Random Thoughts

[kkt]

I think the Earth rotation thing shouldn't be an issue when teleporting due to gravity. Another thing would be teleporting anywhere else in the Universe.

How come nobody in Science Fiction movies pertaining to time travel factors the differing position of Earth at different points in time?  The rotation of the Earth around the galactic core alone is enough to cause major problems even before you get into things like Universal Expansion.

Storytelling, not an interesting part of the story.  Just assume that some of the buttons on that big transporter console allow Chief O'Brien to compensate for direction of movement and rotation.

[dlsterner]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

[Max Rockatansky]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Because some people are sadists and insist certain toppings can't go on pizza (example: pineapple).

[Big John]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Five Guys boasts that though they are no different than other burger places in that regard.  But their prices assume you are getting everything.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Because some people are sadists and insist certain toppings can't go on pizza (example: pineapple olives).

Fixed that for you.

[Max Rockatansky]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Because some people are sadists and insist certain toppings can't go on pizza (example: pineapple olives).

Fixed that for you.

I'm the heathen type who has had both pineapple and olives on their pizza.

[Scott5114]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Because, unlike pizzas, hamburger toppings are cheap as hell. Lettuce, tomato slices, and a dab of mustard or mayo really only costs a few cents. It's easier to just price that into the burger than to itemize that on the receipt. Whereas pepperoni or sausage is more expensive.

[formulanone]

Five Guys boasts that though they are no different than other burger places in that regard.  But their prices assume you are getting everything.

I order it "All the way, No Shrooms".

It's pretty good with A1 Sauce but I usually forget it.

[jeffandnicole]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Five Guys boasts that though they are no different than other burger places in that regard.  But their prices assume you are getting everything.

Same with the extra fries.  They could charge $4.00 for large fries, but instead charge $5.50 for medium fries and give you "extra" fries at the bottom of the bag, and the fan kingdom goes wild with their bonus treat.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Why do pizza parlors charge extra for each extra ingredient added to your pizza, but hamburger joints allow as many toppings^* as you want for no charge?

(^* excluding "premium" toppings like cheese, bacon, and the like)

Five Guys boasts that though they are no different than other burger places in that regard.  But their prices assume you are getting everything.

Same with the extra fries.  They could charge $4.00 for large fries, but instead charge $5.50 for medium fries and give you "extra" fries at the bottom of the bag, and the fan kingdom goes wild with their bonus treat.

When I was a slave to the clown back in 2005, I *always* gave out old(er) fries free. You'd get whatever you ordered fresh, and a bunch of bonus fries free. It beat wasting them, and we still recorded them properly. Mcdonald's throws away a truly alarming amount of potatoes, so I'd just as soon someone eat them.

[kurumi]

Star Wars uses lightsabers intensively but kind of takes them for granted*.

Why not use armor that's built from 200 lightsabers, like a porcupine? Perhaps it would be too expensive.

Can a saber be longer, like 10 meters? The light seems to be tightly attenuated at the "tip", but regular light intensity instead decreases (inverse square). Would a longer saber mean shorter time between charges? It would be an advantage in battle.

How long does it take to recharge?

How much does the "light" part of it weigh? A real sword has plenty of mass and inertia, which affects how it moves. The beams can't pass through each other, which implies some sort of mass (heavy photons etc.) or energy field

Can a saber be infrared or UV? If your opponent can't see where it is, that's an advantage to you. (However, with a UV saber, all the stormtrooper uniforms would glow.)

If you leave a lightsaber on and stick it in the sand, will it stay up?

Does the Space British Museum have a big gallery of lightsabers from all over the galaxy?

* I haven't watch a lot of SW stuff, including all the Clone Wars and other cartoons, so I may be missing something.

[J N Winkler]

Star Wars uses lightsabers intensively but kind of takes them for granted*.

Many of the specific points you bring up have occurred to me.  I won't pretend my answers are canon . . .

Why not use armor that's built from 200 lightsabers, like a porcupine? Perhaps it would be too expensive.

With any type of armor, there is inevitably a tradeoff between close protection and mobility.  Spikes made out of the same combination of matter and energy as a lightsaber blade (see below) will not defend against stabbing attacks.  From a storytelling point of view, lightsabers are fundamentally an elite weapon and, as such, must be reserved for duels among knight analogues rather than mass attacks involving "people who can't shoot what they're aiming at."  It is also crucial that Jedis, whose homespun outfits denote their status as underdogs/hidden warriors, demonstrate skill by leaping balletically out of the way of killing cuts and thrusts instead of depending on armor to block them.

