No fossils in the 'verse by Aerin

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

No fossils in the 'verse

POSTED BY: AERIN
UPDATED: Saturday, January 21, 2006 17:25
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Friday, January 20, 2006 6:47 PM

Here's my first attempt at starting a thread and I hope it hasn’t already been covered. Since all these new worlds were only recently terraformed, there would be no fossil fuels. What do the Alliance cities use for power? Solar, wind, nuclear, or something else? We’ve seen cheap solar power in Heart of Gold, but not all of the BDH even recognized it. Where do they get stock hydrocarbons for plastic and other chemicals? Serenity appears to be nuclear powered, but as the engine looks a lot more like a turbine that a reactor, I wonder what it runs on and how it works. Ideas?

Although humanity brought along a lot of nasty baggage when it went out into the ‘verse, it had to leave the oilfields behind.

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Friday, January 20, 2006 7:22 PM

QUIXOTIC

According to the RPG book [not the best source, but the only one I know dealing with technical issues,] fusion has been harnessed in a useful form in the 'verse. That being said, I wouldn't expect it to be available in every rim or border settlement, and impractical for mules and the like, which would be more likely to run on hydrogen fuel cells.

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Friday, January 20, 2006 7:25 PM

AERIN

I was trying to figure out what the RPG book is - Role Playing Game? I'm not a gamer, but I hear it gives up some interesting details.

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Friday, January 20, 2006 7:27 PM

GUNRUNNER

I think that at some point the Alliance placed cloned dinosaurs on some worlds and somehow accelerate the decomposition their remains turning it in to hydrocarbons. Or they combine Hydrogen from Gas Giants with Carbons from any of the dozens of places they can get Carbon from (lets say Carbon from Carbon Dioxide for the sake of argument) and make all the Hydrocarbons like that on an industrial scale.

I think the Alliance uses all types of power for its cities. In 'Serenity' we see windmill like things, the previously mentioned solar cells in HoG, Nuclear power is probably used a lot by their military since it has the power on demand a military force needs. They probably also capture a lot of solar energy with satellites and beam it planeside with mirrors.

EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx

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Friday, January 20, 2006 7:43 PM

THESOAPBOXER

In "Serenity" (the episode), Wash makes mention of fuel cells. Don't know much about science, so that's all I can contribute

. But it's a piece of the puzzle.

_____________________________________________
Could you please just make it stranger? Just stranger. Odder. Could be weirder. More bizarre. How about uncanny? ~Joss Whedon

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Friday, January 20, 2006 7:56 PM

ROCKETJOCK

Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:
I think that at some point the Alliance placed cloned dinosaurs on some worlds and somehow accelerate the decomposition their remains turning it in to hydrocarbons.

Umm, GunRunner, you are aware that, old oil company ads to the contrary, fossil fuels are derived from the remains of plants from the carboniferous era, not dinosaurs?

Let's ride/with the family down the street
Through the/courtesy of Fred's two feet...

"So who would win? Cavemen or Astronauts?" -- Spike and/or Angel

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Friday, January 20, 2006 8:06 PM

GUNRUNNER

Quote:
Originally posted by RocketJock:
Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:
I think that at some point the Alliance placed cloned dinosaurs on some worlds and somehow accelerate the decomposition their remains turning it in to hydrocarbons.

Umm, GunRunner, you are aware that, old oil company ads to the contrary, fossil fuels are derived from the remains of plants from the carboniferous era, not dinosaurs?

Let's ride/with the family down the street
Through the/courtesy of Fred's two feet...

"So who would win? Cavemen or Astronauts?" -- Spike and/or Angel

Actually no I wasn't. But the formation of any fossil fuel is just a matter of time; so using dinosaurs explains why Wash has toy ones.

EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx

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Friday, January 20, 2006 8:25 PM

MISBEHAVIN

Quote:
Originally posted by Aerin:
I was trying to figure out what the RPG book is - Role Playing Game? I'm not a gamer, but I hear it gives up some interesting details.

Yes. There's an Amazon.com link to it on the home page of this site under the heading "Support FFF.net"

I'm not a gamer but I bought it because... well, because I was strangely compelled. It's a very nice hard-bound book with lots of info and some pretty pictures. I've got mine safely wrapped up in a plastic bag inside a taped cardboard box.

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Friday, January 20, 2006 8:25 PM

MISBEHAVIN

Quote:
Originally posted by Aerin:
I was trying to figure out what the RPG book is - Role Playing Game? I'm not a gamer, but I hear it gives up some interesting details.

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Saturday, January 21, 2006 12:20 AM

AERIN

I wish my visual companion had come "safely wrapped up in a plastic bag inside a taped cardboard box". Sigh. Instead it came in a somewhat mangled plastic bag in a definitely mangled box. Not bad enough to bother returning, but certainly annoying.

I pretty much guessed how the 'verse is powered, but I'm still facinated by the differences. It's nice to see even a non-Trek humanity moved past oil. I wonder how that little engine makes the pretty-pretty green light. And terraforming is cool. I know SciFi does it all the time, but Joss makes me believe. The landscape would be so different without water and life for millions of years. No Grand Canyon, Badlands, or glaciers. Probably only the necessary animal and plant life. Even with a genetic library the border worlds could only afford what they need.

Rambling again.

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Saturday, January 21, 2006 3:14 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by Aerin:
... What do the Alliance cities use for power? ...

I believe Blue Sun has the answer
http://www.gobluesun.com/

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Saturday, January 21, 2006 2:46 PM

AERIN

I have to ask the obvious - is Blue Sun Biodiesel at all related to the Blue Sun company in Firefly, or is it just an interesting coincidence? The website doesn't seem that old (maybe 2003?). Cool either way. If the Alliance cites were powered on biodiesel a company like Blue Sun Biodiesel would be a giant corrporation, the kind that eventually owns a piece of everything. The kind that might be in thick with the Alliance government. Maybe all this has been covered in another thread.

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Saturday, January 21, 2006 4:40 PM

CYBERSNARK

As far as we can tell, it's just a coincidence. As is the fact that their logo is the sign of the Order of the Black Thorn (from Angel).

Someone fired off an email when we first noticed them. The Blue Sun guy(s) seemed amused.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Saturday, January 21, 2006 5:00 PM

BOWIE

Actually you guys know that those decompose plant is fuel things are just theories. Its the widely believed theory, but still just a theory. There is also a branch of scientists that believe its something to do with things that are made in the center of the earth and rise to the surface. Seen as unlikely, probebly not true, but that doesn't mean Joss couldn't take the view that in the futer they find it is. If that proves true, then when they teriform the planets the fuels would be there...

Of course I don't know much bout it, cause I'm not personally a Scientist. I just read an article about it........

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.

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Saturday, January 21, 2006 5:25 PM

MISTERDRGN

Actually, looking at the website, Blue Sun Biodiesel is 80% regular petroleum diesel, so you'd still need petroleum.

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