Period 6: Group 2: Walnut-Sized Nuclear Generators

- Whittle, Lottes, Abernathy, and Sankey

“‘If you have the infernal charlatanry to tell me that a small container the size of a- of a walnut, blast it, holds a nuclear generator, I’ll have you before the Protector in three seconds.’

‘Explain it yourself then, if you can. I say it’s complete.’

The tech-man’s flush faded slowly as he bound the chain about his waist, and, following Mallow’s gesture, pushed the knob. The radiance that surrounded him shone into dim relief. His blaster lifted, then hesitated. Slowly, he adjusted it to an almost burnless minimum.

And then, convulsively, he closed circuit and the nuclear fire dashed against his hand, harmlessly.”

            Foundations by Isaac Asimov, page 212

     One of the main themes expressed in Foundation is the stagnation of the Empire, which sees no further need to innovate or develop technologically, having already reached its zenith of power and fallen. The Empire does not move on from its belief that bigger is inherently better, so the centuries used by the Foundation to advance technologically are simply used to maintain the enormous nuclear generators and ships created long before.
     Mallow's personal force shield, powered by a nuclear generator the size "of a walnut" is representative of an enormous amount of necessity-driven development on metal-poor Terminus. It is not a great stretch of the imagination for today's society, though. Perhaps all modern society needs to accomplish this same type of feat is a similar motivation. If humanity continues guzzling irreplaceable resources, that day could be soon.
     Nevertheless, Mallow's device seems fantastical for two reasons. Firstly, we are still in an international culture that believes size is proportional to perfection. We believe that bigger is better, like the First Galactic Empire. The exceptions to this general rule are our increasingly small personal devices, like laptops and phones. Such changes hint at the difference between our mindset and the Empire's: we are still innovating. The fact that we have not fully applied the ideas of shrinking and improving to nuclear generators does not mean it is impossible. A walnut-sized nuclear generator could well be possible- we certainly have ones small enough to safely power individual homes. The second piece that makes the device seem impossible is the force field aspect. Such gadgets are preeminent tools in many works of science fiction, but have yet to be created by humanity. We are not sure of how often this has been tried.
     In conclusion, we believe that Mallow's device may well be feasible, but our knowledge of technology is not yet great enough for force fields, let alone personal force fields powered by nuclear generators. Whether we are accurate or not in this judgment can only be learned through research.

Force Fields - (Locklin, Guba, Hamilton)

“The pale continuous beam impinged upon the force field that surrounded the mayor of Terminus and was sucked harmlessly to neutralization. Wienis pressed harder and laughed tearingly. Hardin still smiled and his force-field aura scarcely brightened as it absorbed the energies of the nuclear blast. From his corner Leopold covered his eyes and moaned” (Asimov 135).

We chose to research the idea of a force field because in the chance that these force fields once become realistic, they would be a very demanded technology, not only for war, but for the protection of our planet. The possibilities are endless regarding the uses a force field could supply. Is the force field a feasible technology? We are not quite sure. At this point in time, a force field does not seem to be possible. But, on the other hand, our planet is surrounded by some sort of “force field” that protects us from harmful rays that the sun produces. After researching a bit more, hopefully the answer as to the feasibility will become known.

Force Fields-Hai Alvarez-Millard, Mary Kurenkov, Hope Doyon

Force Fields

Foundation "..and a shield that could take a Q-beam without working up a radiation" (pg 99)

Not sure if it’s feasible or not but it could be used in war. If we could create force fields though, I think it would be extremely hard. Millions of particles of atoms would somehow need to come together and protect a person. The most effective force field to protect the body would need to be like in Foundation, it would need to be thin enough to allow for movement but still be able to protect the body. I guess that force fields might be possible to create but as far as creating one large enough to protect a person or even a city, would take a very long time. Using something like a magnetic force field is one type but because they are magnetic they both attract and repel which would not make for a good force field. 

Wormholes

Wormholes are hypothetically existent objects in space. Their existence is disputed by some, although I think that they do. Assuming wormholes exist, they could hypothetically be used to travel backwards or forwards in time. This would really solve many mysteries about history. However, people would likely pose the question: Is it really wise to intrude on people from future or past? Wormholes are among the least explored topics in science or fiction. So that's why I picked this: get this enigma some fame!
-Jeff

Gravity Gun (Physics Gun) Wilson Shie, Brian Reip,, Vitor Aguiar

"The Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator is not a toy, Alyx!"

―Judith Mossman speaking to Alyx

       The Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator is also known as the gravity gun in Half-Life 2. The gun has two uses. The first use is to punt object to clear out barriers or moving heavy objects. It is also used to pick up lighter objects in front of the gun with a tractor beam. However, the gun cannot affect organic materials but there are a few exceptions, such as Combine soldiers. This gun is a powerful weapon due to its two uses. Even though, the gravity gun uses physics objects for ammunition; the objects are still affected by gravity. The gun has to be reloaded after every shot fired.

The Mirror of Erised -Nick Tyndall, Emilia Soeltz and Julia Sheehan

Albus Dumbledore: "Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"

Harry Potter:"It shows us what we want... whatever we want..."

Albus Dumbledore: "Yes and no. It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible”.

-Albus Dumbledore explains to Harry Potter what the Mirror of Erised does.

The Mirror of Erised comes from the Harry Potter series. The mirror shows the person using it whatever it is that they want most in the world. “Erised” spelled backwards is “desire”. The Mirror of Erised does not seem like a feasible kind of technology because you wouldn’t achieve anything important with it. If a Mirror of Erised existed in real life, it could be used for people who are having trouble with their future or career path. People who are unsure about what they want to do as an adult could see what truly makes them happy  and then pick a career based on what they see in the mirror. As of today, there isn’t any sort of technology similar to the Mirror of Erised.

P6 Group 1-- Hovercars

"The taxi lifted straight up. Gaal stared out the curved, transparent window, marvelling at the sensation of airflight within an enclosed structure...the vastness contracted and the people became ants in random distribution." (Asimov 9)

We chose to examine the viability of a hovercar. It has been a staple in sci-fi novels seemingly the moment the genre was conceived. They promise to be fuel-efficient, free up roadway congestion, easier to maneuver, and really cool to look at. In theory, hovercars are pretty feasible to make. If you slap a magnet on the bottom of the car, you can be repelled from the metals in the Earth, allowing you to float. However, this appears to be rather unstable, as the hovercar would have issues with staying in its correct orientation and not toppling over. Furthermore, we do not know if the cars will be cost-efficient or will be any better than our current ground vehicles.