# Mundane uses for sci-fi tech **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088 "2008-11-10T19:41:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/41 "2008-11-11T18:35:02Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > On the other hand, if you can make sure there **isn’t** friction, that has a lot of potential too. You could set up a really easy maglev alternative - no need to levitate if you can just slide your train through a frictionless tube. Plus, underneath the forcefield you can lay down sand or gravel or something, so in case of a power failure, the train automatically stops. It’d make one hell of a nonstick pan, too, if you could keep the generator from frying. Not to mention the security possibilities. I don’t mean throwing up containment fields; I mean making someone fleeing from pursuit slip and fall. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/42 "2008-11-11T19:16:35Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Not to mention the security possibilities. I don’t mean throwing up containment fields; I mean making someone fleeing from pursuit slip and fall. Ooh, that’s a good one - I was always bothered by security cells using power-reliant doors, but that’s actually a more practical use for a forcefield. Continuing the emergency-response idea, forcefields could also be used for emergency exits from burning buildings. You probably wouldn’t want them on-site, but if the fire department had a portable generator, you could instantly erect what would amount to giant slides, making every window an emergency exit. Not to mention the uses for quick, temporary structural shoring in burning buildings, and smoke containment. Hell, if all they did was make a smoke-free tube leading to the exit, they’d be useful. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/43 "2008-11-11T19:23:45Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Ooh, that’s a good one - I was always bothered by security cells using power-reliant doors, but that’s actually a more practical use for a forcefield. Continuing the emergency-response idea, forcefields could also be used for emergency exits from burning buildings. You probably wouldn’t want them on-site, but if the fire department had a portable generator, you could instantly erect what would amount to giant slides, making every window an emergency exit. Not to mention the uses for quick, temporary structural shoring in burning buildings, and smoke containment. Hell, if all they did was make a smoke-free tube leading to the exit, they’d be useful. I wouldn’t trust force-field projectors in a building for fire escape. If the fire’s so bad that you can’t get to elevators, the generators aren’t going to be reliable. It would be better to use the resources on containing the fire. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/44 "2008-11-11T19:28:57Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Ooh, that’s a good one - I was always bothered by security cells using power-reliant doors, but that’s actually a more practical use for a forcefield. Continuing the emergency-response idea, forcefields could also be used for emergency exits from burning buildings. You probably wouldn’t want them on-site, but if the fire department had a portable generator, you could instantly erect what would amount to giant slides, making every window an emergency exit. Not to mention the uses for quick, temporary structural shoring in burning buildings, and smoke containment. Hell, if all they did was make a smoke-free tube leading to the exit, they’d be useful. I HATE force-field doors for prison cells; they’re less reliable than steel bars, easier to defeat, and surely more expensive. A trifecta of stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/45 "2008-11-11T19:46:13Z")
Compact nuclear powerplants for things like watches and vacuum cleaners. Robot dog walkers, and robot litter box cleaners. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/46 "2008-11-11T21:08:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I wouldn’t trust force-field projectors in a building for fire escape. If the fire’s so bad that you can’t get to elevators, the generators aren’t going to be reliable. It would be better to use the resources on containing the fire. Well, that’s why I think it’d be better for them to be fire department equipment. Not so much as a replacement for fire escapes, but as a supplement for really nasty fires. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/47 "2008-11-11T21:26:18Z")
You’ll have no more botulism worries once you throw away those outdated mason jars and do your home canning with the handy household Bespin brand Carbonite Encaser! Less mundane use - no need to get a babysitter for those toddlers on mom and dad’s date night! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/48 "2008-11-11T21:41:08Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Well, that’s why I think it’d be better for them to be fire department equipment. Not so much as a replacement for fire escapes, but as a supplement for really nasty fires. Rereading your post, I see that’s exactly what you wrote. I must have been distracted by work. Stupid work. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/49 "2008-11-11T22:34:52Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Compact nuclear powerplants for things like watches and vacuum cleaners. Robot dog walkers, and robot litter box cleaners. Play Fallout 3 and shoot a beat up car for an example of why this idea might not be good. 😃 Large scale mecha (Gundams, Veritech Fighters, Hunter-Killers, AT-STs, etc.) - Industrial applications. ie: construction and such. Similarly, a few times on Babylon 5, we see the “Flying Forklift”, a civilian industrial version of the Starfury space fighter, painted in yellow and black stripes and equipped with manipulator arms instead of weaponry, along with some other differences. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/50 "2008-11-11T22:46:21Z")
