ZPM question

[BethHG]

I am on season 1 on my rewatch -- I just watched The Brotherhood.

Here's a stupid question:

Wouldn't the instructions to make a ZPM be in the Atlantis database?

I really don't remember much from this series, and I would love to know the answer.

[Xaeden]

Does the database contain data on ZPMs that could one day be used to create them? Yes.

WEIR: That's not why I wanted to see you. You have to get me more than seven or eight percent of the database. There has got to be a way of taking more with us.

ZELENKA: Maybe nine percent.

WEIR: How do I choose between Zero Point Module research and their work on ascension? Between weapons schematics and their notes on space travel? No matter what we choose here, invaluable information's gonna be lost, and that is just the information that we've deciphered. Now we all know we have barely even begun to scratch the surface. What if we destroy the cure for all disease, or even some piece of information that could lead to the downfall of the Wraith?

-The Siege, Part 1

Does it contain step-by-step instructions that can be understood and followed by people who are millions of years behind them in technological and mental capability? No.

[BethHG]

Okay, got it and many thanks!

[pro]

Would the combination of Atlantis Database and the Odyssey's Asguard Core (which has the ability to create anything virtually through the very simple and very user friendly program) not be able to just spit out ZPMs like there's no tomorrow?

[AleksisMi]

i always felt the zpms were rechargable by the ancients and they simply didnt dispose of them, sort of like... recharged them with lightning or vast static energy banks of energy, i mean they can run lightning through the city to charge the battery, but that energy doesnt last long with shields on presumably so heres the question, why have such a vast and heavily invested in back up power source, unless its a emergency protocal to restore a zpm to working function or to build a new one?

[AleksisMi]

not to mention they built a very large generator under their city which was wierd unless they had some other function for it beyond the obvious one of running the citie power, did it act as some wierd hybred source of energy to charge up zpms? seems the most reasonable choice etc

[Xaeden]

Would the combination of Atlantis Database and the Odyssey's Asguard Core (which has the ability to create anything virtually through the very simple and very user friendly program) not be able to just spit out ZPMs like there's no tomorrow?

Would a matter to energy convertor be able to make a non-functional ZPM husk? Probably. Would it be able to spit out the artificial region of subspace time that the ZPM taps into? No.

i always felt the zpms were rechargable by the ancients and they simply didnt dispose of them, sort of like... recharged them with lightning or vast static energy banks of energy, i mean they can run lightning through the city to charge the battery, but that energy doesnt last long with shields on presumably so heres the question, why have such a vast and heavily invested in back up power source, unless its a emergency protocal to restore a zpm to working function or to build a new one?

A depleted ZPM could theoretically be configured to tap into a newly created artificial region, but you can't recharge an artificially created region of subspace time.

not to mention they built a very large generator under their city which was wierd unless they had some other function for it beyond the obvious one of running the citie power, did it act as some wierd hybred source of energy to charge up zpms? seems the most reasonable choice etc

In their desperation the Ancients tried to turn to alternate forms of energy toward the end of the war. This may because they couldn't create new ZPMs faster than they lost them or it may be because their facilities for building new ZPMs were destroyed by the Wraith. The specifics were not addressed, but their need to find energy elsewhere is why they started Project Arcturus, which attempted to extract existing zero point energy from their own universe, rather than creating artificial regions. It's also why they attempted to exploit geothermal energy, both on the planet from "Inferno" and with the mining platform on Lantea that you mistakenly referred to as a generator (it drills into the planet's crust to get at geothermal energy).

As for the lightning rods and grounding stations; they were not built to channel energy into the city's conduits. That is a modification that Mckay made:


ZELENKA: Atlantis is designed to withstand substantial lightning strikes. There are lightning rods all over the city.

McKAY: All those rods are channeled into four main grounding stations.

ZELENKA: In turn, those grounding stations discharge electricity back into the ocean, keeping Atlantis safe from massive electric shocks due to lightning strikes.

...

McKAY (standing up again): No. No, It's just not good enough. Look, by uncoupling the grounding stations it means that when lightning strikes the city, the electricity will have nowhere to go. Now, if we can channel the electricity properly to the conduits that line the city corridors, we should be able to power the shield temporarily. But if any of these grounding stations are left active, a sizeable amount of electricity will find its way to ground and no shield.

They are quite simply just lightning rods and grounding stations that protect the city from lightning strikes. The alternative would be to put the shields up whenever there was any kind of lightning storm.