I've been thinking about the Zat...

[PTeppic]

This would depend on what your basic premises and assumptions are.

I believe that most people here make the assumption that they are dealing with a semi-fictional technological baseline. Many points are therefore taken as "the item works because we're told it does."

Under such an assumption, for most discussions there are no rights and wrongs, only shades of grey.

Only with insistence in applying totally realistic science and technology, or making points for the sake of proving them does the conflict arise that is being referred to.

 

[lysdexia]

You said semi-fictional. You'd think that with enough uses on the show that SGC can back-engineer the restolen technology to find how they work and make some of their own, such as Sam's naquada bomb. Don't you want the humans to defeat the Gou'ald?

 

[PTeppic]

Time and again we DO defeat different Goa'uld System Lords, with imagination, ingenuity and a huge helping of luck. Perhaps that is a big difference between ourselves and the Goa'uld - we don't necessarily rely on technology to help ourselves, but "make" our own victory?

The semi-fictional I was referring to was the extension of existing physics into not quite the future, but the territory of more advanced civilisations, such as the Goa'uld, Tollan and Asgard. Materials such as naquadah and trinium, beam weapons including staff and zats, and the even more technically extravagent stargate and ring transporter, hyper-drive engines etc.

For the majority of the discussions about these items, members of this forum have made certain assumptions, leaps of faith of you like, about "reality" when it comes to that technology. Under those conditions, as suggested above, there is plenty of room for differing "probable" theories, all of which may be possible, and very few that are "right" or "wrong". As such, most people won't actually be in a position where they are "correctable", since the absolute value of correct does not apply. This also avoids the need for each participant to be a PhD in the sciences, so long as they watch the show.

 

[Svarog]

You forget that the brain doesn't use only electrical signals to communicate inside itself, nerves send signals to the brain via these signals too.

If you shot someone then the "electical field" would disturb the nerves's signals-or perhaps intensify them-causing pain. Second shot i can't really explain other than perhaps overloading the brain's neuron system-killing the person. The third shot could be explained by the electrical field weakening the chemical bonds between the atoms that form the body. Therefore shooting someone a third time would break up all the bonds and somehow connect them with air atoms-so they look like they disappear.

Also they said zat's use a different type of energy to something, what the something is exactly i forget, but they said it... This could be electricity with some special electron bonds or a different frequency/wavelength

Also other examples of using zats

shooting electrical systems-disables them-easily explained by interfering electrical field.

Shooting fire turns it blue-no idea on this one-electrical field changes the light spectrum emitted by the fire.

 

[lysdexia]

Of course correctness applies. Most of the explications on Stargate have used terms and processes in real life. There are a few which rest on yet more implicate and intricate terms and processes, such as Thor's explanation of the hyperdrive engine working on a foreign "subatomic energy particle". But given enough participation of that technology in various scenarios, should an explication come from them it will involve RL understanding. If they don't attempt one, but only a brief explanation, then it will be traceable to RL understanding. Besides, this thread is about the interaction of the zat gun with the humanoid body. They're not going to say something weird or silly when asked.

Who ever thought a PhD was necessary? Just know enough about the subject to apply it to what you see.

Svarog, did you look at Naquada Weapon Beam 3? Which episode had the fire turning blue?

 

[Svarog]

The eppy was "1969". They got picked up by a bunch of hippies and they made a campfire. Jack made a point about them being from another world. Then he got out the zat, shot the fire and it turned blue. Well that's what i seem to remember.

I haven't looked around much, too busy with tests and all. But the holidays are just next week so i'll be able to look around a bit more.

 

[Svarog]

I just checked and in 1969 when he shot the fire it didn't turn blue, i made a mistake. Instead when he shot the fire it turned white hot. At least that's what my transcript said. I also found out that shooting a rocket can turn it off and that shooting a box once opens it, second damages it more and the third disintergrates it.