The Science Behind "The Expanse" - 1/25/17

More Info: www.caltech.edu...
Note: There is no audio from 47:36-48:24 due to a copyright issue.
Caltech and JPL researchers, and the cast and creators of "The Expanse" explore the real science behind Syfy's hit series.
Moderated by Robert Hurt.
From Caltech/JPL: Jessie Christiansen, Bethany Ehlmann, Bobak Ferdowsi, Philip Hopkins
From The Expanse: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Cas Anvar, Wes Chatham, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar
Produced in association with Caltech Academic Media Technologies. ©2017 California Institute of Technology

[@tracymetherell8744]

The passion of the people who create this show is inspiring

[@mikedrop4421]

You know it's "hard SciFi" when caltech brings you down to give a presentation..

[@michaelrountree7204]

Facts

[@richardm4617]

Avasarala is such a fantastic part of this show. I always look forward to a scene featuring her. She's a far more complex character than women are often assigned on screen and she avoids falling into a single stereotype - rather she's adept at leaping between personas that serve her own objectives by their effect on other people. She's like a Machiavellian villain with a heart and a beautiful voice! "Earth must come first!"

[@a8lg6p]

She's so fucking regal. I love her.

[@PedroNogueiranunes]

The is the most badass women on sci fi right now

[@TorchVert]

Probably the best portrayal of a true politician ever. Avasarala is by turns ruthless, conciliatory,sly,engaging, threatening,etc. She will completely transform her behavior in order to achieve her goals to the greatest extent possible. An excellent character both in writing and performance.

[@davejones9469]

You guys are just used to terrible writing and Mary Sue's. They shove every female character in our faces and make them overpowered while men are constantly portrayed as bumbling idiots. I'm sorry, but I've never seen skinny little 100 lb women beating up enormous 300 lb men. It is ridiculous. Even if the girl is Black Widow, any reasonably strong guy can simply grab their arms and remove them from a choking position. Hell, I've shamed female cops into crying because I challenged them to try and make me move, because they couldn't if their life depended on it.

[@silafuyang8675]

"The Expanse" is the best SF show ever.

[@mhead81]

BSG is equal or little better but still both shows above 9,5/10 I mean when u go with space sci fi But if not humans / altered carbon is also good

[@Daniel-rd6st]

In terms of realism i think nothing we have seen in TV trumps "the Expanse". Also i really like the characters and the plot! Personally i started to dislike BSG (the new show) as the seasons went on but thats personal taste.

[@katherineblackwater6717]

@@Daniel-rd6st I've never watched BSG but I've heard it ended silly.

[@cyberdinedog2097]

Battlestar Galactica I think is slightly better. But not by much.

[@BlackHawk2901]

By far.

[@davidcoleman757]

As someone who works with his hands, I love the fact there will be spanners, wrenches, power tools and sealant guns in the future. It's these little details that make the show feel so authentic. Loved this. Thank you so much for posting it.

[@davejones9469]

Really? You don't think the magic wand from Star Trek is SO much cooler?...🤮

[@noellenn2122]

This panel encapsulates everything that I love about the Expanse. Bravo!

[@dnovom]

Great panel. The best one I've seen so far involving The Expanse. Well prepared, personable scientists, great student questions and lots of existential exchanges. I highly recommended. Let's get the word out!

[@radioactivehands]

It's CalTech

[@tanguero2k7]

2022: 5 seasons later... To everyone commited to the show: thank you all. It's been a pleasure to enjoy "your company" through the years. It was awesome to learn about all the challenges of producing a show that felt more of a glimpse into a "foreseeable" future than purely sci-fi.

