sci-fi nerd style red dwarf thred – beware!

[mick]

Ok so…

It’s pretty much accepted that Red Dwarf’s engines (we’re talking non-remastered series one to VI Red Dwarf) are powered by a Bussard Ramjet, which using the ram scoop at the front of the ship “compress’ hydrogen from the interstellar medium and fuses it. This mass would then form the exhaust of a rocket to accelerate the ramjet.”

Ok, fine, cool…

The ‘Diesel Decks’ where Rimmer holidays are obviously used as the ships main producer of electical power.

Great, awesome…

But then, this ship wide radiation leak of “Cadmium II” seems a little odd, it’s a safe bet that Cadmium II was in reference to some liquid or gas form of Cadmium, and the fact that it’s radioactive to the point it can cause ship wide contamination over 30 square miles and many decks, suggests that it forms part of an essential ship wide system.

Now before you say anything, this theoretical argument is for a piece of fan-fic im trying to complete…

It’s not for propulsion, power, and I doubt any radioactive material would be used for life support systems…

So, in your oppinion (or indeed imagination) what on earth is this “Cadmium II” based system on Red Dwarf used for?

Topic

[TheLeen]

Maybe for doing something physical or chemical with the stuff (whatever it is) that the ship mines?

[mick]

I had considered that, but then there would be no reason that the substance would be present throughout the ship, and any leak could surely just be contained in the mining/refinary areas…

[Steve Harris]

Just a thought, but a ship over 30 square miles in size would take some shifting.

Clearly, diesel power would be of little use, engine wise…

Once under way, hydrogen extracted from space debris could well power the engines in theory. This however would require huge ammounts of material which could take a while to amass…

The cadmium therefore could be explained away as a launching fuel, not that I’ve ever given much thought to this before…

[John Hoare]

Maybe it’s a backup system, to keep propulsion in case there’s a problem with the ram scoop?

[mick]

Ah!!!

Right I think I have an explanation, Red Dwarf’s main thruster is powered by a Bussard Ramjet, but…

How the hell does it turn?!

I am therefore in my fan-fic assigning Cadmium II as a fuel for Red Dwarf’s maneuvering thusters!

Maneuvering thusters would be quite small, and all over the hull of the ship in subtle possitions, so the fuel would be routed throughout the ship and a leak could very well happen in a sensitive part of the ship, crippling it’s emergency procedures.

…god I need to get out more.

[Phil]

I have a slightly used Pringles can you may be interested in.

[thomasaevans]

1.57am – Why is there Cadmium II on Red Dwarf???
1.58am – Why the fuck am I still awake thinking about this?
1.59am – Snoooooore…

(Truth be told…interesting discussion though :D)

[John Hoare]

At uni I once pissed in a Pringles tube and stuck it in my cupboard, because I couldn’t be arsed going to the toilet.

Unfortunately, my housemates found it when I was out.

[pfm]

> At uni I once pissed in a Pringles tube and stuck it in my cupboard, because I couldn?t be arsed going to the toilet.

What flavour? Paprika? Sour Cream & Onion?

[Baz]

Weeellll… Cadmium II is presumably the ionic form of Cadmiun (Cd2+). Cadmium itself is used as a barrier to nuclear fission (not fusion). It’s also one of Godzilla’s weaknesses in “The Return of Godzilla” (1984). Thank you Wikipedia.

One could theorise that Rimmer’s actions casued a leak of Cadmium that in itelf might have been highly poisonous and radioactive but also led to a sub-criticality fisson event that caused a pulse of radiation to envelop the ship from the inside. It was used to control an early fission nuclear stage of the drives that helped to initiate fusion. Then it was presumably shut down and could be left to a lowly 2nd technician to look after it’s minimal maintenance. Water storage levels probably shielded the cats in the cargo decks.

Or you can say that’s it’s pseudo-scientific bullshit that served as a plot device.

And on the subject of Bussard ramjets, some research is suggesting that they’d be totally useless except as a brake to slow an interstellar spacecraft down.

[mick]

I know they’re useless anywhere near a sun, as there is a complete lack of any hydrogen in it’s vacinity.

