MovieChat Forums > Interstellar (2014) Discussion > questions

questions

posted 6 years ago by crc32 (2584)
9 replies | jump to latest

1. Why do radio communications beyond the worm hole still work yet it was stated that only binary pings could come back. Why is communication one way only?

2. What was the problem of gravity? The movie implies they just need gravity to keep people alive in space for a few years it seemed to me and for what ever reason simulating gravity with centripetal force wasn't enough. Then the implication is that since we can't bridge quantum physics and general relativity we can't harness gravity. This is basically saying we need to form a grand unification theory to harness mass and sets the plot requirment that they must now enter a black hole. But why whats so important about artificial gravity to the point that lack of it comdenms all of the earths population to die.

3. Who really though that living in a planet that is exposed to so much gravity that 1 hours can spread out to 7 years would be able to sustain life. You'll be crushed by the time your that close to the event horizon?

4. Also the assumption made by The doctor on the frozen planet that evolution won't allow for altruistic behavior and there for why no one even bothers to try to get the whole world involved in a solution?

5. Why can't they have sent robot probes to all the 12 to survey them rather then sending human crews on one way trips which requires even more resources for the humans and their heavy life support systems?

6. Why did the frozen planet doctor just up and conclude robots lacking a fear of death is why robots would fail. Robot AI would be mission oriented some that can't be said of the crew that are more motivated to find loved ones on certain planets.

I'm only at the 1h:51m mark.

[–] AckbartheHutt (1370) 6 years ago

3. Who really though that living in a planet that is exposed to so much gravity that 1 hours can spread out to 7 years would be able to sustain life. You'll be crushed by the time your that close to the event horizon?

I haven't seen the movie in 4 years but I don't remember that planet having extreme gravity. If there was extreme gravity then the 500 foot tidal waves wouldn't exist. I think the planet was just affected by the time dilation.

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

Whats wrong with every one. I said exposed to that much gravity not have that much gravity.

[–] AckbartheHutt (1370) 6 years ago

"exposed to so much gravity"

We do not know how much gravity there was, it was tolerable as people were able to move about freely. The "exposed to so much gravity" had no bearing on the time differential.

[–] dlancer (2036) 6 years ago

There's a lot of complicated math involved in it. But yeah, according to the methodology Kip Thorne was supposedly using when hired for the film, there were potential stable orbits that could experience time dilation.

I mean, there's really no way to know for sure what is possible when dealing with this stuff because so much of it is theoretical. I think what happens on reddit a lot of times is that people will find someone else's blog and post it, perhaps trying to make themselves look as smart or smarter than guys like Thorne, not realizing a step or two was missed.

[–] AckbartheHutt (1370) 6 years ago

Indeed, there was a lot of theoretical mumbo jumbo going on. And a movie explaining every little detail would be boring. Now that I am thinking about it. ST Voyager did an episode concerning time dilation. Its one of my favorite episodes.

Blink of an Eye (Star Trek: Voyager)

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

I mean, there's really no way to know for sure what is possible when dealing with this stuff because so much of it is theoretical. I think what happens on reddit a lot of times is that people will find someone else's blog and post it, perhaps trying to make themselves look as smart or smarter than guys like Thorne, not realizing a step or two was missed.

Look I think the movie was cute and all but we can be pretty sure that travling through so many gradients of gravity differentials such that you start and end where spacetime is curved up to the point that 1 hour stretches into 7 years you'd be torn apart by the end of your journy(Its not the endpoints but travling through the gravity differential). I liked the movie but I'm willing to ignore these little details.

I also though it would have been colorful to show that it was so bright on the planet due to 7 years of dim star light being compressed into 1 hour of daylight makes even a dark planet fairly bright. The film seems to have done this implicitly.

[–] dlancer (2036) 6 years ago

First of all, we never see the distance between the two points. One second they're on large craft, and then it cuts to them being separated right above Miller's planet. Then after they are done with the planet, it cuts to them back on the large craft. I believe it's called Endeavor.

Secondly, it originally sounded like you were saying that the gravity required to make 1 hour = 7 years would mean a tidal force capable of ripping you and the planet apart. Instead, you're suggesting that traveling through different tidal forces would rip you apart. However, since Miller's planet is in a stable orbit, that means it's outside the hypothetical Roche limit. As long as you're outside that limit, you don't have to worry about tidal forces hurting you. So all that's left is finding out if it is possible for a planet to have a stable (survivable tidal force) orbit with a time dilation of 1 hour to 7 years. That link I posted in the other thread that uses the Kerr method suggests it is possible.

It kinda sounds like a reddit vs Kip Thorne situation. Thorne's big complaint of the film's scientific accuracy wasn't related to either time dilation or tidal force. He seemed to make absolutely sure that they got it right. His complaint pretty much had everything to do with the black hole's appearance. Nolan and/or the studio decided to intensify it by making it a bright yellow and more symmetrical instead of the dull grey non-symmetrical appearance Thorne and the science community had theorized. And I believe Nolan also fudged the speed at which it rotated. I would've preferred they go the route of maximum realism instead, but it's only a mild complaint since this is still the closest a Hollywood film has come to portraying the real deal.

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

??? The exposure to gravity is the only reason there was a time dilation.

[–] AckbartheHutt (1370) 6 years ago

It was? I don't really remember. I thought you were just talking about when they were on the planet. I don't know why the gravity didn't affect them on the planet and when they were entering the atmosphere. I would have to watch the movie again.