[@pyroslev]

The people who took a chance to make this show with the writers, I can never express my absolute gratitude. This show is absolutely and so quietly blew open the real and hard science fiction shows that we can expect for the next ten years. A living breathing universe. You could create so many spinoffs in this universe but yet it is still a small and personable universe. It is lived in.

wish i could forget it all so i can experience it all over again :D

[@peccatumDei]

Regarding controls: George Takei has told the story of working out which buttons controlled what in ST:TOS, only to have a Director of one episode demand that he use a different button for the phasers, to create more movement in the shot. George objected to the inconsistency, and eventually Gene Roddenberry came to the set, and backed George. Kudos to the cast and crew of The Expanse, for continuing this fine tradition. One fact about zero g not mentioned, is that it doesn't feel like floating. In zero g, your inner ear would be telling you you're falling, 24/7.

[@hafor2846]

And what is the feeling of falling down without actually falling down? If only there were a word for that state... I think it's called floating.

[@peccatumDei]

Weightlessness does not feel like floating. Your inner ears send the same signals to your brain that they do when you fall. When you float in a pool or whatever, the water is supporting you against the pull of gravity, and your inner ear signals that.

[@hafor2846]

peccatumDei Yeah, that's floating in water. It doesn't feel like that in space, true. But floating in air feels like floating in air. Maybe I'm just not understanding you correctly, but floating in air doesn't really feel like falling. Just as swimming doesn't feel like drowning. You get used to it and feel just as normal as you would like on Earth. Falling is shocking and abrupt. No gravity is just normal after a while...

[@jerdasaurusrex557]

@@peccatumDei I understand by floating you mean floating in water. Because most people's experience with floating is in water. Not everyone (alive) has had the experience of being in a falling state for more than a second.

[@XerrolAvengerII]

I've always imagined that being on a ship in the expanse would feel like that moment when you're in an elevator and it starts accelerating or decelerating.

[@Daniel-rd6st]

Only when the ship changes its accelaration. When it accelerates steadily, you wouldnt notice it.

[@vedranbileta8346]

What a wonderful discussion. This should be shared more. Thank you.

[@antr7493]

I know. It's sad only 12k have watched this. Even if you don't watch the show it's still very interesting.

[@aldarkose4592]

I am fan of The Expanse and finally found this discussion. It's like a movement in space - it takes (needs) time to get you :) It is really cool panel of smart intelligent people with nice sense of humor.

[@Tomasthanes]

What a wonderfully fun panel. Thank you for making this available.

[@freeheeler09]

This is so cool! Man, every junior high kid should see the show and hear these scientists talk.

[@azezamaheenchowdhury4391]

Your comment made me so happy! I'm a junior high teacher, and I just recently used that second scene where Holden pushes off of Naomi in class to spark student discussion about how all three of Newton's Laws of motion were represented in just a few seconds. (Conservation of momentum wasn't the lesson focus, so we didn't go there.) The kids then had to write their explanations. They loved the lesson!

[@leonsvideos]

Great discussion panel! Listening to this talk has made me realize how well space was implemented in this show. The amount of dedication it takes to get a realistic representation of space and its hostility, even in the background, while still making an entertaining experience for the viewer is just amazing. Also the actors seem to be truly passionate about working on this show which really excites me for the next seasons! Thank you for sharing this!

[@aerospacenews]

Glad I discovered this video - just blasted through all the seasons of The Expanse. Fantastic stories, great execution of the production quality and an excellent cast.

[@stratcat3216]

3 of my favorite characters on the show right there... Cheers to the Expanse cast and crew! What a fantastic show... best scifi ever.

[@AppliedMetaphysician]

This is one of the best cast panels I've ever watched, not just on The Expanse. The shout-out to Firefly in the opening montage is SO accurate.

[@mikedrop4421]

I definitely consider it the spiritual continuation of firefly

[@SoccerBoyAP]

This was an awesome panel, different flavor then the comic-con ones. I appreciate that The Expanse uses (mostly) real science to explain how things work (a lot more in the books). Instead of rewriting the lays of physics (faster then light travel) or creating a contraption (inertial damper) that just does something to alter the basic laws of matter. It makes this kind of science-fiction less fiction and more relate-able. Not to mention, only 200 years in the future ... looking at the past... isn't that far away and this kind of human exploration makes the future so awesome (minus all the Earth vs Mars vs Belt hate).

