Isn't the Ancient database on Atlantis better than anything found on the Destiny?

[Blackhole]

There is confusion about the Destiny and Atlantis timelines. I am going with what the show’s creators have said that the Destiny is much older than Atlantis.

I don’t know if anyone has ever brought up this point or not but as far as I understand they still have access to the Ancient database found on Atlantis. I would think it would probably contain data on Destiny’s design and on technology far more advanced. The enormous amount of information in the database is probably more than sufficient to keep all of Earth’s scientists busy for decades if not centuries. The Destiny is much older than Atlantis and I would assume its technology would have been considered obsolete when Atlantis was constructed. Granted there are 100's of thousand of years of accumulated astronomical data present but given how far everything is they likely can find data on similar objects in the Milky Way and closer Galaxies. Practically imo, the Destiny and its database would not be earthshakingly valuable; of course then there would be no reason for the show.

[SGFerrit]

We don't know what the Destiny has information on yet. It could have literally a universe worth of data on alien races, strange planetary types and anomalies etc... Where as the Atlantis database is 'limited' to the knowledge of the Ancients. An amazing thing itself, but there is no problem with having both databases. The two aren't mutually exclusive, it's not like you can only have one.

[thekillman]

there is one problem. try to give our current day tech to a caveman. would he understand? no. most ancient tech is merely operated and modified by us, and judging from the limitations on that, it's an ancient design feature to be multipurpose and modifiable, not our understanding.


in terms of most understandable technology:

-goauld. of all tech, we will probably understand quite a bit of it. we already do and most spacefaring tech came from them. so they're the most accessible.
-Destiny tech. this is more advanced than the Goauld's but not as advanced as say, wraith's.
-asgard. huge leap here, but it should be doable to understand their tech and physics.
-ancients. mostly because they have so much tech.
-ori. they're ascended after all.


so there is still an enourmous technological gap between what we can make and the Great Race level of technology. Destiny will help fill that.



simply put, we know the basics of a ZPM, but that's like knowing the basics of a computer. there are some basic components you know of and you know how to operate it. doesn't mean you can build one, even if you had the right materials.

[tinerin]

in terms of most understandable technology:

-goauld. of all tech, we will probably understand quite a bit of it. we already do and most spacefaring tech came from them. so they're the most accessible.
-Destiny tech. this is more advanced than the Goauld's but not as advanced as say, wraith's.
-asgard. huge leap here, but it should be doable to understand their tech and physics.
-ancients. mostly because they have so much tech.
-ori. they're ascended after all.

I agree that having the Destiny's tech would be very useful but your ordering is purely speculative and not necessarily accurate. We've yet to have any evidence to compare Destiny and Wraith or Asgard tech other than the age. And I'd argue that Ori tech is actually easier to reverse engineer and reproduce than anything else since it was designed to be built by farmers (and the Ori satellite was built by people equivalent to Earth in the 60's).

[nx01a]

We don't know what the Destiny has information on yet. It could have literally a universe worth of data on alien races, strange planetary types and anomalies etc... Where as the Atlantis database is 'limited' to the knowledge of the Ancients. An amazing thing itself, but there is no problem with having both databases. The two aren't mutually exclusive, it's not like you can only have one.

I agree entirely.
Considering that Earth's best and brightest have barely scratched the surface of the Atlantis database, how much luck will the C team have searching through billions of light years worth of info?

The info on the Destiny will be very helpful for the crew on the Destiny if they can finally access it, giving them info on where they are and what's coming up ahead. It won't do much for Earth except for info on the galaxies 'nearest' to our galaxy. The info on Atlantis could easily revolutionize all life on Earth, as well as finding a way to reach the Destiny or in some way help them.

[spinny magee]

Wait till the chairman wakes up and all will be revealed

[Edi]

I think the argument is actually that the Atlantis database should have information of that much older technology. For example, the internet. You can find information of some medieval weapon or other, far more older technology on some random page. Although the server where the info is stored is quite advanced, the information itself is really old. We do keep track on our history.
Given the Ancients have uber capacious storage devices, they should as well.
I know i would put all the information our civilization have in a thing like that.. like copy/ paste all the internet to the date and everything else i could get my hands on. You never know what would be needed.

We are talking about the database here, right?

[Quadhelix]

I think the argument is actually that the Atlantis database should have information of that much older technology. For example, the internet. You can find information of some medieval weapon or other, far more older technology on some random page. Although the server where the info is stored is quite advanced, the information itself is really old. We do keep track on our history.
Given the Ancients have uber capacious storage devices, they should as well.
I know i would put all the information our civilization have in a thing like that.. like copy/ paste all the internet to the date and everything else i could get my hands on. You never know what would be needed.