In Niven’s _World Out of Time_, teleportation was so sophisticated that it could eliminate undesirable chemicals from inside the cells of your body. A more mundane use was a toilet with a self-cleaning backside-wiper. In Larry Niven’s “known space” stories, the disintegrator ray worked by suppressing the electrical charge on either the proton or the electron. The target immediately shredded itself into a cloud of monatomic gas. This would make a great garbage disposal. In _The Ringworld Engineers_, the ship refuels itself with “a filter that passes only deuterium”. Which implies filters that can distinguish element from element, and isotope from isotope. Combine that with the disintegrator, and recycling becomes easy and cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/51 "2008-11-11T23:00:18Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > In Larry Niven’s “known space” stories, the disintegrator ray worked by suppressing the electrical charge on either the proton or the electron. The target immediately shredded itself into a cloud of monatomic gas. > > This would make a great garbage disposal. A rather dangerous one, no? Wouldn’t the reactions between the atoms of the “monatomic” gas be rather violent and potentially nasty chemically too? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/52 "2008-11-12T02:02:46Z")
> [@kasuo](#): > > I can imagine transporters be used for more comical purposes like removing someone’s clothing at a party. The Ferengi already thought of this, as seen in the ST:TNG episode “Ménage à Troi”. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/53 "2008-11-12T05:01:28Z")
•I want to use incomprehensibly complex mechanical and materials engineering to create…a Dremel tool that makes a SQUARE cutting surface, instead of a spinning “disc,” while it’s in use. Forget laser/hard light cutters; that’s cheating. 😛 •For Halloween, the ultimate decoration: a perfect (or almost perfect) bio-replicated copy of…_my own skeleton_. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/54 "2008-11-12T05:07:45Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > •I want to use incomprehensibly complex mechanical and materials engineering to create…a Dremel tool that makes a SQUARE cutting surface, instead of a spinning “disc,” while it’s in use. According to the Book Of Strange Facts And Useless Information, this can be done by using an off center drill bit with a rhombus triangle cross section. The Book has a mixed record of accuracy so it might work and it might not. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/55 "2008-11-12T05:27:52Z")
Powered armor/exoskeletons for sports. Basically, you could have team sports where everyone can jump fifty feet, throw things farther, and be ridiculously brutal without killing each other. I recall a sci fi short where a giant humanoid war robot was discarded as hopeless impractical and ended up disarmed and used at monster truck rallies. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/56 "2008-11-12T05:39:07Z")
Transporters to beam urine out of your bladder, and fecal matter out of your colon. Come in handy when you made the mistake of buying a Super-Mega-Ultra Sized Slurm before watching Peter Jackson’s latest 4 hour epic: His all CGI remake of the East German film _Irritant Number 5_. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/57 "2008-11-12T06:51:28Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Transporters to beam urine out of your bladder, and fecal matter out of your colon. Come in handy when you made the mistake of buying a Super-Mega-Ultra Sized Slurm before watching Peter Jackson’s latest 4 hour epic: His all CGI remake of the East German film _Irritant Number 5_. Post 7, and several posts since then :\*D The Pip-Boy 3000 from Fallout 3. Sure, it can keep track of your personal health levels, radiation doses, inventory, ammunition count, mission objectives, map, etc… But I bet it would also be great as a blunt instrument to beat someone down with if it came down to it. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/58 "2008-11-12T11:21:37Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > •For Halloween, the ultimate decoration: a perfect (or almost perfect) bio-replicated copy of…_my own skeleton_. With sufficient money you could do that now with current medical imaging and cad/cam. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/59 "2008-11-12T14:33:58Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > According to the Book Of Strange Facts And Useless Information, this can be done by using an off center drill bit with a rhombus triangle cross section. > > The Book has a mixed record of accuracy so it might work and it might not. Yep, it works: [Reuleaux triangle - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_triangle) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088/60 "2008-11-12T16:53:10Z")
Holographic babysitter - Mom and Dad can go out for the evening and leave the kids with a hologram with the sophisticated intelligence of Voyager’s Doctor, so it can take initiative in case of an emergency. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-uses-for-sci-fi-tech/472088.md?page=4)