The RDA can't do physics

[Clarke]

There appears to have been a massive communication failure somewhere, so after responding generally to your post, I'm going to lay out my actual argument about what the RDA are doing wrong. ...And writing this post took to long, so I'll do it tommorow.

Originally Posted by Human No More

Yet possible (and, hence the 'slowly').

No, and I have the maths to prove it.

it does not necessarily work in terms of what exists on Earth today, but this is 146 years in the future.

See later. Also, you do a lot of modern-day comparisons yourself later on.

Yes, a thread you made on an Avatar forum, about how much you hate Avatar.

"It does things wrong" != hating it. It's a very nice film indeed, but it could be better.

The OP was about the amount of fuel required, which is not physically imspossible by any means, yet you still decided to call it 'RDA can't do physics'...

Doing it for profit is the bit that RDA can't do, as I'll explain later.

It's bad writing, simply because non-Earth physics ARE explainable.

Of course non-Earth physics are explainable, but in the case of Dr Who, an explanation would defeat the point, and change the tone of the work. The "science" of Who is a case of Remember, it's a show, I should really just relax, to quote MST3K.

Actually, it doesn't. Tsaheylu is a neural connection.

"From a theorectical standpoint..."

...because that would have gone down so well with the Na'vi, right?

Historically, completely unrecognisable things tended to generate fear.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS.

Calm down, I did not understand you meant the manufacturing process. And the answer is 140 years of Moore's Law.

I guess you probably believe humans are special and can work ridiculous amounts thanks to your hating Avatar...

To use an appropriate meme, automate ALL the things! And have one of the few humans be the authority! You don't ship someone there specifically to lead, that'd be a tremoundous waste! ...And before you ask about how you automate stuff before Hell's Gate is constructed, you do it from the Venture Star.

They may be stupid, but they follow orders (the corruption higher up was a separate issue which would have, if anything, been worse without humans below).

Robots do everything you've just listed faster, more accurately, and more controllably than humans. This is simply because they've been built to that specific purpose. They do not have any of the failing of humans, either, such as impulses, emotions, or ability to panic.

Anyway, energy weapons don't even exist in widely used forms ON EARTH

That'd be pretty surprising, since we've nearly developed them in 2011. See a couple of paragraphs down about this.

Also, it only uses very little power if you're operating it in a completely ionised environment.

Which is what the "laser" bit is for. Also, let's keep the physics terms straight: the energy required is relatively constant and possibly quite large, but the power is small because you only have to maintain the ion corridor for a millisecond to get the current through it.

Until that post, you WERE talking about lasers.

Electromagnetism-based weapons, then. They're the same for the relavent property of being affected by EMPs.

Indeed,they may well have been specifically licenses to use what they need for personal security on Pandora (and not launching an invasion) as part of their contract.

I'm lost now. Are electromagnetic weapons just developed then, have been developed for some time, or were never in mainstream use? (In which case, what were EMP weapons for?)

Yes, but it's a crap aeroplane, and that's the point.

No, the point is that we have 100 years of manufacturing technology over the Wright Brothers.

The simple fact that a weapon has been around for n years does not mean that the very pinnacle of its development is going to be available...

The fact that a given design has been around many decades most likely means that people with astronomical energy budgets could build it.

Not in an area of effect that can take out an entire group.

I fail to understand what you are talking about. Either, the EMP goes off inside the aircraft, which ideally destroys everything in it, and nothing else, or it goes off outside, and does not affect the aircraft. Faraday cages work both ways.

"Energy effectively is infinite"?

...in the context of operations on Pandora.

while tried and tested weapons that are easily available, and are far less of advanced military hardware, are ALSO available.

...And less effective, I am led to believe. Apparently, an angtsik is bulletproof against small-calibre kinetic weapons. Energy weapons have no such problem.

...and they do that as far as is actually possible. Again, I suggest you close Wikipedia and actually watch Avatar.

What are the mechs for, then?

Humans are far more likely to be able to actually have proper dialogue with them.

Why not skip humans and go with Avatars? That's what they're for, after all.

It's all Selfridge is there for. That doesn't mean his sentiment is shared.

We don't see any of Selfridge's bosses apart from Quaritch in the film.

Tell NASA, CERN or any large research university you have a guaranteed way of finding one

(Of course they will, I have a theory of quantum gravity. )
In this context I know one exists, I want to find out what it is.

Only if someone goes there, which completely defeats the point of making it without going there.

A probe's data will do for that, though. I'm assuming we have data from the probe, otherwise we wouldn't know about unobtanium.

Originally Posted by Human No More

'Ideal' materials have been speculated on for centuries.

What do you mean by "ideal" materials? Because there's the classic Unobtanium, which is a material of a non-existent tensile strength, resistance, density, whatever, but we can't say anything else about that, other than it has the property we need, because it can't exist. Obviously, this plan involves calculating the properties of substances that can exist, probably by working upwards from atomic arrangements.

I assume you completely neglected to take non-personal energy use into account then

The statistic is "energy consumption per capita," thank you.

Depends on your process. As you said earlier in the quoted post, "Energy effectively is infinite".

You'll have to elaborate. Fusion is a well-understood process, and it doesn't produce nearly enough energy.

It also increases albedo, and Mars is a LOT colder than Earth to begin with

We also just dumped a huge amount of heat into the soil, what with the fairly large explosion the impact produced. Anyway, this is an engineering problem the RDA can face when they decide this is a good idea. AFAIK, we don't have the time or knowledge to go into it here.

Comets also have HUGE amounts of energy, and directing one accurately would be easily as significant as reaching another star system.

Which is why you don't try and turn it towards Mars, War of the Worlds style. You just shift it in the gravity well so that it ends up on a collision course with Mars, which takes far, far less energy.

You used to claim it was physically impossible, but I see how that position has been abandoned.

It may still be physically impossible, but neither of us have the engineering ability to know that, so I'm giving the benefit of the doubt.

...and you know more than has ever been released about the composition of their structure?

This applies to all materials and to all structures. (Except when you get into mega-engineering, but you're not about to tell me that Hometree is made of carbon nanotubes. )

Think of it like your precious doctor who: It exists. Technically, it's possible.

IMO, you've missed the point if you think Who's "science" reflects reality in any way, shape or form. The e.g. TARDIS cannot exist in this universe, and only the weakest of facades is made to suggest it could.

Actually, it isn't. If it was based on a simple dipole magnet, then yes, it would be. If you are going to so religiously believe that it won't support the mountain, then surely the uses in maglev systems on Earth wouldn't either.

What is it going to be based on, if not the Meisner effect as generated by Pandora's magnetic field?
(Also, you'd be a wonderful mathematician. What's six orders of magnitude between friends? )

Also, beside the point, Pandora's magnetic field varies a LOT locally.

...This should also be impossible. The core should be pretty isotropic in all directions.

You complain about how there weren't things you wanted to see, and decide that something that is not possible with what is currently on Earth is 'inconsistent' despite it working EXACTLY THE SAME WAY throughout the entire film

.
We could discuss only the film, rather than the expanded canon, but I don't think that's what you mean.

You then go on about how great Dr Who is because it does the same thing and to a far greater extent.

...in a different context and tone. Moffat and Cameron are trying to convey different things, and so the audience has different expectations.