Ford's Arm in 38 Minutes

[Sealurk]

Forgive me if this has been asked / answered, but a search for 'Ford's arm 38 minutes' didn't turn much up.

In '38 Minutes', once the Jumper gets stuck in the gate, Ford is part of the way in / through the event horizon, with his arm still back in the Jumper. As I recall, Teyla and McKay pull him out of the gate (possible because he hadn't fully gone through) and he reacts like he was unconscious.

So...was the part of Ford's body beyond the horizon dematerialised or waiting to be dematerialised (i.e. still intact, not converted to energy), in which case was he simply unconscious until Teyla and McKay woke him by grabbing his arm? The reason I ask? Well...

If he was dematerialised, what the hell does that do to his arm, medically?! It's been separated from the blood flow, organs etc. At best, I'd bet that's going to be one hell of a case of pins and needles?

So then, if this has caused you to come up with any deep thoughts, well structured arguments, creative and original insults, proposals of marriage or polite but humiliating reminders of basic Stargate operating principles I've conveniently forgotten, let's hear them.

[The Prophet]

Jack stuck his hand through the Event Horizon of an incoming wormhole (after he had stepped through) to keep the Wormhole open when he infiltrated the Rouge SG Team acquiring Alien Tech; that's similar too; Blood would have been pumping into the wormhole (which didn't disintegrate it; but that's another argument) and nothing would have been pumped back... Unless the Stargate hadn't converted it to energy like you suggested; or it has such advanced programming that in cases like Ford & O'Neill, it knows to convert blood atoms back from energy and back into the limbo'd arm/ body.

That's a theory, anyway.

[Jeffala]

As said in "38 Minutes", matter is sent through the wormhole in discrete units.

My guess is that it's demolecularized in discrete units as well. If a part of the unit is outside of the event horizon, it can be pulled out by something else outside of the event horizon.

However, since they couldn't get hold of the crew inside of the event horizon, they couldn't pull them back through.

[Unbreak]

It is only sent after it has completely dematerialized what is going trough, but it HAS to dematerialize whatever parts touch the "puddle" or else the person would just go trough.

And we have seen evidence of that, when Teal'c kills that Major ( I guess it was major, the one that went with O'neill to abydos ) using the gate...

There were some people here on the forum that asked the same thing.... I really dont see how anyone can answer that...

[Ranlier]

From an engineering standpoint, I beleive that there is a buffer between the event horizon and subspace that acts as a stasis field until the object is fully enveloped.

The Ancients designed the stargate to be free-standing, in a direct contrast to their teleportation technology (rings, closets). Without a built-in means of preserving psuedo-integrity, the liklihood of surviving a walk through the Gate is directly related to the speed with which you enter. Therefore I assume a safety buffer was instilled for exactly that reason.

Ford was, at the time, 90% within a subspace stasis field (that presumably extended to the arm), but technically "whole" within subspace. He would be automatically dematerialized immediately upon full entry.

[Thunderbird 2]

From an engineering standpoint, I beleive that there is a buffer between the event horizon and subspace that acts as a stasis field until the object is fully enveloped.

(Pruned) Therefore I assume a safety buffer was instilled for exactly that reason.

Ford was, at the time, 90% within a subspace stasis field (that presumably extended to the arm), but technically "whole" within subspace. He would be automatically dematerialized immediately upon full entry.

I fully agree with this. Unlikne Star Treks transporters that have an operator usually, the Stargates are a freehand piece of technology. It makes sense there would be a "crossover threshold" just beyond the event horizon.

38 Minutes provides an example of this in itself. - When Teyla drags the medically dead Shep into the event horizon, she has to clear the horizon herself, before dragging him in fully. It makes senese the system would wait before Shep crossed completely right to the tips of his boots, before both of them were dematerialised along with Markham, Stackhouse and the front half of the jumper.


Unbreak - you are thinking of Major Charles Kawalsky, played by Jay Acovone. (Excuse spelling.) The character was also in the original movie, played by John Diehl.

[Unbreak]

Yeah, thanks, I knew he had a strange last name, but couldnt really remember how to write it =D

[Cephalus]

I think there is a few inches were i stays hole before demelc-whatever because in AOT there was a good foot were the stayed hole in the supergate before going poof. If the hand stayed in that much the blood make can circulate.

[Knight_ofthe_Word]

Well i guess that' the question you should ask next time you talk to someone who's been through the Stargate...

"hey, next time its on, can you put both your arms into it and then see if they can touch each other whilst PAST the event horizon and then tell me if you can feel anything?"

If they could it would show that Ranilier is correct about a buffer or that nothing is demolecularised until it is completely inside the event horizon, it simply sits there in statsis...

lol cheap cryogenics; sit in your Stargate for 38 minutes a day with your feet hanging out..could prolong your life a bit though your feet would get old...