# Something in 'Star Wars' I have always wondered **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952 "2008-12-12T23:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/41 "2008-12-15T01:18:15Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > He reads what R2 is saying because: > A) They are in the vacuum of space & sound cannot carry. > B)A broadcast transmission can be intercepted by the Empire > C) There’s a direct computer link anyhow. > > Luke can understand him quite well otherwise. But Luke turns back to him all throughout the Death Star battle and yells things like “Divert all power to the shields, Artoo see if you can get more power back here” So assuming the vacuum in space I went ahead and figured that Luke’s radio is somehow connected to the droid, and that it is a two way connection. If it is a two way connection then Artoo could just beep and boop whatever whenever. Although I am a little fuzzy…are there any other times when Luke seems to understand what Artoo is saying without a computer present? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/42 "2008-12-15T01:34:15Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > [This](http://3do.jediknight.net/dcm/strips/08.gif) might answer your question. I’m also quite fond of [that](http://3do.jediknight.net/dcm/strips/24.gif) one. How about [this](http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0053.html)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/43 "2008-12-15T01:47:07Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Babel Fish. Agreed. Remember, this is a universe where Han understands Greedo, everybody understands Jabba the Hutt, and so on. How else to explain it? ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/44 "2008-12-17T03:00:48Z")
I thought Greedo was speaking a variant of Huttese, actually. That may even be the official line. Of course, I’m pretty sure that Lucas and his team hadn’t fully worked out Huttese by that point, so that’s probably handwaving on their part. While his understanding R2’s beeps seems to be a bit inconsistent, Luke generally needs translation for anything more than simple yes/no/acknowledge/fuck off type communication. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/45 "2008-12-17T05:45:03Z")
What I’ve always wondered is how some giant creature ends up in the waste disposal of a SPACE STATION? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/46 "2008-12-17T06:01:26Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > What I’ve always wondered is how some giant creature ends up in the waste disposal of a SPACE STATION? I always assumed it was like a tapeworm or something, starting out really small, but growing bigger. A stormtrooper ate a bad taco on shore-leave, it got into the plumbing, etc. ---
**Author:** ![starwarsfreek42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@starwarsfreek42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starwarsfreek42)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/47 "2008-12-17T06:08:44Z")
My assumptions: 1. Luke learned to understand R2 units langage (vaguely) on his uncle’s farm. 2. Anytime he is actually in the X-Wing, R2’s words were transferred to a computer screen 3. Gradually he comes to understand better without translation, later in the expanded universe. Also, Han can understand Wookie language (and speak it, badly) because he was raised by a Wookie named Dewlanna. Luke can speak many desert languages because he’s lived there; he understands Jawa and Hutt, etc. Han picked up lots of languages from travelling the galaxy as a pirate. **GOsp3l** , the creature in the trash compressor is a dianoga. It was put there because it feeds on the garbage and makes for less waste to disposed of. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/48 "2008-12-17T06:21:05Z")
[Everything you always wanted to know about the sewage monster but were afraid to ask.](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dianoga) But it fails to explain why any engineer would come up with ventilation ducts leading to a septic tank, except as a novel and clever way to make every hallway in the station smell like _Eau de decaying merde_. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/49 "2008-12-17T07:52:59Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > [Everything you always wanted to know about the sewage monster but were afraid to ask.](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dianoga) > > But it fails to explain why any engineer would come up with ventilation ducts leading to a septic tank, except as a novel and clever way to make every hallway in the station smell like _Eau de decaying merde_. Well, it was a hallway in the prison section. Could be psychological torture. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/50 "2008-12-17T21:23:40Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > [Everything you always wanted to know about the sewage monster but were afraid to ask.](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dianoga) > > But it fails to explain why any engineer would come up with ventilation ducts leading to a septic tank, except as a novel and clever way to make every hallway in the station smell like _Eau de decaying merde_. There also isn’t any real guarantee that the vent was OPEN at the time the fighters blew it up. So for all we know it could be another trash can, just that it goes directly into the compactor. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/51 "2008-12-17T21:51:30Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I always assumed it was like a tapeworm or something, starting out really small, but growing bigger. A stormtrooper ate a bad taco on shore-leave, it got into the plumbing, etc. **I** always assumed it was put there on purpose to digest the waste – the macroorganic equivalent of the bacteria added to a new septic tank. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/52 "2008-12-17T21:56:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **I** always assumed it was put there on purpose to digest the waste – the macroorganic equivalent of the bacteria added to a new septic tank. I guess it would also be handy to put it there on purpose to discourage prisoners from escaping through garbage chutes. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952/53 "2008-12-18T00:22:36Z")
I read the Dianoga article. Now I need a shower. Still a couple of nitpicks, first the creature is growing and creating it’s own waste so no space savings. Second who wants to recover squid waste from a garbage dump. Wouldn’t it be simpler to simply eject any accumulated garbage into the gravity well of the nearest star? Other than the fact that it’s a movie and doesn’t bear scrutiny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-in-star-wars-i-have-always-wondered/476952.md?page=2)