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Darth Garden Gnome wrote:I'd love to see that, but the link is broken. A little help?

But in reality the argument speaks for itself. The stupidity is swelling in them now.

jaya02 wrote:I don't see how the voids could eat up a seismic charge. I was under the impressiong that seismic charges defied gravity in space and uses sound pressure, and that's why the voids would be able to eat them up, since they rely on gravity.

Chocobo wrote: Bad:
Obi-Wan chases Jango Fett (Boba's father) to the ringed planet Geonosis pictured below). They dogfight through the thick rings, dodging huge tumbling boulders. Trying to kill Obi-Wan, Jango Fett deploys "seismic charges". When they explode, a huge shock wave of sound is created, which expands violently outward. Obi-Wan manages to escape by hiding on the surface of one of the rocks.

Good:
We know ringed planets exist, of course; four planets in our own solar system have them. However, the biggest of the particles in Saturn's rings, for example, are only a few meters in size. Over a long time, collisions between the chunks of ice have broken them up, making them smaller. Given the number and density of the rocks in the Geonosian rings, they should have ground themselves to dust a long time before. Really big rocks, like the one Obi-Wan actually flies his ship through (and how does an asteroidal body like that get a long tunnel drilled though it?) shouldn't last very long in such a system. They're a big target, and the first to get hit.

Then there is the matter of the seismic charges. In space, as it is said, no one can hear you scream. Without air, this is literally true: sound needs a medium (like air, water or rock) through which to travel. A vacuum, by definition, is the lack of such a medium, so sound cannot travel in space. I'll accept that movies depict ships making sounds as they move through space, since almost every movie does it, and we, the viewing audience, are used to hearing sounds as things move past us. But I have my limits. The seismic charge, based on sound, cannot work.

Now, I expect Star Wars purists will want to argue this point with me, making claims about how the seismic charges use a subspace blast or some such thing (shades of the Kessel run!). However, I'm not buying it. When the charges explode, we see the flash, but hear nothing for several seconds. Then, BOOM! Since sound travels slower than light, we see the flash immediately, but must wait a few seconds for the sound wave to reach us (which is why we see lightning before we hear thunder). So clearly Lucas is implying that the charges are sonic. In space, that just won't work.

[Note added May 30, 2002: As I expected, the emails have flooded in. There have been many interesting points raised, from the charges vaporizing the asetroids (and so we see the debris expanding) to us just seeing the shock wave itself. Either way, I'm just not buying it! The sound effect accompanying the shock wave is not like that of a blast; it has a more resonant, bell-like quality. Clearly, Lucas was implying something more than just a simple explosion here. And calling it a seismic charge also implies something different than a mine or a missile. So I'm sticking by my guns, haha, and throwing the flag on this one.]

jaya02 wrote:See, Kier? The article Chocobo posted proves I was right! Seismic charges use sound!

Phil Plait wrote:Then there is the matter of the seismic charges. In space, as it is said, no one can hear you scream. Without air, this is literally true: sound needs a medium (like air, water or rock) through which to travel. A vacuum, by definition, is the lack of such a medium, so sound cannot travel in space. I'll accept that movies depict ships making sounds as they move through space, since almost every movie does it, and we, the viewing audience, are used to hearing sounds as things move past us. But I have my limits. The seismic charge, based on sound, cannot work.

Now, I expect Star Wars purists will want to argue this point with me, making claims about how the seismic charges use a subspace blast or some such thing (shades of the Kessel run!). However, I'm not buying it. When the charges explode, we see the flash, but hear nothing for several seconds. Then, BOOM! Since sound travels slower than light, we see the flash immediately, but must wait a few seconds for the sound wave to reach us (which is why we see lightning before we hear thunder). So clearly Lucas is implying that the charges are sonic. In space, that just won't work.

[Note added May 30, 2002: As I expected, the emails have flooded in. There have been many interesting points raised, from the charges vaporizing the asetroids (and so we see the debris expanding) to us just seeing the shock wave itself. Either way, I'm just not buying it! The sound effect accompanying the shock wave is not like that of a blast; it has a more resonant, bell-like quality. Clearly, Lucas was implying something more than just a simple explosion here. And calling it a seismic charge also implies something different than a mine or a missile. So I'm sticking by my guns, haha, and throwing the flag on this one.]

Kurgan wrote:And that's why Star Wars (and most of sci fi) is impossible... because they show us sound in space!

phongn wrote:The usual explanation for sounds is that onboard sensors detect weapons fire and project a sound inside the ship to enhance situational awareness.

Illuminatus Primus wrote:http:// boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=11061988&replies=21

Normally we do not get this number of priceless moments is such succession.