Real world science items that could be used on SG1 - continued

[_Owen_]

If you would like to post your ideas on science and technology, by all means, please do so, this is the section. But if there is a flaw in an idea, we will point it out. And in this case, the flaw happens to be the fact that we don't know if the Asgard even have retinas, or how their eyes even work. The Asgard are a completley alien race, with a completley diffrent physiology, because something is common on Earth, does not mean that it is common throughout the universe.

So bascially, you expect us to read your posts and nothing more. Even if there is a problem with one, do not post. Well, that is not a discussion forum, it is a message board. If you intend to post ideas and theories, be ready to back them up. I am not trying to be mean, but if you expect us to just believe everything you say, without question your expectations will go down the tube.

You are assuming completley that the Asgard have retinas, and being an alien race, from a distant galaxy, the mathematical probability that they would evolve with two arms and two legs is small enough, but for them to have the same eye physiology as us is even lower, and the two combined are incredibly low. Don't get me wrong, it is possible, but seeing as we don't know, all we can say to your post is, "possibly, but unlikley."

Owen Macri

[Three PhDs]

If you would like to post your ideas on science and technology, by all means, please do so, this is the section. But if there is a flaw in an idea, we will point it out. And in this case, the flaw happens to be the fact that we don't know if the Asgard even have retinas, or how their eyes even work. The Asgard are a completley alien race, with a completley diffrent physiology, because something is common on Earth, does not mean that it is common throughout the universe.

However, granted that they look vaguely like us and breathe the same air as us, and their food is edible by humans it does follow that we are largely biologically similar.

You are assuming completley that the Asgard have retinas, and being an alien race, from a distant galaxy, the mathematical probability that they would evolve with two arms and two legs is small enough, but for them to have the same eye physiology as us is even lower, and the two combined are incredibly low.

You just bashed him for making assumptions, but that little para there just set off my assumption alarm Owen.

Don't get me wrong, it is possible, but seeing as we don't know, all we can say to your post is, "possibly, but unlikley."

Wrong. All we can say is "Possible, though there is insufficient evidence to speculate either way."

[_Owen_]

However, granted that they look vaguely like us and breathe the same air as us, and their food is edible by humans it does follow that we are largely biologically similar.

Biologically similar, but not the same, obviously.

Owen Macri

[aironoeus]

Here's an exciting update regarding item #6 that I posted in the general discussion area under the thread with the same title of this one.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-05zzze.html

This was my original post.
-------------------------
#6
The Real world Science item:
The amazing ability of Gecko feet to stick to anything while at the same time being self cleaning.



How it could be used on SG1.
----------------------------
It can be made into gloves and feet pads for people on the Prometheus when the artificial antigravity goes down or for space walks since they have been shown to work in vaccuum. It could also be used as a generic tape onboard the same vessel. It could also be used as a trait exhibited by the wraith on SG Atlantis either when under stress or assigned to a given class such as worker or caretaker.

Real world References
----------------------
News item:
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/new...D=2005-01-03-8

Article with details by Dr George Johnson:
http://www.txtwriter.com/Onscience/A...bingwalls.html


Not Exciting/interesting enough for you?
----------------------------------------
How about a scene where SG trainees and members are being trained on using the apparatus (gloves and feet pads). There would be a lot of laughing and playing around and falling down.

[aironoeus]

#41
The Real world Science item:
Vertical axis windmills.

Details
-------
There are a number of vertical axis windmills that have been developed over the years however it seems to me that the one devoloped by Encore holds the most promise for being able to get into the hands of everyday people in the future and generates the most power from the least amount of wind. It seems to be the most realistic.


How it could be used on SG1
----------------------------
We never see huge honking windmills off-world. There could or should be an episode where we see these enormous vertical axis windmills in the background as one of the SG1 people are having a discussion with an off-world person about something else.

One of the SG1 members can be very curious and start asking about them to which they can get the replies of, "Haven't you ever seen a windmill before? Of course you make them that way, how else would you make them?"


Real world References
----------------------
http://www.encorecleanenergy.com/default.asp?c=2250

Not Exciting/interesting enough for you?
----------------------------------------
The Ori can set little units like these up for off-world people in extreme poverty to pump ground water for individual farmers and provide electricity for a large light source at night and a simple atmospheric water condensor (something based on ammonia and calcium chloride) with filter and UV light source (included for sterilization) in the day with a big old 30 gallon water tank dispensing this clean drinking water.


They can then pooh pooh the SG1 members and earth stating that earth still has 1 billion people in extreme poverty and that the various affluent nations of Earth are not even giving half of one percent of their Gross National Product towards alleviating this problem.
This Ori "Rep" can purposely point out that a great deal of these people are "of the darker skin" just to take a cheap shot and try to get Tealc to question his loyalty.

