Weapons of Sci-Fi

Sci-Fi has many parts. Every universe has generics. But there are also weapons that are specific to a certain universe. For example, Star Trek has phasers and Star Wars has ion cannons. Many other weapons that I've heard of are: lightsabers, ray guns, laser rifles, laser pistol, proton bombs, plasma grenades, plasma cannon, and on and on and on. There are thousands of weapons from every imaginable realm and genre. You may know the ins and outs of a few, but I think that it's impossible to know them all. There are light cores, energy cores, circuit cores, explosion cores and many others. Some weapons are just like modified current day weapons. My personal favorite are the laser rifles. For more info, click in the links above. If you'd like, you can tell me in the comments about your favorite. Thanks, Aidan.

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A proton bomb destroys the Separatist Army in Star Wars the Clone Wars.

Hyperdrives, Warp Engines, and Other Such Things

In almost every space travel story there is some sort of faster-than-light device. These devices allowed people and spaceships to move from one location to another quickly and with ease. Each has it's own properties and dilemmas, however. In Star Wars you simply enter coordinates into the system and the ship sends you hurtling through space to your destination. If the hyperdrive unit is damaged, however, you can't go anywhere that you couldn't with any old ship. In Star Trek there are warp engines which send you into an alternate realm of space and time before spitting you out into your desired location and time. But with warp speed time becomes strange and you can journey for months only to end up a second after the specified time in the exact place. Or you can go and travel for a couple of seconds only to end up years from your wanted time. Almost every space travel story has them and they all have their personalities and dysfunctions. With faster-than-light devices anything could happen. Everyone has their favorite device and everyone wishes they had one. Scientists have told us for years that they are close to a breakthrough in the field. Oddly enough I've never believed them and now less than ever. But you can decide for yourselves. Leave comments for your ideas. Thanks, Aidan.

The Bernal Sphere

The Bernal Sphere was first proposed by John Desmond Bernal in 1929. The original description of the design was a hollow, spherical shell filled with air. In 1976 Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill proposed a new and improved version of the colony. He called it Island One. The entire thing is spinning really fast to make a force equivalent to one G, or one Earth gravity. The closer to the center that you get, however, the less gravity there is. There is a window going around the equatorial zone that is right next to a mirror. This mirror reflects sunlight in to produce a false sense of daylight. There are small Stanford Taurus' rotating around the tips of the Colony that are used for agricultural purposes; supplying food for the colony. Massive superconducting solar panels produce all of the energy for the colony. A later version of the colony can support a lot more people. All in all, the colony could be a great alternative to our current situation. All of the colonies could. Thanks, Aidan.

Collections

Many Sci-fi fans love to collect things from their favorite show. These collections can range from trading cards to action figures to ship models to Lego sets to posters to lunch boxes and beyond. A Star Trek fan might collect a Captain Picard action figure or a Enterprise model. A Star Wars fan might collect a Luke Skywalker action figure or a Death Star model. I, for one, have many action figures, and a Lego set of at least one ship from every Star Wars navy. Collecting can be a lot of fun, but if you let it take up to much of your time or money, it will wreck you. You have to spend the right amount of time and money for you. If you asked me if you should start collecting, I would tell you the honest truth. I would tell you that it's your choice, and that you should just follow your gut.

The Stanford Taurus

The Stanford Torus is another space colony design proposed by professors at Stanford University. It consists of a wheel very similar to a bike wheel that spins indefinitely with enough speed to create 1 g. The entire wheel is hollow. In the outermost part of the inside of the wheel is one continuous strip of living space. The innermost part of the wheel is a massive window. There is another piece other than the main wheel. This piece beams a beam of light into the center of the big wheel, where it bounces off of mirrors to fly into the window to simulate sunlight inside of the colony. The colony is designed to accommodate 10,000 people comfortably. Now that you know the facts, imagine what you'd do with a Torus if you had access to one. Tell me in the comments. Thanks, Aidan.