# Tech Levels: "Firefly" vs. "Battlestar Galactica"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835 "2005-11-07T00:11:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/81 "2005-11-11T13:48:25Z")
More than that, it’s common sense. If you look at a brass cartridge, as I reckon most armorers do, you will see that it is all sealed up tight where water and air can’t get in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/82 "2005-11-11T15:43:24Z")
Maybe this has been said clearly and I missed it, but Battlestar Galactica is intentionally using lower technology so the Cylons can’t infiltrate their computer systems. Ultimately, the Cylons did get a virus in, but it took a lot longer. I would say that clearly the Alliance on Firefly has higher tech. than the humans on Battlestar, but the Cylons may have the Alliance beat. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/83 "2005-11-11T18:05:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Maybe this has been said clearly and I missed it, but Battlestar Galactica is intentionally using lower technology so the Cylons can’t infiltrate their computer systems. No, they aren’t using networked devices so that the Cylons can’t enter their systems. It was when they networked to rapidly calculate the fleet’s jump that the Cylons got in. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/84 "2005-11-11T18:13:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Of course he would. It’s chemistry. So? How much firearms training involves learning chemistry? ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/85 "2005-11-11T18:26:25Z")
It’s difficult to compare levels of tech in different fictional universes. For example, in Trek, everybody and their dog seems to be able to build a warp drive. Perhaps in another fictional universe, warp drives are physically impossible or only the most advanced races could develop FTL. How about energy weapons. In the BSG universe it seems matter weapons are much more effective than energy weapons. Does this mean Trek is more advanced than another universe because their writers allow various pieces of technology to be rather easily obtained compared to another universe where it is much harder to develop them or even physically impossible? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/86 "2005-11-12T07:15:53Z")
> [@Balduran](#): > > For example, in Trek, everybody and their dog seems to be able to build a warp drive. Actually, IIRC, building a warp drive (or at least designing one) is a required assignment at least at the high school where Geordi LaForge went to. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/87 "2005-11-12T12:17:37Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > So, they may not have FTL, but they were haulin’ ass. A generation is what, about 20 years or so? Those guys were moving a lot of humans at relativistic speeds. Pretty impressive. There seems to clearly be some sort of constant-acceleration propulsion technology in the firefly universe. Trips across the solar system take weeks. Given a constant, say, 1g drive, how long would it take to travel, say, 8 light years? (counting, of course, deceleration) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/88 "2005-11-12T19:37:33Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > There seems to clearly be some sort of constant-acceleration propulsion technology in the firefly universe. Trips across the solar system take weeks. Given a constant, say, 1g drive, how long would it take to travel, say, 8 light years? (counting, of course, deceleration) About 9 years. With 1g constant acceleration it takes a little less than a year to get up to the speed of light. Another year to decelerate on the other end. But in those two years of acceleration and deceleration you’d travel about a light year, so you have 7 more years of zipping along at c in between. Since you can’t go faster than c, any high constant-acceleration drive will get you where you want to go at about the speed of light. That’s assuming that their drive can sustain those kinds of accelerations at relativistic speeds - something we have no evidence of at all. Also, since the Firefly 'verse has gravity control, we have no evidence that they can only accelerate at 1g. For all we know, they can accelerate at 10 gs constantly. If that were the case, they could accelerate to the speed of light in about 2 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/89 "2005-11-12T20:14:00Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > we have no evidence that they can only accelerate at 1g. For all we know, they can accelerate at 10 gs constantly. Accelerating at 10g while the cattle in the hold experience 1g seems even stranger than FTL. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/90 "2005-11-12T20:25:14Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > About 9 years. With 1g constant acceleration it takes a little less than a year to get up to the speed of light. Another year to decelerate on the other end. But in those two years of acceleration and deceleration you’d travel about a light year, so you have 7 more years of zipping along at c in between. Since you can’t go faster than c, any high constant-acceleration drive will get you where you want to go at about the speed of light. That’s assuming that their drive can sustain those kinds of accelerations at relativistic speeds - something we have no evidence of at all. > > Also, since the Firefly 'verse has gravity control, we have no evidence that they can only accelerate at 1g. For all we know, they can accelerate at 10 gs constantly. If that were the case, they could accelerate to the speed of light in about 2 weeks. I was assuming though, that they wouldn’t have been traveling _too_ much faster than 50% C, since I’ve read at those speeds, collisions with interstellar dust particles can start really ruining your day. We know a generation never saw the outside of a spaceship, so let’s say that’s about 70 years. They went to a “nearby” solar system, so let’s say it was about 20 LY away. So how fast does that make them? They were hauling ass, but I guess they weren’t moving at _ridiculous_ speeds. It does sound doable though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/91 "2005-11-12T20:29:37Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > We know a generation never saw the outside of a spaceship, Speculation, just as there is speculation that the Alliance has some horrendeously expensive FTL method to move to the solar system “when Earth was used up.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/92 "2005-11-12T21:27:28Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Accelerating at 10g while the cattle in the hold experience 1g seems even stranger than FTL. 🙂 Why? We know they have gravity control. They can _stand_ in the cockpit while re-entering the atmosphere - a manoever that would easily put multiple g’s on the ship. They don’t get thrown around by even wild manoevers like the Crazy Ivan in the pilot - it was enough to just hang on to something. That implies some really serious control of acceleration impulses. We have no idea how fast those ships can accelerate. For all we know, they can accelerate at 100 g’s and flit about the system at high fractions of the speed of light. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/93 "2005-11-12T23:30:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Speculation, just as there is speculation that the Alliance has some horrendeously expensive FTL method to move to the solar system “when Earth was used up.” Didn’t someone say that this was from the Visual Companion for Serenity? A Joss Whedon bit no less? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/94 "2005-11-12T23:55:31Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Didn’t someone say that this was from the Visual Companion for Serenity? A Joss Whedon bit no less? Not that I recall. Re: Gravity control. What the hell. They do it on _Star Trek._🙂 ---
**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:** [November 13, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/95 "2005-11-13T00:25:44Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Speculation, just as there is speculation that the Alliance has some horrendeously expensive FTL method to move to the solar system “when Earth was used up.” Nope. [Joss’s own words.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6768918&postcount=18) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/96 "2005-11-13T00:55:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Nope. [Joss’s own words.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6768918&postcount=18) Provide a cite other than another post, and I’ll stand corrected. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/97 "2005-11-13T04:45:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Provide a cite other than another post, and I’ll stand corrected. 🙂 I’m looking at the book right now. Would you like me to tell you what is says on page 37? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/98 "2005-11-13T04:55:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m looking at the book right now. Would you like me to tell you what is says on page 37? 🙂 How about telling me where I can get one? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835/99 "2005-11-13T05:02:31Z")
[Serenity Official Visual Companion](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1845760824/qid=1131858093/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8033770-5971122?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tech-levels-firefly-vs-battlestar-galactica/329835.md?page=4)