[@SoccerBoyAP]

Yay edit!

[@DWORLD-xl4pb]

Zandor Felok EXACTLY!!! 👌✅🖤

[@davejones9469]

Tribalism is still running strong today, no reason to think we'll evolve away from it in such a short period.

[@GoCoyote]

This show is the best science fiction show I could have ever imagined. Realistic science, and an incredible cast. Read the books years ago, and it is so nice to have a show that takes the time and effort to bring forth the story to keep the original intentions. Hope it keeps going.

[@BlackHawk2901]

The expanse is such a good fucking show

[@Adrian-qk2fn]

The difference between the Expanse and other TV Shows like Star Trek... In the Classic Star Trek Series in one script a writer wrote a long complicated scene for how the Enterprise would turn around. Gene Roddenberry removed the scene and just had Kirk say, 'Reverse Course.' In The Expanse they got an entire act out of turning the Cantebury around. Their producers tried to be as faithful to the science as possible; (and it was relevant to the story).

[@loge10]

Shoreh's character eventually does have to go into space and she's not happy. "I hate space," she says. A great line.

[@ianrobson9601]

Actually the line is, I FUCKING hate space

[@AheadOfTomorrow]

@@ianrobson9601 even the Belters don’t swear as much as her 😂

[@ianrobson9601]

@@AheadOfTomorrow She`s got a real potty mouth, I love her. There`s some great compilation videos on KZbin of her

[@tarkajedi3331]

The Expanse season 4 just gave us a Scfi masterclass!!! We need a few more of these! From toxic Slugs to eye bugs!!! The Exanse delivers so much!!! Even towing a space ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@DimaRakesah]

The realism of space is a huge part of what makes this show so good. You FEEL like you are in space, instead of just being a tourist passing by on a cruise ship.

[@AtheistCitizen]

I wd stress that one of the most fundamental strengths is actually not science, but in fact its basis in ECONOMIC concerns and the consequent political aspects, not simply a satisfaction of attractive science constrained exploration and sex.

[@AtheistCitizen]

--Bethany, the reason we have not yet visited Mars in person is also fundamental to what makes the social science of theExpanse accurate: costs constrain the choices we can make.

[@DOitTOtheCROWD]

AtheistCitizen We can go to Mars rn if we stop being dicks for a little while:)

[@AtheistCitizen]

Ditcc: NO, we always make choices about how to prioritize about the best use of our money. As most of this is a joint/public allocation issue [so far] one cannot simply whine and call all the legislators, the military, and the executives 'dicks', but need to gain collective influence so that the budget is enlarged to reflect this as an important objective. The Cold War gave an immense boost to the early manned program, and now we have to convince government and private concerns that the economic benefit justifies the expense. Sadly if this cannot be done then those with a simple romantic urge to explore will never be served, me included.

[@AtheistCitizen]

+ScotWatrous Exactly what makes it a more complete work. During the panel discussion they tangentially note the resource constraining, when poking fun at Star Trek where cool trumped reasonable. All the attention to 'flip and burn' also addresses the real constraints of life [here , real physics, not economic /social]

[@duncanthomson5564]

True - good science fiction is always about more than just the science. But it's the science (or perhaps I should say the engineering and technology more than science) that makes it the genre we all know and love. :-) Throw out some new science (or technology) and see how that impacts humans, which will of course include economics, politics, and lots of other things. (Let's not forget sex, by all means!) :-)

[@thx500]

Terrific panel. A good balance of technical, social, and artistic discussions.

[@cptairwolf]

I have not seen the show yet... Always been a huge Star Trek and Star Wars nerd... die to move onto the Expanse!

[@a8lg6p]

52:00 They baked the surface to prevent Ceres from spinning apart! That was bugging me. I was like...if you reverse gravity through spin, won't it just fall apart? Also, love the Archer shirt, appropriately paired with martini glass.

