[ShadowGorrath]

The Bastion has been in service until 2367, when you are told it's been retired, and you're gonna serve on the Aquitaine ( after the training missions ). 32+ years in service.

[TrashMan]

If a story is good enough for the suspension of belief to work, then it doesn't really matter in my opinion. It's like complaining that the Sword of Isildur could never be re-forged properly because there would be micro-imperfections in the steel that would make it weak. That might be true, but nobody cares, Magic is the technojargon of Fantasy novels.

Come to think of it, Spaceships powered by magic could make an interesting theme if done properly

Magic belongs in fantasy, not sci-fi.

There are a few physical rules that for story purposes must be ...bent a little.. like FTL travel. There's no way a interstellar empire could work without that. You don't need to bend or break any other rules for a sci-fi. You can do it, but you don't need to.

Heck, for example, Northstar (to be released) has FTL travel but no FTL comms. Which means currier ships that bring news are vital to the functioning of the interstellar society. An interesting twist, no?

[General Battuta]

That 'clever twist' has been in common use since the 1940s in science fiction.

Furthermore, no interstellar empire requires FTL. FTL is magic, and it's not at all necessary for a science fiction story. Refer to Alastair Reynold's 'Revelation Space' setting for a plausible space opera without FTL, and an interstellar society that works fine without it.

Most science fiction uses magic to some degree. It is impossible to say that magic belongs in fantasy, not SF -- whether you call it 'handwavium' or 'technobabble', magic is present. This makes sense, as SF is a subclass of fantasy.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

SF = Science Fiction = Shivan Fighter

[Flipside]

Magic belongs in fantasy, not sci-fi.

Totally disagree, a story requires a story, nothing more. If people want to label those stories into genres that's their perogative, but magic belongs no less in sci-fi than technomages belong in Babylon 5 or a Connecticut Yankee belongs in the court of King Arthur.

[TrashMan]

That 'clever twist' has been in common use since the 1940s in science fiction.

I meant to say, it not present in recent works. At least not any I've seen or read.

Furthermore, no interstellar empire requires FTL. FTL is magic, and it's not at all necessary for a science fiction story. Refer to Alastair Reynold's 'Revelation Space' setting for a plausible space opera without FTL, and an interstellar society that works fine without it.

FTL is not magic. Our understanding of physics is primitive at best, there may very well be ways around that apparent barrier.
Conservation of energy. Action an reaction. - those are the laws to watch about. Not to mention breaking logic on a fundamental level.

And a interstealar empire without FTL would be pretty much impossible. There would be no way for a central government to control all of it. It would be a collection of independent planet-states at best. That's no empire.


Lastly, there is a big difference between tech in Sci-fi and magic (at least there should be in any sensible sci-fi). Good Sci-fi can make things plausible without actually breaking the known scientific laws. there are plenty of unproven theories out there and a lot of things that are possible, but not now.
Antimatter or fusion reactors for instance. Artificial gravity.
On the other hand you got "tech magic" like teleporters.

[Stormkeeper]

I meant to say, it not present in recent works. At least not any I've seen or read.

Actually, the recent MW Dark Ages book has this , what with the downing of the HPG Net.


For the record, Uprising had a pretty good explanation for teleportation, i.e seperating the object apart into particles then transmitting the particles across to the reciever in an energy beam then reforming the object.

[Admiral_Stones]

1. These Parts would have to be very, very small.
2. If they ARE very, very small, the rebuilding plan would be ridiculously, and I mean so extremely super large that it is impossible to save all of it.

[TrashMan]

The energy required to decompose something into atoms (read - VAPORIZE), then send those same atoms in an ENERGY BEAM (????) to a reciever that will re-build them PERFECTLY on a atomic level????

There are so many physical and logical loopholes you have to jump trough that it's not even funny.
Not to mention that any brain activity stops when you're transported..and, that every single electron in your being will have to be re-created with the exact same position, speed, etc or else you'll end up with half your memory missing.

[Flipside]

The biggest problem is finding a way of transmitting all the data before the end of the universe.

[Akalabeth Angel]

That 'clever twist' has been in common use since the 1940s in science fiction.

I meant to say, it not present in recent works. At least not any I've seen or read.

       Timothy Zahn's Conqueror series has this same twist and is fairly new. Well, humans fighting aliens and huge misunderstandings on both sides. But basically the humans have FTL tracking but no comms and the aliens have FTL Comms but no tracking. Plus there are some other misunderstandings about battles and so forth in general, the humans think their weapons have no effect on the enemy ships but in fact inside the hull the ships are smashed to pieces. Etecetera and so on. Pretty good, though I never read the last book of the series.

[TrashMan]

People are at awe because we managed to move a few atoms on a slab of metal and draw a smiley.

Little do they know it had to be done one atom at a time and it took HOURS for each atom. And a slab of metal is fairly simple in it's atomic composition too.
If you ask how I know this - my physics professor (who works at CERN b.t.w.) knows the guys who did that.

[Mars]

I thought that several quantum principles not only provided an explanation for teleportation (albeit from point A to point B) but that FTL communications was within the realm of possibility quite soon (next 100 years)

[TrashMan]

Not really....not really.

Quantum mechanics is really strange territory...really hard to wrap ones' mind around that. But I don't recall anything in the 1 year long subject on it that would make me believe teleportation is possible.

[Ghostavo]

Teleportation is a much more plausible thing than FTL travel.

Heck, we already have teleportation technology. Granted, it is still incredibly primitive (IIRC only photons were successfully teleported) but it's still there.

[TrashMan]

Teleportation is a much more plausible thing than FTL travel.

Heck, we already have teleportation technology. Granted, it is still incredibly primitive (IIRC only photons were successfully teleported) but it's still there.

Youre' joking right? FTL travel may very well be possible...especially if some theories, like the Einstein-Rosenberg bridge and similar prove to be true.

We don't have teleportation b.t.w. A photon is a completely different thing than a atom. And even if by some miracle we do manage to transport a atom, that is still a completely different thing that transporting a whole lot of them. Which is even more different than transporting a bunch of different ones at the same time. Which is even MORE different than being able to assemble them on the fly.

[Colonol Dekker]

That's "Einstein-Rosen" bridge Trashman. Unless you need an accountant as well.

[Mars]

Well actually, you'd be surprised at the similarities between (the components) of an atom and a photon. We have a feasible means of teleportation, even if it isn't fully understood. We have no feasible means of long range FTL travel, none tested any way.

[TrashMan]

Oh, brother! 

[Ghostavo]

Teleportation is a much more plausible thing than FTL travel.

Heck, we already have teleportation technology. Granted, it is still incredibly primitive (IIRC only photons were successfully teleported) but it's still there.

Youre' joking right? FTL travel may very well be possible...especially if some theories, like the Einstein-Rosenberg bridge and similar prove to be true.

We don't have teleportation b.t.w. A photon is a completely different thing than a atom. And even if by some miracle we do manage to transport a atom, that is still a completely different thing that transporting a whole lot of them. Which is even more different than transporting a bunch of different ones at the same time. Which is even MORE different than being able to assemble them on the fly.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1888-teleporting-larger-objects-becomes-real-possibility.html

Oh really? I guess you seem to know more about the subject than some scientists that managed to do that with atoms 6 years ago...

Like Mars said, teleportation seems to be having major progress while FTL drives are still so theoretical, even scientists have doubts if it will ever be feasible.