We are talking about the database here, right?

Of course, the real problem is finding whatever important information is in the database: remember, the Asgard have had access to the Repository information for thousands of years and have, according to Thor, merely "scratched the surface." There is no way that the Atlantis expedition, or even the SGC as a whole, is going to be able to find anything useful in Atlantis's database in any reasonable amount of time.

The Destiny, being far older, probably also has a far smaller - and thus more easily searched - database.

[Targust]

Of course, the real problem is finding whatever important information is in the database: remember, the Asgard have had access to the Repository information for thousands of years and have, according to Thor, merely "scratched the surface." There is no way that the Atlantis expedition, or even the SGC as a whole, is going to be able to find anything useful in Atlantis's database in any reasonable amount of time.

The Destiny, being far older, probably also has a far smaller - and thus more easily searched - database.

So...it could be there's information in the Atlantis Database about Destiny but no one has come across it yet?

Then again...they haven't come across anything else about the 9th chevron, save for the one gate address (code). If the Ancients were determined to follow up on Destiny, wouldn't there have been something more in the Atlantis database? Or did they launch the seeder ships, sent out Destiny and found something else to occupy their time and...FORGOT about her?

[Control_Chair]

Theoretically there should be information in the Atlantis Database about Destiny's design and construction (maybe not referenced to the nine chevron address). The problem is, like people say, is finding this information within the Database itself, obviously for all their advancements the Ancients never invented as good a search engine as Google.

The Destiny’s database is useful for the crew to know what planets have been seeded with stargates, and therefore what is coming up so supplies can be gathered. There may even be information on the Ship itself, but this information is useless to Earth, because they have no way of forwarding the data back to Earth, except via the stones (which is hardly foolproof).

[morrismike]

Of course, the real problem is finding whatever important information is in the database: remember, the Asgard have had access to the Repository information for thousands of years and have, according to Thor, merely "scratched the surface." There is no way that the Atlantis expedition, or even the SGC as a whole, is going to be able to find anything useful in Atlantis's database in any reasonable amount of time.

The Destiny, being far older, probably also has a far smaller - and thus more easily searched - database.

The asgard didn't have google.

[Michael Jansky]

To the Asgard not having Google - not every database must be so well-searchable as the Internet. If it's one solid block of data, then you can't access it the way Google accesses information from many servers virtually simultaneously. Also, if the Ancient database is really as big as it seems to be, then imagine the size of a million internets (including the volume of all the illegal videos), all in data that are in a language that almost no one understands, held in a system not compatible with ours. You can't use much of what we know about data management on it.

So, there's just a slow trickle of information from decoding the database. You also can't meaningfully search it for something if you don't know what it is you're looking for.

As to why Destiny could be valuable - well, wouldn't you want to explore a ship like that, even if you had most of the theoretical information that it contains already in your posession, though inaccessible?

[thekillman]

the repositories only store data. the mind then catalogues it and processes it. which is what causes the initial headache and "faint"

then the mind starts rearranging which causes the "going ancient" stuff like talking in their language.


the asgard are searching around in a database which is chaotic like hell. the atlantis database is advanced, but before we can actually understand it all, we need to complete all physics. our physics are hardly complete. then, we need to learn their terminology. would they call an atom an atom? a molecule a molecule? the W boson a W boson? you'd first have to understand their framework, before you can understand what they do. then, you have to understand their materials. then you have to understand their components and devices, and finally their technology.


so it's going to be a LONG time.


Destiny is launched at the height of the ancient empire. the Plague obviously wasn't instant kill. so the Destiny tech is much older, over 10 million years older than that of Atlantis. which means their tech should be less advanced and more easy to understand.


take a look at our modern Ipone. then look at our first telephone. now tell me, what is easier to understand? they can both call people. but one is more advanced.


now, try understanding our most advanced supercomputer. and compare to the first computer. what is less complex?


to illustrate the best: take a look at a caveman's spear. now look at our most modern weapons technology like ICBM's and CIWS.

that is how Destiny tech is compared to Atlantean tech.

[Phenomenological]

Database of information we can't use...Huge alien spaceship with very powerful shields, FTL travel, integrated stargate and control system, and an advanced computer system. You know, I think I know which I'd rather get my hands on.

[Commander Zelix]

I'm still not convinced its a database. It looks like a control chair to me. As a viewer, we just don't have the information about how they came to the conclusion that it was indeed an ancient database.