Science Fiction Countdown

I am a movie buff and a devout science fiction fan. I partake of SF in all it's forms i.e. comics, novels, movies, short stories, whatever.

It has been said that SF has the most loyal fan base of any genre and no fan can say he has not noticed a few common threads in all SF stories.

This blog is therefore dedicated to all inventions of the mind that have enabled SF as a genre to be as uncomplicated as possible.

10. Inertial damping
Entering our countdown at number 10 is Inertial damping. This technology is what makes it possible for the Starship Enterprise to accelerate from a standing stop to Warp 11 without turning the crew and passengers into little more than scrambled meat. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object will stay where it is until/unless acted upon by an external force. This is known as inertia. Without inertial damping, Captain Jean Luke would be smashed against the back wall of the bridge the very second the Enterprise accelerates.

9. Thinkoids
What? Thinkoids are the collective name I give to certain alien species that seem to have no emotion nor desire any. They think of emotion as a weakness and tend to treat mankind suspiciously because of it. The humans are always trying to make these Thinkoids loosen up a bit. If nothing else, they provide an interesting counter point to our more sensational nature. Think Vulcans.

8. Androids
Robots shaped like humans. In some stories, they do the heavy lifting. In others, they tend to provide nothing more than comic relief to the rather serious subject matter the program is tackling. I some, they are highly intelligent and even work with humans as equals. It is interesting to note, however, that in those programs where an android works in the same capacity as humans, the robot never fits in due to the smallest of criteria. Commander Data (Star Trek) couldn't whistle correctly no matter how hard he tried.

7. The noble savage
Another bunch of Aliens. These aliens have organised their society around war. They think it is noble and the only way to go out is to go out fighting. You will find this lot in Star Trek, Far Scape, Babylon 5. Think Klingons.

6. Force Fields
What would SF be without some frantic First Officer yelling "The shields have Failed!" And the type A personality captain replying, cool as can be of course, "Divert all power except life support to aft shields."

5. Teleportation
Yeah. You know that whole thing of guys standing around, Energise, and the dudes disappear to re-appear else where. Makes you wonder, why the hell do they need space ships if they can teleport?

4. Particle beam weapons
Coming in just outside the top three is that most ubiquitous of all technlogical SF inventions, the laser weapons. Clearly , the pundits believe our future holds no place for the current crop of projectile weapons we have now i.e. guns, missiles etc.

3. Artificial Gravity
You must have seen those old films of Armstrong leaping awkwardly across the moon. You must also have seen pictures of white boys in the space shuttle pretending to be doing some science.Now contrast those images with those of Cpt. Jean Luke standing, feet slightly apart, staring down some poor E.T. on that 60 inch plasma screen. The difference, all the rest are foating around. Artificial Gravity guys. Without it, the directors would have to film under water or on a free-falling set. You see, save costs. One of the most ingenious ways of creating gravity I have ever seen must have been in Tin Tin goes to the moon. Prof Calculus had the rocket accelerating at 10 m/s squared. For those not in the know, that equals one Earth G.

2. Hyper space, Worm holes and Warp engines
Space is large. So large in fact that we must begin to think we will never meet anyone else out there. They are just too far. What if we travel very fast? Well, according to Einstein, and most contemporary scientists agree, the cosmis speed limit is Light Speed. That is fast but not fast enough to cover the distances we are talking about in reasonable time. So, SF writers had to find a way to move faster than light. Warp engines work by shifting space and moving it, and whatever it contains at Super-Light speeds (Star Trek). Worm holes are holes in space that open up in another place. The idea that worm holes exist and that they can be directed makes SF alot more manageable. Hyper space is an extension of the worm hole theory. The idea is that you can travel a few hours through a higher dimension (Hyper space), and open a worm hole back into your normal dimension and find yourself light years away from where you started. Cool eh?

1. Universal Translator
This must be the undisputed champion of all the save time and explanation SF inventions. This device enables Alien races from all over the universe to communicate with each other in a common language. No matter how diverse the life forms, they all seem to be able to communicate. This device may be a gadget or a bacteria or a parasite but the end effect is the same. The SF writers and directors must find life alot easier thanks to this device.


And that's it. Thank you for joining us for this nerdy but interesting countdown. Please feel free to write in and give your own suggestions.