Comments on: Ask Mike: Heads in space

By: Advice

Advice — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:19:17 +0000

Star Trek checks out the science behind the show. And yes a tree does make the sound.

By: Emiri

Emiri — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:19:48 +0000

Since you are pondering such peculiar questions that aimlessly pop into your odd mind, would you mind finding out the answer to this question that goes about my brain every day?:
“If a tree falls, without anyone around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:24:43 +0000

So the scene from the Star Trek series, where they are trapped in a cargo bay with potentially explosive cargo and a plasma fire, and eject the cargo and extinguish the fire by depressurizing, is plausible.

Even down to the breathing out and about the right time to repressurize – I guess they checked the facts for that one.

By: Joel V

Joel V — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:59:57 +0000

While your eyes certainly won’t be sucked from their sockets, you forget one important detail: Radiation. Space is chock-full of radiation, which we are normally protected from by our atmosphere and ozone layer.

So, vacuum aside, you wouldn’t survive a second exposed to space, because the instant you had even the smallest tear in your space suit you would be flooded with radiation, killing every cell in your body almost immediately.

That being said, as Mars has no atmosphere, on Total Recall Arnie and his girlfriend should have died immediately, not even having time for their eyes to bulge out.

By: Regan

Regan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:05:16 +0000

People not needing helmets half the time? Taking only five minutes of space travel in most movies?

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:47:11 +0000

Does Arthur C. Clark lie? After it was Arthur that was one of the first to propose geo-synch orbits before it happened back in the 40′s. I would imagine that Arthur also had access to the Nipponese and NASA data too.

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:24:03 +0000

Everyone being sucked out a plane if the window is smashed! LIE!

By: The Mad Professor

The Mad Professor — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:17:39 +0000

The original (not more recent and far better version) Battlestar Galactica was infamous for questionable science. Probably the best example of the writer’s feeble grasp of various scientific principles was the excrable “Fire in the Sky” episode, where the landing hangers were on fire. Bypassing the entire question of how the open-to-space hangers could be burning to being with, they replaced the laser cannons of the fighers with fire extinguishers (a neat trick in itself) and then the pilots made strafing runs to try and put out the flames – completely ignoring the point that, since they were in deep space, it would have been a simple task to match speeds and fire away with no need to fire and peel off at the last second.

By: doug

doug — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:20:39 +0000

2001 is the most accurate movie of this, the book explains the science and physiology of “Space Breathing”

The gravity simulation is also explained !

By: Alvaro

Alvaro — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:30:55 +0000

Very interesting mike i guess i watch way to much sci-fi movies to amuse me about space.

Ha ha i would pretty love to see if a person head does explode in space.