Can a saber be longer, like 10 meters? The light seems to be tightly attenuated at the "tip", but regular light intensity instead decreases (inverse square). Would a longer saber mean shorter time between charges? It would be an advantage in battle.

Saber length can vary somewhat (I think blade length is shorter for the double-bladed sabers used by antagonists in the later films).  A very long blade would be advantageous in the open but crippling in close quarters.  Presumably the tradeoff is calculated in advance since there do not appear to be lightsabers with blades of adjustable length.

How long does it take to recharge?

They are refuelled (with hydrogen for fusion) rather than recharged, and the time required is purely nominal.  (The Star Wars universe has compact fusion reactors.)

How much does the "light" part of it weigh? A real sword has plenty of mass and inertia, which affects how it moves. The beams can't pass through each other, which implies some sort of mass (heavy photons etc.) or energy field

I suspect they are quite light, which tends to imply an energy field.  I further suspect that the visible light represents only a small fraction of the energy involved and functions more as an indicator of allegiance (blue/green = light side of the Force; red = dark side), similar to the flags flown by ships engaged in a naval battle.

Can a saber be infrared or UV? If your opponent can't see where it is, that's an advantage to you. (However, with a UV saber, all the stormtrooper uniforms would glow.)

A properly trained fighter (in either the Sith or Jedi disciplines) should be able to sense the position of an opponent's blade in real time even if it does not use visible light.  The people who lose out, therefore, are film audiences.  (I don't think it has ever been established that stormtrooper armor fluoresces in UV.)

If you leave a lightsaber on and stick it in the sand, will it stay up?

The external envelope can be fabricated to give it that capability.  In some contexts this can be useful; in others it can be fatal.  (Related question, which I don't think the films have ever addressed:  what happens when the blade of a lightsaber has longer than glancing contact with solid matter?  Does it always transfer enough heat to melt metal, or is this controlled in some way by the user?)

Does the Space British Museum have a big gallery of lightsabers from all over the galaxy?

Sort of.  When the Jedi Temple was still a going concern, tourists to Coruscant could arrange for a guided tour of the Hall of Luminous Weapons.  But this was by appointment only, applied for through your senator.

* I haven't watch a lot of SW stuff, including all the Clone Wars and other cartoons, so I may be missing something.

I'm largely limited to the nine main series movies and a couple of the anthology films.  As I don't subscribe to any streaming services, I probably won't see The Mandalorian unless and until there is a release on physical media.

[CoreySamson]

As a Star Wars nerd, I feel that I can help answer some of these questions...

Star Wars uses lightsabers intensively but kind of takes them for granted*.

Many of the specific points you bring up have occurred to me.  I won't pretend my answers are canon . . .

Can a saber be longer, like 10 meters? The light seems to be tightly attenuated at the "tip", but regular light intensity instead decreases (inverse square). Would a longer saber mean shorter time between charges? It would be an advantage in battle.

Saber length can vary somewhat (I think blade length is shorter for the double-bladed sabers used by antagonists in the later films).  A very long blade would be advantageous in the open but crippling in close quarters.  Presumably the tradeoff is calculated in advance since there do not appear to be lightsabers with blades of adjustable length.

I believe that most lightsabers have the capability of adjustable lengths in Star Wars canon, but there are limits to how big or small you can adjust your saber, and the reason we don't notice it much at all, I suspect, is that lightsaber wielders usually pick a length and stick with it. There are also a large variety of sizes in lightsabers. They range from dagger-size all the way up to what are known as "light-clubs" (which are bigger and made for bigger creatures to wield). I'm not aware of any energy or charging disadvantages.

How much does the "light" part of it weigh? A real sword has plenty of mass and inertia, which affects how it moves. The beams can't pass through each other, which implies some sort of mass (heavy photons etc.) or energy field

I suspect they are quite light, which tends to imply an energy field.  I further suspect that the visible light represents only a small fraction of the energy involved and functions more as an indicator of allegiance (blue/green = light side of the Force; red = dark side), similar to the flags flown by ships engaged in a naval battle.

Lightsabers definitely have some sort of weight. In some of the shows, characters new to fighting with lightsabers tend to have struggles wielding them for the first time, as they can be heavy, particularly the Darksaber (which is a rabbit hole in its own right. How does black glow?). Apparently the weight can at least be mostly mitigated by feeling the Force through your saber.

And there is actually an interesting explanation as to why lightsabers have their different colors. Kyber crystals (which give lightsabers their power) are the same color as the blade. Natural kyber crystals are usually "good" colors (green, blue, purple, yellow). Red kyber crystals (what the bad guys use), however, are synthetic, and produce their red color by "bleeding" them with the Force. If healed, they turn white.

