Quote:

---

Originally posted by Browncoater:
Firefly = science fiction. It is a believable tale of how things might be in 500 years.

Star Trek = science fantasy. There are things in the ST world that are highly unlikely and not feasible through scientific means.

The nature of the solar system humans inhabit in Firefly is much more likely in our future than the stuff in Star Trek.


I don't think of myself as a lion....
Does that seem right to you?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by citizen:
spaceshiplover, to answer your question.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by spaceshiplover:
I would like to ask about how they generate gravity. That is something which is often never discussed in science fiction. I notice there is a spinning ring on the ship. Is this the thing which produces gravity? If so, how does it do it when it is obvious that the living areas are not spinning.

---

Gravity is not generated by centrifugal force in the FireFly 'verse. A point proven if by no other instance, the pilot episode when gravity is turned on in the airlock during the salvage mission. The spinning section is to do with the main 'FireFly' drive. The section responsible for generating Gravity is a ring just behind the drive unit but in front of the spinning section you mentioned.
The Gravity generator is ringed in red here:


Obviously given an Einsteinian universe gravity is the effect of warped space-time on matter. But what causes this space-time warping?

Theoretical:
By the 26th century the Graviton had been discovered. The graviton is a particle of Zero rest mass, and as such has wave like properties due too Wave-Particle Duality. The Graviton is not a particle in the normal sense, in other words the sense that a Positron Neutron or Electron is a particle. In fact the Graviton is an absence of space-time within our space-time frame, much like a Bubble of CO² in a fizzy drink is an absence of that liquid. Unlike the bubble, however, the Graviton has no contents and as nature abhors a vacuum space-time ‘rushes in’ to fill this void.

This causes a pinching of local space-time as the Graviton passes through. A concentration of Gravitons causes increasing gravity effects due to the increased pinching of space-time. Gravitons are created by Matter of finite mass as a side-effect of interactions with space-time and the Zero-point energy field.

As the Gravitons from a body will spread out in all directions the warping of space time, and thus the force of their attraction, reduces by the inverse square of the distance from the body. This is backed up by the following equation:
g = G M / r²
Where g is the gravitational acceleration
G is the gravitational constant
M is the mass of the body
r is the distance from the body

Thus in order to generate artificial gravity (or for that matter anti-gravity) you need to generate and direct gravitons in a controllable fashion.

Serenity’s Gravity Generator
The gravity generator on the engineering section of Serenity generates gravity through induced interactions with the Zero-point energy field. That is it interacts with the ZPF in away that is consistent with an object of much greater mass, without the increased mass.

This is achieved by ceramic super-conducting rings spinning within an electro-magnetic field, which induces the creation of Gravitons between the spinning rings. The Gravitons are then directed and propagated throughout the ship, much like electrons through copper wire, via the gravity and inertial dampening grids. These can be turned on and off, in whole or in part as desired.

---

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
Remember, the ice caps aren't melting, the water is being liberated.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by JayTee:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by citizen:
spaceshiplover, to answer your question.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by spaceshiplover:
I would like to ask about how they generate gravity. That is something which is often never discussed in science fiction. I notice there is a spinning ring on the ship. Is this the thing which produces gravity? If so, how does it do it when it is obvious that the living areas are not spinning.

---

Gravity is not generated by centrifugal force in the FireFly 'verse. A point proven if by no other instance, the pilot episode when gravity is turned on in the airlock during the salvage mission. The spinning section is to do with the main 'FireFly' drive. The section responsible for generating Gravity is a ring just behind the drive unit but in front of the spinning section you mentioned.
The Gravity generator is ringed in red here:


Obviously given an Einsteinian universe gravity is the effect of warped space-time on matter. But what causes this space-time warping?

Theoretical:
By the 26th century the Graviton had been discovered. The graviton is a particle of Zero rest mass, and as such has wave like properties due too Wave-Particle Duality. The Graviton is not a particle in the normal sense, in other words the sense that a Positron Neutron or Electron is a particle. In fact the Graviton is an absence of space-time within our space-time frame, much like a Bubble of CO² in a fizzy drink is an absence of that liquid. Unlike the bubble, however, the Graviton has no contents and as nature abhors a vacuum space-time ‘rushes in’ to fill this void.

This causes a pinching of local space-time as the Graviton passes through. A concentration of Gravitons causes increasing gravity effects due to the increased pinching of space-time. Gravitons are created by Matter of finite mass as a side-effect of interactions with space-time and the Zero-point energy field.

As the Gravitons from a body will spread out in all directions the warping of space time, and thus the force of their attraction, reduces by the inverse square of the distance from the body. This is backed up by the following equation:
g = G M / r²
Where g is the gravitational acceleration
G is the gravitational constant
M is the mass of the body
r is the distance from the body

Thus in order to generate artificial gravity (or for that matter anti-gravity) you need to generate and direct gravitons in a controllable fashion.

Serenity’s Gravity Generator
The gravity generator on the engineering section of Serenity generates gravity through induced interactions with the Zero-point energy field. That is it interacts with the ZPF in away that is consistent with an object of much greater mass, without the increased mass.

This is achieved by ceramic super-conducting rings spinning within an electro-magnetic field, which induces the creation of Gravitons between the spinning rings. The Gravitons are then directed and propagated throughout the ship, much like electrons through copper wire, via the gravity and inertial dampening grids. These can be turned on and off, in whole or in part as desired.

---

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
Remember, the ice caps aren't melting, the water is being liberated.

---

Actually the Radion Accellerator Core works by flying miniature tacos at right angles to the spacetime continuum. The artificial gravity works by making the bottom of the spacecraft suck way worse than the top part of the space craft by storing a bunch of old Barbara Streisand and Neil Sedaka albums in the bottom part of the cargo hold creating a "gravity differential".

Jaytee

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Rodwy:
But faster than light travel in Star Trek is possible but please don't get me into that techno talk it takes way to long to explain.

---