Science for Use in Science Fiction

General Sci-Fi themes here;

Violent Star Releases Energy Burst Equal to Sun's Output in 100,000 Years​

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Mel Brooks on the Making of Spaceballs

 

China switches on ‘artificial sun’ that is five times hotter than the real thing​

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A nuclear fusion reactor in China has set a new record for sustained high temperatures after running five times hotter than the sun for more than 17 minutes, according to state media.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), known as an “artificial sun”, reached temperatures of 70,000,000C during the experiments, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The ultimate aim of developing the artificial sun device is to deliver near-limitless clean energy by mimicking the natural reactions occurring within stars.
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Astronomers Witness Supergiant Star Explosion for the First Time​

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Astronomers Witness , Supergiant Star Explosion , for the First Time. 'The Independent' reports that for the first time ever, scientists have witnessed a red supergiant star's explosive end. . The observation reportedly marks a major breakthrough in our understanding of a star's final moments. . Previously, it seemed that stars remained relatively calm before dramatically exploding. . The latest observations revealed bright radiation coming from the star prior to the event. . This is a breakthrough in our understanding of what massive stars do moments before they die, Wynn Jacobson-Galán, the study’s lead author, via 'The Independent'. Direct detection of pre-supernova activity in a red supergiant star has never been observed before in an ordinary type II supernova. ...
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Ninety-Nine Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2021​


The year’s most exciting discoveries include a Viking “piggy bank,” a lost Native American settlement and a secret passageway hidden behind a bookshelf
 

Star Trek has tractor beams. So do we.​

But so far, they can't grab anything bigger than a dime.
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The Fantasy

The “tractor beam” has been a reliable narrative device in science fiction for nearly 100 years, deployed whenever the plot requires seizing a runaway spaceship or manipulating objects at a distance. Author E.E. “Doc” Smith is credited with coining the term in 1931 with his novel Spacehounds of IPC, serialized in the pulp sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories. The language is old-school delicious: “Brandon swung mighty tractor beams upon the severed halves of the Jovian vessel….”

Glorious!

Over the years, the tractor beam concept has been used by Golden Age sci-fi writers like Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov; by intergalactic heroes like Buck Rogers and John Carter; by TV shows and games Babylon 5 and Half-Life. But most sci-fi fans probably know it from Star Wars and Star Trek — the sinister Death Star and the mighty USS Enterprise each boasted a frequently convenient tractor beam system.
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Something like this may have happened once or more in our Solar System when it was forming;

Scientists spot ‘intruder’ flying through space and disturbing distant star​

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Or a dual planet system where the smaller orbits the larger?

Massive object could be an interstellar moon, a rare find​

 

Earth is at the centre of a 1,000-light-year 'Swiss cheese' bubble​

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Rather than being out on its own, the Earth is at the centre of a giant, 1,000-light-year-wide bubble, created by at least 15 supernova explosions, a new study has found.

There are thousands of young stars at the edge of this bubble, according to astrophysicists from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Working with experts from Harvard and Smithsonian, the team reconstructed the evolutionary history of the galactic neighbourhood over 14 million years.

In the 1970s astronomers discovered Earth was in a cosmic void, after realising no stars had formed in 14 million years, with all stars inside this 'bubble' emerging either before it formed, or passing through on their orbit of the galactic centre.

The new study found that multiple supernova explosions 14 million years ago blasted materials needed for star formation to the edge of a huge area of space, creating a 'superbubble' that is surrounded by a frenzy of star bursts, but with none inside.
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A Child’s Puzzle Has Helped Unlock the Secrets of Magnetism​

People have known about magnets since ancient times, but the physics of ferromagnetism remains a mystery. Now a familiar puzzle is getting physicists closer to the answer.

 

8 must-see stargazing events to watch in 2022​

The year ahead offers many heavenly delights for sky-watchers, including two blood moons, a pair of partial solar eclipses, and multiple planetary meetings.​

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Six NASA Astronauts Describe the Moment in Space When “Everything Changed”​

“This is what heaven must look like.”

 

The Earth's Core Might Be Cooling Much Faster Than We Previously Thought​


Scientists say it 'is cooling and becoming inactive much faster than expected.'
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Earth's interior is cooling faster than expected, study suggests​

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Earth’s interior is cooling faster than expected​

 

Mysterious object 4,000 light years away unlike anything seen before​

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They think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf – collapsed cores of stars – with an ultra-powerful magnetic field, also known as a magnetar.

As it spins through the cosmos, the 'spooky' object sends out a beam of radiation, and for one minute in every 20 it is one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

Observations show it releasing a giant burst of energy three times an hour.
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What Happens If a Space Elevator Breaks​

These structures are a sci-fi solution to the problem of getting objects into orbit without a rocket—but you don’t want to be under one if the cable snaps.
 
Worth a repeat for one, and some variations between content in the others.

Starship Size Comparison 2021​

Here are just some of the spaceships from various movies, animations, and tv shows, including Star Wars, Star Trek, Robotech, Macross, Starship Troopers, Halo, Buck Roger, Battlestar Galactica, and Interstellar to name a few. (A few real ones as well.)

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Even better and with more'

Spaceships Size Comparison 2022​


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Another and varied;

Spaceships Size Comparison in 3D!​


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And from about 2015;

FICTIONAL STARSHIPS Size COMPARISON​



(Includes Dyson Sphere and Ringworld)
 
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What's inside the Millennium Falcon? (Star Wars)​


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Star Wars: Inside the Imperial Star Destroyer​


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Star Wars: Inside the Venator Star Destroyer​


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Star Wars: Executor Class Super Star Destroyer (Legends) - Spacedock​


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Star Wars: Inside the Tantive 4​

 
Some might think the subject of the following thread/link is science fiction and to some degree, fair enough. FWIW a few sci-fi stories might have been metaphor of the Geminga Scenario.
Anyway, the two thread have linkage so;
The Geminga Scenario
 
There's a blend of some science and some history here in the ten pages of this "click bait" article; and also each page has a link to another article of related interest. The diversity of the content in all is why I'm parking it here for now. Note also I'd not endorse the title of the article/link/url since some of this is the sort some of us won't object to being true (as often happens, the author is trying to entice via a controversial title).

Historical Facts You’ll Wish Weren’t Really True​

 
Science Fiction is great because you can just make stuff up and it doesnt have to be remotely true in the least.
 

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