Does Bigger last longer?

[Guest]

As I started the thread about how the ancients make their tech last so long....

I also thought.

Could SIZE Matter too?

I mean if it's a MASSIVE Ship like the destiny,an Aurora Class ship floating in space, or a huge flying city it seems like if it were that way they'd have pieces and parts falling down over the centuries.

But the solid construction apparently of Ancient Tech makes me wonder about why they decided to build BIG.

If it were smaller would it have long ago turned to dust?

After all Atlantis lasted a heck of a long time up till the sun went red giant but had lots of areas that were filled in with sand and that City Ship had it's spires had long gone, in that ep where they found another ship on that planet with the villiagers I keep forgetting the ep I think "The Tower" is the title.

[Mike.]

I think it's a matter of the material used (a metal that doesn't corrode), and how well it's protected. Size is inconsequential. Atlantis lasted a long time because it had a powerful shield and the tech is crystal based. A jumper (much smaller) would last just as long, provided that its power source doesn't run out.
Similarly Destiny has a powerful shield and the metal seems mostly intact.

The weapon on Dakara for example looked like it was new inside (crystal tech and similar displays), but he "buttons" and the chamber were made of stone and seemed to turn to dust on the edges.

In The Tower, without the protection of the shield many of the corridors were unstable and others collapsed (probably because the weight of the soil that was deposited). But there wasn't any sign of corrosion and the tech also worked - the lights, the chair, drones, even the stardrive (until the ZPM was depleted).

[escyos]

well from what was told bigger does not always mean better.........

anyway...i think the ancients on atlantis were maintaining the city until they left and because no one was there and it was under a shield under the ocean nothing deteriated

Destiny on the other hand probably spent a long time in FTL protected by a shield so there was nothing to wear it down.

[Laxian of Earth]

size does matter (because if you have much room you can install devices 3 or more times (if one fails you got others to take their place)) but most likely it is the "how" a technology works:

crystals can last millenia (and longer) - while things like magnetic stuff (video-cassets for example) only last a few year compared to crystals

then it is a question of the base material:

1. does it corrode? - whatever the ancients used does not
2. how durable (stress/pressure resistant is it? is it resistant to high temperatures? does it "combust" after some time? etc.) is the material you use?
3. can you install some kind of "robotic" (or even "nano-robotic") maintenance? (repairing damage and collecting materials for parts that wear out after some time)
4. can you install some kind of AI to protect your product from harm (like getting the destiny into FTL when it comes under fire for example)

so if you take these criteria, and build something adhering to them, you could creat something that last indefinitely (glitches and outside influence (attacks) not included of course!

greetings LAX

[lordofseas]

Well, according to some women, bigger does last longer, but that's neither here nor there.

Yes, I thought dirty stuff as soon as I saw the title.

[escyos]

well metal doesnt corrode if void of certian things like moisture, oxygen etc.

atlantis is most likely constructed of trinium or naquadah or some fancy alloy that obviously is non-corrosive

destiny on the other hand is a little differnet, obvisouly the ship is degrading from overuse. the stress of long time ftl and attacks has shaken her up.

[Michael Jansky]

I think the time intervals we're talking, if the material is any prone to disintegration or structural failure at all, it would have long ago turned to fine dust, no matter the size. Size can matter when you're talking centuries (in an Earth-type atmosphere, on a planet like Venus that would obviously be much less, and in the vacuum of space a lot more, but still), but on the order of tens of millenia or millions of years, the stuff has to be absolutely decomposition-proof, or there'd have been nothing left long ago.

Or the technology has to repair itself over time, faster than the environment can gnaw at it, in which case I think smaller is actually better, as there is less to keep in shape and so an easier job of it.

[PurpleNurple]

I think it's a matter of the material used (a metal that doesn't corrode), and how well it's protected. Size is inconsequential. Atlantis lasted a long time because it had a powerful shield and the tech is crystal based. A jumper (much smaller) would last just as long, provided that its power source doesn't run out.
Similarly Destiny has a powerful shield and the metal seems mostly intact.

The weapon on Dakara for example looked like it was new inside (crystal tech and similar displays), but he "buttons" and the chamber were made of stone and seemed to turn to dust on the edges.

In The Tower, without the protection of the shield many of the corridors were unstable and others collapsed (probably because the weight of the soil that was deposited). But there wasn't any sign of corrosion and the tech also worked - the lights, the chair, drones, even the stardrive (until the ZPM was depleted).

I agree with you there. From an engineering point of view size is irrelavant when compared with the long term effects the design simplicity (obviously ancient tech is incredibly complex but in engineering the simplest solution isn't necassarily a simple solution) and the materials being used will have on the ships ability to continue to function after very long periods of time.

[vszulc]

With the age of the ship in mind, I'm sure that it must actively rebuild itself at some points. There must be robots aboard for that, otherwise an age of millions of years is impossible.