[aironoeus]

By the way Owen....I was trying to Jar you into arguing an alternative view. I was hoping that you might look up the subject and present an alternative plausible scenerio because I'm too lazy to go look into insects and other eye physiologies. Oh well, I tried. I thought it might lead into an interesting discussion about what the Asgard biologically most resemble on earth.

[_Owen_]

Well, I would like a discussion like that, however we don't know a whole lot about Asgard physiology. However if you would like an alternative scenario in which it could be used.

SG-1 could find a race that lives on a planet where Zeaxanthin does not occur, so they never recieved it in their diets. So, they all went blind and eventually evolved without eyes, seeing as they weren't using them. Then they developed a mental ability to "see" everything around them, their brain could emit some type of energy which then reflects off of all the objects around them for miles and miles, sort of like sonar, however they can see in all directions at once because they are recieving information from all directions, so all of the time they can see in all directions.

Either that or a race was experimenting on them and accidentally destroyed all Zeaxanthin on thier planet, and made it so it could never occur naturally again, so they then implanted devices in their brains which allows them to see in all directions, to replace thier vision, because the race that was experimenting on them felt guilty.

Owen Macri

[aironoeus]

#42
The Real world Science item:
The Internal Wing Aircraft (IWA for short)

Details
-------
This is an aircraft with an internal wing that generates more lift than any other aircraft. This is not "just another joined-wing design." It's more like the wings are ducts designed in such a way to provide a larger lift than ordinary aircraft. The inventor has made a toy version and started a toy company in order to disseminate the concept to the world.


How it could be used on SG1
----------------------------
This aircraft design can be approved by SG1 to be an off-world day to day transport plane on a planet with a thinner atmosphere where the SG military has a strategic base set up. Since regular planes will not function as well on this thinner air planet this design is approved by the SG miltary. It can be depicted on the show, the problems that they have with regular aircraft and helicopters on this planet. A significant portion of the episode can be the drama of the character portraying the inventor of this design finding out about the stargate program, his frustration of not getting his project submissions to NASA and the military offically approved and funded (see NASA's NIAC and whatever the militarys equivalent to NIAC is) and finding out that the SG program is actually using his design without his knowledge while at the same time taking steps to get his design proposals "pooh poohed" on the basis that it "does not demonstrate a significant enough difference from previous joined-wing aircraft designs that have already been investigated by the military."
There is a patent law that says something along the lines of, "the military can fully use or confiscate a patent if it has national security use" but I can't remember the number of the patent law. The http://www.disclosureproject.org probably has it on their website as I seem to remember Dr. Greer mentioning it several times during radio interviews.
Maybe even a disclosure project type organization can be portrayed on the show which slips this inventor of the IWA aircraft the information that his design is in fact BEING USED.
The disclosure project being depicted on the show would sure throw a monkey wrench into the normally extroverted view (problems are off-world and SG program is very ethical) of the show however maybe it is a dynamic which the writers can deal with. The basic premise of the disclosure project is that the miltary is hiding technologies that would help alleviate most of the worlds problems.

The inventor can be revealed of the SG program on the episode and convinced why he has to in fact not disclose to the public what is going on.
A real world example of a NIAC submission that this inventor would make on the show would be the recent compressed CO2 powered aircraft proposed for a mars robotic explorer.


Real world References
----------------------
NASA's NIAC
http://niac.usra.edu/studies/

IWA toy company
http://www.iwatoyco.com/technology.asp

Disclosure project
http://www.disclosureproject.org

Mars airplane
http://www.marsnews.com/missions/airplane/

[_Owen_]

That is a very good idea, I imagined the plane slightly diffrent, however, that model works too.

Thanks for the information. As well the design could be adapted, ever so slightly, to be our next generation fighter ship.

Owen Macri

[aironoeus]

#43
The Real world Science item:
Bloodroot will eat away large moles better than lasers and liquid nitrogen

Details
-------
Bloodroot is a plant related to the Poppy. It has a red substance in it that looks like blood which contains three alkaloids in it. When you apply it to a mole (even large ones) a reaction takes place that turns the mole into a sore. The body then starts attacking the area to prevent infection and heals the sore. In most cases there is no scar left after it has fully healed. In contrast to using a laser to burn off your moles, when you use bloodroot it is cheaper, most of the time doesn't leave a scar, and the mole doesn't return. I am relating this from first hand experience. It is hard to express in words how much social relief you can get from finally getting rid of a large ugly mole without leaving an equivalently ugly scar.

