps through space, with, magnets?

 

When you put it that way... it does sound kinda dumb, huh? Jumping about - WITH MAGNETS! Hah.

 

I like the idea of warp drive best, but I suspect that if humans ever do engage in interstellar traffic, that the technology will be more like wormholes, you know, basically taking a short cut through space, as opposed to breaking the laws of physics.

[slug]

They never actually mentioned anything about magnets in BSG, it just seems like something they should consider doing.

 

I recall vaguely somewhere a recent theory that FTL speed might be achievable through the use of increadibly powerful magnets, and I recall in the miniseries Apollo on Colonial One stating that they had 'magnetic pulse' coils from Galactica (This was what they used to make it look like they'd been nuked) snd it just seeemed to make sense that they make massive jumps using some kind of magnetism.

 

It would fit in with the whole low tech approach, to say that its actually not that difficult to go faster than light, you just need some really powerful magnet. The instantaneousness of it all also allows them to avoid having to create any kind of inertial dampener explanation, if it is not claimed that there is actually any travelling done.

 

I don't think the show was conceived as being quite as low tech as it turned out, remember that the whole Caprica storyline was only formulated when they discovered that people took a shine to Helo in the pilot. And it was on Caprica tha we saw, yes cars! Good old internal combustion cars. Which kind of left the show with a disparity that needed to be be adressed. Its evidence of two problems with what is arguably the best put together scifi show ever:

 

1) They don't really have the money to introduce impressive new set pieces, so they end up putting in too much contemporary technology.

 

2) The show is conceived as a journey show, but has developed to the point that it feels lacking and claustrophobic without planetbound storylines, but does not want to stoop to the rediculous 'Canadian forest planet of the week' which robs Stargate of so much presentability. So they seem to end up with continuous storylines in the same places which explains why they haven't really travelled anywhere yet. This really needs to be adressed, it seems like the show is being made up as they go along and may expire if it does not end the next season with a sense of direction/going somewhere which can incorperate some kind of running planet bound storyline. I think this is what they might be planning with the 'Cylon homeworld plot.'

[S0V13T]

Here's somehing really off topic regarding magnets. Col. O'Neil from, SG-1 usually credits "magnets" when he's trying to explain alien technology that he has no understanding of, or when a civilian asks about what the Stargate program is.

 

So, using that reasoning, and that reasoning alone, I voted for the magnet option.

[Tenebrae]

Also - according to the wiki entry - in the novel Planet of the Apes, there wasn't suspended animation. The were in a spaceship traveling at relativistic velocities. Hence the journey to another planet took place at SUB-luminal speeds, the effects of time-dilation simply made it only seem like it took a few years. Apparently with a constant acceleration of 1g - you could circumnavigate the galaxy in a human life time. Hoorah.

 

Magnets are pretty important for most things.

 

I have to say though in terms of "cool" the BSG FTL pales in comparison to B5, Star Wars. That's the ORIGINAL B5 hyperspace effects, not the rubbish they used after the original effects were "lost".

[bones2097]

how does...

 

suspended animation, none of the above (Planet of the Apes, among others)

 

consitiut to a technology to FTL drive???

 

its just a way to pass time...... it should be none of the above.... :p

[slug]

Yeh, it may not be a form of FTL travel but it deserves some recognition on account of the fact that Col. Taylor gets to indulge his misanthropic urges by having his dastardly way with his sleeping crewmates...

[Guest c4evap]

Long ago I would have voted for suspended animation, but since I've been stationed aboard Voyager for 7 years now I've come to really appreciate warp drive!

 

c4 ;)

[bones2097]

Yeh' date=' it may not be a form of FTL travel but it deserves some recognition on account of the fact that Col. Taylor gets to indulge his misanthropic urges by having his dastardly way with his sleeping crewmates...[/quote']

 

ok those were the 'before' pictures wot about the after....

 

humm let guess who had beans on toast in the morning...

 

*chuckles*

 

:)

[slug]

I dunno, I think I'd probably appreciate suspended animation if I had to spend 7 years on Voyager!

 

Yeh, Taylor might have took heed of Landon's note, and gone for Stewart instead, he just forgot to close the door afterwards.

 

Dodgy wannabe necrophile.

[Tenebrae]

Knowing Voyager, first spacial anomaly or alien of the week they run into - the power goes off, you die.

 

Besides, if you're going close enough to c - you don't even need stasis.

[Guest c4evap]

Knowing Voyager, first spacial anomaly or alien of the week they run into - the power goes off, you die.

 

Besides, if you're going close enough to c - you don't even need stasis.

Well...stasis is one way of getting away from Neelix for a while ;)

 

c4 B)

[Tenebrae]

A more efficient use of resources would be tossing him out an airlock.

 

They actually had the ol' relativity thing going on in Atlantis the other day. You'd think that there would be inherent dangers of relativity though - your inherent inability to react to anything in the way, mainly. The same seems pretty true of stasis... well, if you're travelling at relativistic velocities and haven't got some awesome AI to pilot your ship and if TV has taught us anything, it's that 90% of AI will probably go mad within a year of being created... SHODAN, Skynet, HAL, Silicates, Cybrids, Lore - the list goes on.

 

So... best sticking with the more esoteric methods of FTL.

[slug]

I think they mentioned the inability to get out of the way of anything approaching the speed of light in Red Dwarf.

 

Kryten's taking his driving test in starbug and one of the questions is, whats the stopping time if some (random space event) gets in your way.

 

The answer -a fortnight. Outside time I assume.

[Tenebrae]

Anyway, I always though Warp kind of sucked because you basically knew where you were going - could see who was coming after you, etc. It wasn't the clean get away of Star Wars... B5 was a fairly decent get away, although they never really elaborated upon how hard it was to scan in hyperspace.

[slug]

Yeh., they never really had the submarine style game of cat and mouse in hyperspace like you'd expect. I have a sudden urge to watch Das Boot.

 

And who can forget the dreaded 'Thirdspace.'

 

Well, probably anyone who saw 'Thirdspace.' The one with Martin Sheen as the soul hulnter was worse, I mean, why did he agree to do it? Was it somehow prestigious to be in a Babylon 5 telemove? Did he fall in love with the script? The one that set up Crusade was OK though.

[Guest c4evap]

A more efficient use of resources would be tossing him out an airlock.

LOL. True. But they did that with Harry Kim (actually he was blown out) and he ended up back on the ship anyway! There's just no getting away from life's little annoyances it would seem...

 

c4 :)

[Moonstalker]

While I prefer travel by TARDIS (much more civilized if you ask me ;)), I conceptually understand warp drive a lot better than most of the others. (I kind of blew off hyperspace when talk of Kessel runs were measured in parsecs).

 

One of the more interesting travel methods was in Dune, where you could fold space and physically travel short distances but still cross vast expanses.