[Theory] Space is not actually empty in the SW Galaxy...

[OddballE8 1,337]

So, something just struck me as I was watching the latest episode of Rebels...

Those creatures that were "swimming" through space, made no sense.
And, as usual, that made me shake my head and go "ugh, that makes no sense".
But then it dawned on me.

SW has alot of things about space that doesn't make sense to us.

There's sound in space. 
And ships need constant propulsion to keep their speed up. 
Ships move like airplanes, rather than spaceships.
And blaster fire from ships dissipate after a while.

So here's my theory:
The star wars galaxy is actually set in a very dense cloud of some sort of clear gas.

It's thick enough to let sound travel, provide friction on ships, dissipate energy beams and let creatures "swim" through it.

Anyway, it's just a hair-brained theory I came up with for explaining away many of the inconsistensies of star wars space travel.

[Grivenger 8]

It is possible, but I just don't think anyone should try to explain Star Wars with science. It would be trying to explain Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings.

[OddballE8 1,337]

It is possible, but I just don't think anyone should try to explain Star Wars with science. It would be trying to explain Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings.

Sure, you could go that route, but still... it's just a theory (that isn't really all that scientific anyway) explaining why their space is so much different to our space.

I'm pretty sure that scientifically speaking, a galaxy couldn't have a massive, thick, gas cloud covering it, since that would mess up planetary orbits and whatnot (due to friction).

It's just an "easy out" for some of the stuff that's raised.

[bkoran 185]

This requires what we refer to as Suspension of Disbelief. You're not supposed to question, you're just supposed to sit back and enjoy the show.

 

A lot of Star Wars doesn't make sense. But that's b/c Lucas didn't hire scientists when he started writing it. He just wrote things that sounded good. Like Han talking about "parsecs" when he says his ship is fast. Lucas wrote the word b/c it sounded like a sexy space term. It was the fans later on, who came up with the backstory of skirting black holes. Then in the newer movies, when they talked about "midichlorians" being responsible for Force powers. Seems like he couldn't remember how to spell "mitochondria", which are a real thing that lives in your cells and provides power for life functions. Even when they talk about ship sizes and power measurements, they just wrote numbers that sounded BIG.

 

- There's noise in space, b/c a vast majority of the fight scenes are space battles. And it would be boring as heck to watch a silent movie about space battles.

- Ships are constantly running their engines b/c they're often dodging fire. Again, space battles.

 

Your observations are right, b/c people often understand 2D boats better than they do 3D spaceships. That's why even on slightly more scientifically accurate shows like Star Trek, ships are often seen "right side up" to each other. And fights between the Federation and (whoever they're fighting this week) are mostly 2D battles.

 

Even some of the more popular space games like Eve Online use the exact same effects. Spaceship noises (in-game lore excuses as being simulated to aid the pilot), constant propulsion, ships floating right side up when they come to a stop, and range limits to weapons fire. It's all to help the audience grasp what's going on.

[OddballE8 1,337]

*sigh* Yeah... I get all that... I'm not a complete backbirth... 

I'm just saying that in the universe of star wars, that would be a decent explanation as to why they have sound in space and all that.

Personally I prefer depictions of space that are more accurate, but I completely get why most don't go that route.

So many things in Star Wars has been explained in different ways, that didn't need explaining in the first place because it's "just a movie".

I was just giving a theory as to why space acts the way it does in the movie.

[Princezilla 666]

Lucas did go the route you suggested when questioned about it after A New Hope but it was basically just a hand wave.

 

The root of this is that Star Wars is not and has never tried to be Science Fiction and therefore never even tried to base anything in their universe on real world physics. Its High Fantasy in space and thats why we love it. There are swords and sorcery, monsters and a multitude of races that mostly look humanish, and each entry basically begins with "Once upon a time in a far away land"

Edited February 14, 2016 by Princezilla

[redthirst 235]

I rather like this explanation - answers a lot of questions.

[DariusAPB 6,925]

It is possible, but I just don't think anyone should try to explain Star Wars with science. It would be trying to explain Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings.

 

God.

 

 

-edit: said the atheist.

 

 

Also: on parsecs: The original script called for Han to say something gibberish and technobabbly -yet wildly ridiculous in order to try and sound impressive. Not everything should be taken as gospel.

Edited February 15, 2016 by DariusAPB

[GML 124]

This last episode of Rebels did remind me of something I had issue with in the OT.  In the episode, Esra and Kanan are out in space, riding on the backs of the <space whales> with only their helmets on.  Their clothes seem like your run on the mill clothing, with nothing implying they would provide the pressure needed to keep someone alive in the vacuum of space.  Then you go back to Empire when the Falcon is in the giant space worm in the asteroid... the creature's mouth was open, so you could not make the excuse that the interior provided an atmosphere.

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

If it slows down ships and let's space squid-whales swim then it should slow down planets as well. There should not be any old worlds. They should crash into their stars after a billion years or so.

[DariusAPB 6,925]

You all know the answer stares everyone in the face every 5 mins right?

 

The Force.

 

It surrounds us. Penetrates us. Binds the galaxy together.

 

Who's to say that it's not the dark matter that allows sound, requires propulsion etc etc etc.

[Conandoodle 1,817]

This scene certainly aids your argument!

 

[bkoran 185]

Or... bear with me on this...

 

Star Wars is "science fantasy". There was no real attempt to make anything scientifically accurate. It's all for the sake of the story.

