Destiny must have self repair.

[HaMm3r]

So you are making the argument that this is the most complex device the Ancients ever built, and that all other devices, being simpler, will last at least as long as gates and DHDs. I don't buy that argument. There is no example of Ancient technology the complexity and age of Destiny (save Destiny itself) that is still functioning.

The real question that needs to be answered is "are there other examples of Ancient technology the complexity and age of Destiny that aren't still functioning?" If there are, then that would suggest Destiny also should have failed. If there are no failed examples, then it would support the inherent longevity of the ship.

[kwlafayette]

There's only one way you're gonna get the proof you need to win this argument.
You need to ask Joe Malozzi or some other show writer if Destiny has a self repair system.

That has already been asked, and they were non-committal. Either they don't want to give anything away, or they haven't thought about it, or whatever.

[xxxevilgrinxxx]

Worm hole drive was never mentioned before that one season of Atlantis. Destiny was never mentioned in either of the other two shows. Just because they have not talked about something yet does not mean they are afraid to invent it on a whim.

For me, without self repair, the show will be over. It was kind of fun, for while, having magical devices appear in the other two series, but that is old hat now. I would prefer if they went in a more realistic direction. And realism requires that instead of relying on magical indestructibility, they rely on something a bit more believable.

so, a magical self-repair option is what you require for the story to be believable? How is that realistic?

[kwlafayette]

BTW whether or not Destiny has a self repair system is not integral to the plot, the characters are and since this is a character driven show and not a technology driven one it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

I completely disagree here. Science fiction has to have at least a little science, and the fiction is better when the science is better.

[kwlafayette]

You know, there is another possibility that I have not thought of before. Perhaps the self repair system was designed to be a very low power non-intrusive background system. Something where you would not notice a difference if you saw something everyday, but if you took a picture of the same spot a few months apart, you would notice a change.

Destiny was sent out unmanned, for an indeterminate amount of time; what would it matter how fast repairs were done, as long as they were done eventually? Then the repair bots in the crates make sense. Once there is a crew on board, if they want or need something repaired faster, they can do it themselves, and there would not be anything getting in their way. This implies nanites.

PS. Come to think of it, the Ancients may not even have considered such a system to be self repair. They may have considered it a routine maintenance system. We already know they ran into trouble with nanites on at least one occasion. Perhaps limiting the function and replication rate, or even putting a cap on the number, meant that would not happen again.

A system like that could have been re-purposed by the Destiny computer if/when the Destiny got in trouble. Possibly, a system like this would have trouble, or even find it impossible, to repair things like battle damage.

[Krazeh]

That has already been asked, and they were non-committal. Either they don't want to give anything away, or they haven't thought about it, or whatever.

Do you have a quote or source for this?

so, a magical self-repair option is what you require for the story to be believable? How is that realistic?

It's only magical and unrealistic when it's something that doesn't fit with kwlafayette's ideas about how things should be. If it's something that he does think that should be there then it's completely realistic for it to exist but to have never been mentioned or seen either in the current series but also in any of the other previous franchise series.

I completely disagree here. Science fiction has to have at least a little science, and the fiction is better when the science is better.

Inventing new things doesn't make the science better. As it is there's nothing wrong with the science or the fiction, the only problem is your inability to grasp the simple concept that the Ancients are massively more advanced than us in every scientific field, including materials science, and are more than capable of making items with exceptionally long lifespans. It's no doubt the case that most of the technologies used by the Ancients are solid state and have few, if any, moving parts which massively decreases the amount of wear and tear they encounter through their lifespan, not to mention they're using materials which don't actually exist in the real world and therefore we cannot even begin to put any timescales on how long they'd last.

You know, there is another possibility that I have not thought of before. Perhaps the self repair system was designed to be a very low power non-intrusive background system. Something where you would not notice a difference if you saw something everyday, but if you took a picture of the same spot a few months apart, you would notice a change.

I think you should spend more time thinking about the possibility you're wrong and that the self repair system doesn't exist instead of trying to come up with more ways to wedge it into the series while disregarding all existing canon.

Destiny was sent out unmanned, for an indeterminate amount of time; what would it matter how fast repairs were done, as long as they were done eventually? Then the repair bots in the crates make sense. Once there is a crew on board, if they want or need something repaired faster, they can do it themselves, and there would not be anything getting in their way. This implies nanites.

So now they're using a technology that was previously strongly implied to have been invented during the war with the Wraith. And furthermore has never been seen to be utilised by the Ancients in any form of self repair system.

[kwlafayette]

http://www.allaboutscience.org/secon...modynamics.htm

That is the final argument I am going to make. Simply, if the science is bad, then the fiction cannot be good. You are right though, so far, in the previous two series, the writers and such have pretty much ignored this one.

[xxxevilgrinxxx]

http://www.allaboutscience.org/secon...modynamics.htm

That is the final argument I am going to make. Simply, if the science is bad, then the fiction cannot be good. You are right though, so far, in the previous two series, the writers and such have pretty much ignored this one.

what does this have to do with your point about a self-repair system?

[kwlafayette]

Figure it out. I am through arguing.

[Mike.]

Figure it out. I am through arguing.

So it's nothing. I figured as much.

[kwlafayette]

I just thought it would be a pretty simple matter to go from the fundamental laws of the universe, and apply that to a fictional universe with a United States Air Force, a planet earth, a Milky Way galaxy...

Come on, I know you can make the connection!

[Mike.]

Go ahead, present your argument(s), I'm waiting!

[HaMm3r]

So it's nothing. I figured as much.

I read the link too and thought, "what the heck is wrong with kwl"?

[kwlafayette]

Are you guys messing with me? You seriously do not understand the implications of the second law of thermodynamics? It is the formal statement of the more vernacular "nothing lasts forever". The reason you cannot build a perpetual motion machine. The reason that eventually, the entire universe will be a frozen dead expanse, with no stars, no planets, no black holes, nothing.

Given enough time, even protons decay. While quantity remains the same (First Law), the quality of both matter AND energy deteriorates gradually over time. People around here talk about how it has been in empty, but that does not matter; the simple passage of time degrades matter. No system can be 100% efficient. You cannot go against the fundamental laws of the universe.

And in a fictional universe that is patterned after our own, it is REALLY bad form to write plot lines that go against the fundamental laws. Do you get it? Or am I wasting my time here? The 3 laws of thermal dynamics are pretty basic. Nothing in the universe violates these three laws, they are fundamental.

[HaMm3r]

Are you guys messing with me? You seriously do not understand the implications of the second law of thermodynamics?

It's not that we don't understand, it's that it doesn't matter to anyone else and we don't really care. IT IS SCIENCE FICTION!

Stargate has it's own "fundamental laws of the universe" which may or may not work the same way as the real universe. If the writers were limited to the constraints of the real laws, there wouldn't be a show now and there wouldn't have been SGA or SG1, or even the original movie for that matter.

Like your demeanor in most of your posts, you seem dead set on finding a reason to hate SGU. You try to point out every so called technical flaw and then tell everyone they have to dislike the show because the facts don't fit within your limited viewpoint. You need to get over it or stop watching.

Sadly, I enjoy some of your discussion topics, if you just weren't so darn thick-headed!