But then it’s a totally theoretical form of propulsion, so we cant really ague anything either way ;)

Bussard collectors are hevilly used in Star Trek on every federation ship, so im sure there are some trekkie mumbo-jumbo out there to explain it all away.

[Baz]

On the contrary, the space near a sun is saturated with the solar wind, mainly ionised hydrogen, but also rich in helium 3 which is ideal fusion fuel. However the drag on the magnetic field of the ramscoop may be such that a spacecraft may struggle to make headway into it.

The bussard collectors on Star Trek are used to collect hydrogen to react with antimatter, so there’s a totally different order of power being generated compared to a fusion reaction.

Not that I bother to know all this stuff of course…

[mick]

“Since the time of Bussard’s original proposal, it has been discovered that the region surrounding the sun has a much lower density of interstellar hydrogen than was believed at that time. By 1978 analyses indicated that Bussard ramjets were not feasible.”

-Wikipedia on Bussard Ramjet

[Baz]

Interstellar Hydrogen. That’s beyond the heliopause, where the solar wind reaches interstellar space. The sun is actually travelling through a rather sparce region at the moment, it’s called the Local Bubble.

Look under “Local Bubble” here for an image of the local interstellar environment.

http://www4.nau.edu/meteorite/Meteorite/Book-GlossaryL.html

Best way to use a ramscoop in a solar wind is just to turn it on and use it as a magnetic sail to ride the wind rather than extract hydrogen and helium from it. Acceleration’s a bit slow mind you…

[Paul Muller]

What a clever bunch we are.

I still haven’t worked out how all ships in the series, including shuttlecraft, manage to generate Earth-like gravity. Isn’t it theoretically possible if you have a sort of ‘spinning centrifuge’ kind of principle, as used by Arthur C Clarke, but none of this would correspond with Red Dwarf so basically doesn’t all the scientific validity of the show go down the shitter more or less straight away?Correct me if I’m wrong, because to be honest, I’m confusing myself.

[Baz]

Yes. They have artificial gravity (which it is possible to generate if you spin, Babylon 5 style, but the Dwarf isn’t spinning). And a creature who evolved from the ship’s cat in 3 million years. We are not really talking scientific accuracy here, we are talking “it makes for a funny show with a few science words thrown in to make it sound good”.

RD is not a “hard” science setting, it uses science fiction concepts, but doesn’t sweat the details. And why should it, this is Red Dwarf, not Star Cops after all. All the quibbling above is just idle banter to while the time away.

Admittedly my own private fanfic tends to be more space opera with funny bits than sci-fi sitcom, and I do like to get the science right, but within reason. You get too realistic and you simply don’t get Red Dwarf.

[Paul Muller]

Absolument. Yeah I was just nitpicking. Actually I watched Star Cops the other day and was quite impressed by David Calder’s attempt to convey weightlessness by gently manouvering around his cabin in the style of a crab.

Would be interested in reading your story, fanfiction is always quite interesting to see. Did some myself a couple of years back which you can read here: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=32988123&blogID=206513632

but, y’know, don’t – because it’s shit.

[mick]

> Would be interested in reading your story.

You might have a job, its a film ;)

[Paul Muller]

You get the idea.

[Baz]

> Would be interested in reading your story

Well, like I said, it’s private. And little more than some isolated scenes in full, an overall synopsis of several episodes and a general outline of a few seasons. I have more fun writing up the background information and concepts actually, like why 1980’s technology is habitually used in a 22nd Century space ship and the history of the series 1000, 2000 and 3000 mechanoids. It hardly features the original Dwarf crew at all (they get a look in in series 4 (or 5) after the Toaster Empire storyline).

I’m trying to write it as a sitcom/space opera, even got a book on how to write sitcoms (which mentions Red Dwarf quite a lot). And an Esperanto dictionary, the styling is very much series 1 and 2 Red Dwarf. I find the Roleplaying game very useful for designing characters and basic plot outlines, acts as a framework for building the story around. Also helps that I can pick up a Blue Midget or Bazookoid and act out various scenes.

[Paul Muller]

That’s cool. I wrote mine when I was drunk.

[Author]

Replies