Objectively, American indians have been using this for many years to get rid of skin tags, warts, moles, and anything similar. Obviously they didn't go in to get there bumps biopsied for melanoma before using it so what does that tell you?
hmmmmmmm

How it could be used on SG1
----------------------------
This is a simple tool that can be used in the SG medical facility.
It would be controversial for me to suggest using it on the show to get rid of a melanoma growth so let's not do that.
Let's just have one of the characters on the show use it in real life to get rid of an ugly mole and shoot the episode incorporating it into the show having the new doctor prescribe it to one of the various SG team members.


Real world References
----------------------
There are many companies selling bloodroot paste to get rid of moles so I won't give a link on that. Google it.
Bloodroot is also used in very small amounts to make you throw up and also as a dye.

Bloodroot picture and brief description:
http://www.auburn.edu/~deancar/wfnotes/bludrt.htm

Wikipedia on Alkaloids:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloids

[aironoeus]

#44
The Real world Science item:
Directed sound weapons.
MRADs (medium-range acoustic devices) and LRAD (long-range acoustic device).

Details
-------
These are weapons that beam sound directly in a straight line for very long distances. You'll be suprised out how far they can shoot intelligible very loud soundtracks.
These were developed by 2 companies. They're a black square panel composed of multiple speakers between 4 and 10 feet across.


How it could be used on SG1
----------------------------
This is not just about being able to deliver clear intelligible sound for a mile or so at a target! This is also about being able to direct sound tracks that are designed to cause the inner ear great discomfort causing dizziness. There are many possiblities with this, given the wide spectrum of sounds to direct with.
Here is a more extreme example. Possibly if the devices can be redesigned to emit ultrasound and they were directed at a vessel, ship, or land target which is known to have heavy water in it sonoluminescence would occur resulting in fusion and a large energy release making it an effective weapon if there is something near the fusion that can be exploded.

As of yet there has been no explanation given as to how the large goauld motherships project that large booming intelligble sound towards the ground that was heard so many times from Apophis for example.
Well this can be explained by multiple arrays of these LRADS arranged to protude from the bottom side of the ship when desired. The same thing can be installed on the Daedulus and Prometheus. Which means the Daedulus and Prometheus would now have a non-lethal sound based weapon that you can use on the show when flying in an atmosphere.
Wouldn't it be interesting if they found out by accident that a certain frequency of sound caused a rupture of major blood vessels in Wraith or caused internal wide scale electrical disruption in replicators. There are a lot of sounds that cause different effects in metal and ceramics.

Real world References
----------------------
HPV technologies:
http://www.getmad.com/

American technology:
http://atcsd.com/

[aironoeus]

addendum to item #41 - vertical axis windmills

Here are additional vertical axis windmills that can be shown as very large structures in the background or as small units in less advanced civilizations off-world. Some of these are very environmentally healthy in that they don't kill birds.

Windside - These along with being very safe and effective at low wind speeds can be made into pieces of art.
http://www.windside.com

Windhaus - Similar to Windside
http://windausenergy.com/

Carbon concepts - Although this doesn't necessarily look bird safe it seems very stable and realistic.
http://www.carbonconcepts.co.uk

Greenwindmill - This is basically sails hooked together in a square draped over a skeleton of metal rods.
http://www.greenwindmill.com

Windstor - This looks like the one we saw on Kevin Costners boat in the movie "Water World."
http://web.mckenziebay.com/

[aironoeus]

addendum to item #36 - The Landwalker
You can see this item in the original thread which is located in the general discussion area. A link should show on the bottom of this page under the "Similar Threads" title.

In that item I speculated on how to solve the problem of a high-strength windshield for the landwalker. I mentioned in that item "transparent aluminum" made by a German company but I provided no link and I could find no additional data about it at the time.

Well this transparent aluminum has just presented itself as an online Science news item.
It definitely fits the purpose.
Here is the link.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123012131

[aironoeus]

#45
The Real world Science item:
Photolyase
This is an enzyme that repairs your DNA by using light.

Details
-------
Photolyase exists in the skin of a wide variety of animals. It does not exist in human skin, however there is evidence that it does exist in the white blood cells of humans.
When UV light damages the DNA in animals skin cells this enzyme uses blue light aftwerwards to repair the damage.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radiation-03b.html

How it could be used on SG1
----------------------------
It can be stated that this is one of the many ways that Symbiotes maintain youthful skin.

Or

SG1 can encounter a race off-world where this enzyme has been added to the skin of humans using a retro-virus along the same lines as was done here:
http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/conten...ct/117/16/3579

Or

A topical solution like the one that Dr. Jean Krutman developed can be provided in the standard gear that SG1 carries around.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/97/4/1790

[helio9]

You win the award for most hardcore Stargate fan ever.