 

Which is why the game also follows that same concept. When you buy an item like a Binford 6100 Slice-o-matic Datapad, it doesn't come with d20-esque stats for "+1 to this, +2 to that, +3 if you wear a tiny hat". It just gives you a bonus die, and the story goes on.

 

The reason why Han and Leia were able to wander around outside the ship in the belly of the beast, is b/c they didn't want to dress everybody up in space suits for the 2 minute scene. Plus, it wouldn't make any sense to have Bats Mynocks flapping around in the vacuum of space. And while it doesn't make much sense for there to be atmosphere inside a space worm's belly... see above. =)

[Rogue Dakotan 5,213]

I just assume the star wars galaxy has completely different laws of physics to our own. 

 

This is also addressed by Pablo Hidalgo at 3:56 in this video when asked about time dialation due to proximity to black holes etc. 

[DariusAPB 6,925]

Counterpoint: It's not overly unrealistic that the falcon could project magnetic shields (which we know stop decompression from the death star hangar scenes) allowing a livable bubble. Supposedly that's how Rebel Pilots can eject and not instadie.

[bkoran 185]

I just assume the star wars galaxy has completely different laws of physics to our own. 

 

This is also addressed by Pablo Hidalgo at 3:56 in this video when asked about time dialation due to proximity to black holes etc. 

 

"You're getting science into our Star Wars, which is always sort of a weird thing."

[skotothalamos 3,652]

You all know the answer stares everyone in the face every 5 mins right?

 

The Force.

 

It surrounds us. Penetrates us. Binds the galaxy together.

 

Who's to say that it's not the dark matter that allows sound, requires propulsion etc etc etc.

 

Dark Matter is made up of midichlorians.

[DariusAPB 6,925]

Or rather, Minichorians allow an entity to manipulate Dark Matter. Think Biotics from Mass Effect.

[OddballE8 1,337]

If it slows down ships and let's space squid-whales swim then it should slow down planets as well. There should not be any old worlds. They should crash into their stars after a billion years or so.

 

Yeah, I believe I brought that up in my second post...

But like I said, this isn't a "scientific" explanation, just a sort of hand-wavy thing that's more substantial than just "because".

 

Or... bear with me on this...

 

Star Wars is "science fantasy". There was no real attempt to make anything scientifically accurate. It's all for the sake of the story.

 

Which is why the game also follows that same concept. When you buy an item like a Binford 6100 Slice-o-matic Datapad, it doesn't come with d20-esque stats for "+1 to this, +2 to that, +3 if you wear a tiny hat". It just gives you a bonus die, and the story goes on.

 

The reason why Han and Leia were able to wander around outside the ship in the belly of the beast, is b/c they didn't want to dress everybody up in space suits for the 2 minute scene. Plus, it wouldn't make any sense to have Bats Mynocks flapping around in the vacuum of space. And while it doesn't make much sense for there to be atmosphere inside a space worm's belly... see above. =)

Ugh, I know.

I've never said this was a scientific study of why space in Star Wars is different from ours.

I'm just saying it's a decent hand-wave explanation that has more substance (no pun intended) than just "because that's how it is".

The whole reason I even got into this line of thinking is because I play the RPG with kids. And kids ask questions.

Questions like "why do the whale-thingies swim in space, if space is empty" or "why do all the spaceships fly like airplanes, and not like they do in blablabla-scientifically-accurate-manga"...

So, since this has always been at the back of my mind since I was a kid, this is the hand-wavy explanation I came up with for my kid group.

 

Likewise, the fact that planets and stars don't grind to a halt can be explained by them being moved by the force (also explaining why some planets have moons that are so close that their atmospheres touch without the moon crashing into the planet)

Edited February 17, 2016 by OddballE8

[DariusAPB 6,925]

As a compulsive and born DM/GM. The above.

 

Everything has to be explained, rationalized and player-proofed.

[Biophysical 15,761]

If it slows down ships and let's space squid-whales swim then it should slow down planets as well. There should not be any old worlds. They should crash into their stars after a billion years or so.

What if the gasses were orbiting the star at the same speed as the planets?

[OddballE8 1,337]

 

If it slows down ships and let's space squid-whales swim then it should slow down planets as well. There should not be any old worlds. They should crash into their stars after a billion years or so.

What if the gasses were orbiting the star at the same speed as the planets?

 

 

Hmm, good question.

[Rickenbacker69 36]

Well, those space whales DID eat rocket fuel... Maybe they didn't swim so much as coasted on their own flatulence?

[GrimmyV 7,421]

It is possible, but I just don't think anyone should try to explain Star Wars with science. It would be trying to explain Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings.

 

God.

 

 

-edit: said the atheist.

 

 

Also: on parsecs: The original script called for Han to say something gibberish and technobabbly -yet wildly ridiculous in order to try and sound impressive. Not everything should be taken as gospel.

I believe it was Standard Time Parts in the Novelization, which makes a hell of a lot more sense than parsecs.

[GrimmyV 7,421]

If it slows down ships and let's space squid-whales swim then it should slow down planets as well. There should not be any old worlds. They should crash into their stars after a billion years or so.

What if the gasses were orbiting the star at the same speed as the planets?

 

Hmm, good question.

It's not a fluid or gas as we understand matter, rather like a type of energy field that that produces a gradient and causes phenomena analogous to inertia and friction. Maybe a similar concept to the Ether or Phlogiston from pre-general reltivity sci fi.