[kkt]

I'm not a gigantic star wars fan.  But I thought the light sabers channeled the psychic strength of the wielder.  If there's no one wielding the light saber, it does nothing.  So making a ship's armor out of light sabers wouldn't work.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I'm not a gigantic star wars fan.  But I thought the light sabers channeled the psychic strength of the wielder.  If there's no one wielding the light saber, it does nothing.  So making a ship's armor out of light sabers wouldn't work.

There are a few rare examples of non-Jedi (generally briefly) using lightsabers (Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back, General Grievous in III, and Finn in VII)

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm not a gigantic star wars fan.  But I thought the light sabers channeled the psychic strength of the wielder.  If there's no one wielding the light saber, it does nothing.  So making a ship's armor out of light sabers wouldn't work.

There are a few rare examples of non-Jedi (generally briefly) using lightsabers (Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back, General Grievous in III, and Finn in VII)

Din Djarin and Moff Gideon in the Mandolorian with the Dark Saber come to mind.  There is a whole thing where Din Djarin is pretty much explicitly told in by the Armorer in The Book of Boba Fett that his ability to use the Dark Saber comes down to how clear his mind is.  As far as has been illustrated so far, Din Djarin isn't a Force user.

[kirbykart]

Why is red cabbage purple?
Technically doesn't anyone that owns property own all the way up to the edge of the universe in a wedge that progressively gets a bit wider?

[J N Winkler]

Why is red cabbage purple?

Anthocyanins--the same things that give red onions their purplish color.  (Why the term red is applied to vegetables with this pigmentation is an interesting etymological question; however, the Wikipedia article on red onions notes that an Italian variety, cipolla rossa di Tropea--"red onion of Tropea"--has a protected designation of origin.)

Technically doesn't anyone that owns property own all the way up to the edge of the universe in a wedge that progressively gets a bit wider?

The old rule under English common law was "to the skies" (up to the universe was not contemplated in medieval times).  This has not survived the aviation age without modification:  for example, pilots do not have to pay you to overfly your property, and you are liable for damages if you shoot down a drone hovering over your house.  Michael Heller and James Salzman's Mine! (dealing with the legal bases for various types of ownership right) actually dedicates a chapter to this issue.

[formulanone]

Why is red cabbage purple?

Anthocyanins--the same things that give red onions their purplish color.  (Why the term red is applied to vegetables with this pigmentation is an interesting etymological question; however, the Wikipedia article on red onions notes that an Italian variety, cipolla rossa di Tropea--"red onion of Tropea"--has a protected designation of origin.)

I call this the dumbing down of color; we have a whole color wheel yet society uses about 6-8 colors to describe everything.

"Red hair" is mostly orange, for example.

[ethanhopkin14]

Why is red cabbage purple?

Anthocyanins--the same things that give red onions their purplish color.  (Why the term red is applied to vegetables with this pigmentation is an interesting etymological question; however, the Wikipedia article on red onions notes that an Italian variety, cipolla rossa di Tropea--"red onion of Tropea"--has a protected designation of origin.)

I call this the dumbing down of color; we have a whole color wheel yet society uses about 6-8 colors to describe everything.

"Red hair" is mostly orange, for example.

Black and White TV is actually shades of grey
Grey haired old people are said to have blue hair
red rocks are more of an orange
tree bark is thought to be brown when it is actually more grey
I am not going to touch skin color...moving on.

[Scott5114]

"Red hair" is mostly orange, for example.

And the color of dogs' fur will be listed as "red" on their paperwork, when really it's brown.

[ethanhopkin14]

"Red hair" is mostly orange, for example.

And the color of dogs' fur will be listed as "red" on their paperwork, when really it's brown.

Except my dog is registered as "chocolate".

[hotdogPi]

A dedicated politics thread that's 1v1 Crash_It (D) vs. HighwayStar (R). (Neither user is banned right now.) Other people can't join the debate, since it's 1v1; they can post, but only in a way that a moderator would in a live debate.

[Max Rockatansky]

A dedicated politics thread that's 1v1 Crash_It (D) vs. HighwayStar (R). (Neither user is banned right now.) Other people can't join the debate, since it's 1v1; they can post, but only in a way that a moderator would in a live debate.

That got proposed a couple times in the Illinois Is Flat 2.0 thread before Cra_sHit started talking about macking on 19 year Wisconsin girls and got it locked.

[Takumi]

"Red hair" is mostly orange, for example.

And the color of dogs' fur will be listed as "red" on their paperwork, when really it's brown.

Or "blue"  for dark grey.