Re: Science-based fiction

On 6/29/2025 11:13 AM, Paul S Person wrote:

On Sat, 28 Jun 2025 21:09:23 GMT, Crryptoengineer
<user3070@newsgrouper.org.invalid> wrote:
 

>
ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) posted:
>

   The seventh story was basically straight-up science fiction
   - like, real science-based fiction. The story came out in
   2017, but it takes place in the "future," meaning the first
   half of 2025, and it wraps up on June 10, 2025!
>
   It follows this doctor who's running a drug trial with hockey
   players dealing with brain injuries from the sport.
>
   There's nothing you'd call classic sci-fi here - no aliens, no wild
   side effects from the drug (so, no zombies or anything like that).
   Honestly, there weren't any big twists in this one, unless I missed
   something. You could say it kind of lets down anyone looking for
   the usual genre stuff, but it does give you a slice of how medical
   research actually goes down. If it weren't told from the doctor's
   point of view, it could almost be a feature in a newspaper.
>
>

"The Martian" is also in this sub genre. Nothing seems unscientific, but
when you start to check the numbers, it has problems. The strength of the Martian
wind is too high at the start, and the energy numbers for his potato farm don't work,
he has far too few solar panels.

 But is that because they botched the math or because the film's budget
wouldn't support more of them? Even as painted plywood?
 Isn't that the one where they skip the checklist for a rescue ship,
figuring that there is only 1 chance in 6 of it exploding, and, as
required by movie-story custom, it explodes?
 Here's a hint for filmmakers: it aint a suprise if you forshadow it
enough. Particularly if the entire sequence lasts, say, five minutes.

The solar panel error was in the book.
I can't remember the exact numbers, but potatoes need lots of light, but
the Martian sun is 1/4 the strength on Earth, solar panels are not more
than 25% efficient, and there are losses at each conversion stage.
It just didn't work out.
pt