Popular Physicist Talks Science in Mass Effect 2

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Popular Physicist Talks Science in Mass Effect 2

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The science in Mass Effect 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-2-Xbox-360/dp/B001TORSII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1278963419&sr=1-1] isn't entirely beyond the realm of the possible, according to theoretical physicist and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku, but don't expect humanity to be criss-crossing the stars anytime soon.

Mass Effect 2 is a rollicking adventure across the stars, but just how solid is the sci in the fi? Dr. Michio Kaku, a "famed futurist, physicist, bestselling author and radio & television personality" (so says his GameTrailers [http://mkaku.org/] to talk about some of the theories behind the science in BioWare's futuristic galaxy and while most of it goes way over my head, he does a pretty good job of making it sound not entirely implausible.

Topics of discussion range from the practicality of personal cloaking devices, which Kaku says may be only a few decades off, to the composition of the universe itself, which is a bit more complicated. Fortunately, the good doctor is quite adept at tailoring his explanations to the non-string theorists in the crowd, although dumbing down concepts that are already highly theoretical does have the result of leaving things just a wee bit on the vague side.

Consider: "It may be possible to harness something called negative matter. Negative matter is perhaps the dilithium crystals of Dune [http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Sequels-DVD/b/ref=sr_tc_2_0?ie=UTF8&node=265164&qid=1278963472&sr=1-2-tc] series. It allows us to open gateways through the fabric of space and time," he explains at one point. "Einstein's equations have a loophole. When you put negative matter into Einstein's equations, then space and time curl up into knots. Time wraps up into a pretzel. So it may be possible to build gateways. We're not sure how stable these gateways would be, but perhaps negative matter is the 'mass effect.'"

Hey, it makes sense when he says it. But don't expect any of these advances to arrive in time to do you any good: According to Kaku, the ability to actually roam the stars is still centuries away.


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thenumberthirteen

Unlucky for some
Dec 19, 2007
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Michio Kaku is brilliant. I'm glad that people like him are actually embracing science fiction in science. There are those who think that Sci-Fi gives the wrong impression of science, and it too much like fantasy. I believe that it is a perfect way to inspire. Where would we be without Star Trek?

On the other hand we do end up with films like Armageddon and The Core.
 

microhive

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Mar 27, 2009
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He's a brilliant scientist who is on pair with Neil deGrasse Tyson. Been following him for some years now.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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So what've we had so far in the recent days? Invisibility Cloaks, Gundams with 'active' weaponry, tank force fields, and now actual theoretical FTL travel? Awesome.
 

Cowabungaa

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Feb 10, 2008
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By the heavens I hate Dr. Michio Kaku. He's a brilliant scientist, that's for sure and I love the fact that he looks ahead and all that, but gods I just can't stand the way he talks and explains things. It's just so...overdone.

Ignoring his incredibly annoying voice, I absolutely love what he actually says and it makes me love science and science fiction even more.
Amnestic said:
So what've we had so far in the recent days? Invisibility Cloaks, Gundams with 'active' weaponry, tank force fields, and now actual theoretical FTL travel? Awesome.
You'd be surprised what Wikipedia already has to say about theoretical FTL travel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light], it even has a whole page about the friggin' Star Trek warp drive [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive], heck NASA itself [http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/] is already researching FTL travel.
 

Captain Pancake

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May 20, 2009
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I was so thrilled by this, until he said it was over 2oo years away. Then I was depressed...

Why did I have to be born in this century? I really wish I could see that sort of technology. No doubt if I was born in the future, I wouldn't appreciate that advanced technology.
 

Kollega

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Jun 5, 2009
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Of course Einstein's equations have a loophole. Everything does.

Now if you excuse me, i have to remove my brain from my body and put it in a jar so i can live for 200 years and travel to other systems and explore other planets and... gee, that sounds just like the plot of Cortex Command, now dosen't it.
 

Sedweiler

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Dec 5, 2009
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This is why I would love to live couple of centuries, so that I could witness the progress and finally the cool results like these.

*chomps down greasy cheeseburger*
 

ThreeKneeNick

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Aug 4, 2009
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The man is awesome, however when such a person as he or a futurist or other scientists talk with such enthusiasm about the future, i cant help but thinking they are overly optimistic and maybe 'augmenting' facts of today's science just to make it a little more sensational and fun for us to listen. But, it does not matter, it's not like we are scientists ourselves, its all for fun anyway. Great video.
 

Kollega

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Jun 5, 2009
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CanadianElite said:
A spacecraft travels to the edge of the solar system, equiped with an untested theoritical drive designed for interstellar travel. They turn it on; and it rips a hole in space time a parsec wide.
And that, my friend, sounds like a plot of Event Horizon.

Cortex Command FTW. Just wish they didn't make a huge troll their main forum moderator. Stupid Grif.
I don't care for the forums, i just play the game.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Sedweiler said:
This is why I would love to live couple of centuries, so that I could witness the progress and finally the cool results like these.

*chomps down greasy cheeseburger*
Aye! Imagine in like 200 years where we might be! I would love to be around to just see what we can accomplish!
 

lleihsad

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Apr 9, 2009
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As odd as his response to the concept of biotics (which, really, is "psionics" with another name and maybe a few extra limitaions), it certainly meshes with the in-game representation - biotic users require implanted computers and amplifiers to have any real power in ME's world.

It also does seem that ME biotics are limited to purely telekinetic manipulation of the physical world. The Asari seem to have access to the more esoteric precognitive and telepathic stuff, but they're inscrutably mystical by design. Whenever the in-game database talks about them, it tends to just shrug and offer a few hypotheses.

Every scientific mystery solved opens up new ones, and I rather like how the game reflects that.
 

Eleima

Keeper of the GWJ Holocron
Feb 21, 2010
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Too bad we may not see this stuff in our lifetime, but... damn it, that would be sooo awesome! :)
It's interesting to see science taking an interest in what fiction came up with.
 

Rhayn

Free of All Weakness
Jul 8, 2008
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This is why I love Mass Effect. I'd seriously like to know how much research on BioWares part has gone into the various concepts of the game.

I've been "studying" the whole dextro/levo-aminoacid thing they have going on in ME for a while now, too. It's funny, I wasn't even remotley interested in chirality at all before I started to look into turians and quarians. Now that my biochemistry and organic chemistry lectures both have gone into it, I find myself captivated by the subject. I guess having an example closer to home really helps. I've learned so much, even though most of what I've learned seems to contest what ME said.

I never figured games could give that manner of inspiration though.