When Physics Goes Too Far

[David]

The more I watch the show the more I pay attention to the details. Often Jack is positioned behind Sam, and now that I know her expressions by heart I look elsewhere. I can't believe how often O'Neill is nearby - and his eyes are always glazing over. It's too funny.

[daxterdd]

The tech talk never really bothers me. Plus whenever I understand what shes saying, I feel smart.

And you're very right about closed captioning. I hate having to watch TV without it because I feel like I miss half of whats being said.

It always bothers me when the misspell Kree though. ;>)

[Sparki101]

Can't stand technobabble.
I'm jaded by the trekkie in me and I found particularly the later treks were particularly patronising. So often they would solve an difficult problem by just clogging up your brain so fast with technical language in the hope that you wouldn't be able to spot any plot holes or contradictions.
Was irked by Carter's solution in Grace and I didn't understand at all the plot lines in Avenger because of it.

[Kal-El]

Has anyone felt like Sam has rambled on too long [in a particular sitting], or the science was too much to understand?

I felt she got pretty close in A Matter of Time.

I think she continuously rambles on too much, it's a wonder she doesn't get herself confused. Sam reminds me alot of Data (ST:TNG), but for her it might be more of an insecurity and believing that, because she is a woman, (And a blonde ) that she isn't supposed to know anything about quantum physics etc. Which is rubbish of course and obviously !@#$%^& Jack off, but harken back to what she said in "Children of the Gods" when she was first introduced to O'Neill...

[Hatusu]

The ones I dislike are the "lets re-route the primary power through an inertial dampener and disengage the dialing protocols!" type things. It makes me feel like I've wandered into a Voyager ep by mistake

Hey, you could write "Star Trek"!

I love the Technobabble. Speaking it is an art unto itself like Elisabethan english.

I read that Amanda Tapping studies for it, quote "Otherwise I'd be like Bambi in the headlights."

In agreement with you, I like it to make sense.

[Hatusu]

Oh, right. In England they both get called subtitles. I tried it once on a Channel 4 showing of Stargate. They got all the spelling of the Stargate-Universe-Specific words wrong, including a lot of the technobabble. There, I'm vaguely on-topic.

At my health club, they put the overhead TV's on closed captioning. It can be quite entertaining, especially the exposition. I'll have to try it with "Stargate SG1"

[Mike]

I've always had a strong interest in science, so I've done a lot of reading. Most of what she says often makes sense to me, well, I atleast know what she is saying. I may not always fully understand it though

[star1928]

The technobabble doesn't really bother me much, as I am quite interested in science. I get to tease my mom when I have to explain it all to her, in plain english (or as plain as possible). And it did, after all, help me pass my grade 9 science exam!

[KokiriChild]

I think techy episodes are fantastic - I love learning techy things and picking holes in subjects of a techy nature... What's dissapointing tho is that Amanda Tapping is only acting and in real life doesn't know all that much

[Jprime]

I feel like such a nerd---I understand it!

[Lord §okar]

Has anyone felt like Sam has rambled on too long [in a particular sitting], or the science was too much to understand?

I felt she got pretty close in A Matter of Time.

I feel that Carter should not talk physics at all, she's very poor at it What find kind of scary is that people learn science from shows like Trek and SG-1, and most of what's being said is BS.

[Hatusu]

I feel that Carter should not talk physics at all, she's very poor at it What find kind of scary is that people learn science from shows like Trek and SG-1, and most of what's being said is BS.

Oh, stop. People know the difference between real and speculative science. The shows are a great way for people to get a feel for physics. I learned most of my physics from "Star Trek" and other hard science fiction, and beat out a physics major on a teaching exam.

Of course it was all concepts and no math.

Think about it, "In space, no one can hear you scream." A quote from a horror/science fiction movie, or a physics lesson? Both!

[Teal'c]

Oh, stop. People know the difference between real and speculative science. The shows are a great way for people to get a feel for physics. I learned most of my physics from "Star Trek" and other hard science fiction, and beat out a physics major on a teaching exam.

Of course it was all concepts and no math.

Think about it, "In space, no one can hear you scream." A quote from a horror/science fiction movie, or a physics lesson? Both!

And yet the only show I've found that obeys that law is Firefly

[Hatusu]

And yet the only show I've found that obeys that law is Firefly

I did use a frequently broken example there.

"Firefly"? Hmmm. I don't know. How were they hovering close to the ground? Did they explain how they handled gravity? But you're right about the vacuum. "Star Wars" started a bad trend there. The original "Star Trek" obeyed that law of physics, except for the swish in the opening credits, but they felt guilty about it.

[Lord §okar]

Oh, stop. People know the difference between real and speculative science.
Don't presume that just because you can recognise the amount of bad science propagated by sci-fi, SG-1 and Trek in particular, that "people" can. The official trek site's surveys indicate that many children learn more about science than from any other source.