[@michaelrountree7204]

The cast is great. The Expanse is just as good as the original Star Trek series.

[@jocax188723]

35:25 "You've got to able to fly with your fingertips." This is true even today - in fact, current jet fighters have most of their primary controls situated where your hands would stay, even during high-g maneuvers. It's called the Hands-On-Throttle-And-Stick - HOTAS - system.

[@digiryde]

It just hit me. Most reality TV shows are complete fiction. This Science Fiction show is almost complete reality.

[@barkasz6066]

The Expanse does diversity right. It doesn't feel spoon-fed, politically motivated or forced, people are not defined by their sexuality or gender or race, because they are fleshed-out, well written characters. And the opposition between Earthers, Dusters and Belters is believable. And to wrap it all up in a neat little bow, the science is pretty grounded compared to most other sci-fi. I just wish Venus got some more love, because the way they showed the planet is absolutely gorgeous, and Venusian Cloud cities are probably a more feasible way to colonize space than terraforming Mars.

[@Kydos37]

It's almost like when you write organically without worrying about how many "X" characters you have it turns out fine.

[@bensilver28]

You are watching a video about how a show is good because it tries to be scientifically accurate and you suggest The Expanse universe should have a levitating city? How on earth is a Venus cloud city more realistic that a city that could be built on the ground in a crater?

[@MiqelDotCom]

@@bensilver28 because the atmosphere of venus is corrosive and an upper-atmospheric habitation is safer. It doesn't levitate by magic, it's more like a big hot-air balloon with a big habitation attached.

[@rafaelsantosx]

Yeah they nailed it the diversity so it never feels forced at all.

[@beny874]

I completely missed this panel. It's probably the best one too I reckon. To be honest the comic con panels kind of bore me and I've always wanted to hear more about the VFX and producers approach to the hard science. Id love to see another panel like this now that season 5/Nemesis games is around the corner. Hear these peoples opinion's on ****(Spoiler Alert)**** the station battle, or Ilus and their portrayal of Dr. Okoye as a xenobiologist, Prax as a biologist, and now most recently on how Wes must be feeling with Amos' role in Nemesis Games.

[@richardbenitez7803]

I just finished the 2nd of 8 books. I am getting a few of the books read before viewing the expanse series via Netflix DVD. This panel discussion is very interesting. I’ve always wondered about the credibility of the science efforts.

[@NickKharchenko]

Just started the 5th one... Amazing. Can't wait for the premiere of the new season

[@IceJackal1984]

now I'm waiting for season 5

[@cmdrTremyss]

now I'm waiting for the Epstein Drive.

[@vickyvey1657]

don't know why people compare this to GOT as the latter was more like family rivalry of the middle ages. This one is about nations of today...

[@thomasmills339]

World building. Character development and backstory, , attention to detail, the scripts. Their world is Harsh and extremly dangerous, the belters could be compared to wildlings. The Mao Corp the Lanisters. The roci crew the starks, space is beyond the wall, The protomolecule the dragons. Earth and Mars other noble families, nobody is totally good or evil. . Admittedly you'd have to use your imagination but there's more. If you think about it. But in a lot if ways its better than GOT.

[@waltsears]

Great question. It’s a little strange, but I think it points to the fact that all good sci-fi is a human story...and humans are contentious. We struggle and we conflict with one another. That’s my theory anyway.

[@marycarla6245]

Just finishing book 8. Great series! Highly recommended. It's like Game of Thrones and The Martian had a baby.

[@murderbunnies]

It's super funny at 1:14:45 when Cas Anvar goes on talking about chicks and then then he gets his character killed because he got too handsy.

[@murderbunnies]

@Bentath That's actually a pretty smart way to go about it. Maybe I should start hitting roe v. wade marches. They're at least more likely to put out than the chicks at the abortion protests. You just get rugburn on your neck when you throw their legs over your shoulders.

[@MidnightSt]

epstein drive is not about enabling high accelerations, it's about enabling high efficiencies, meaning power per unit of fuel burnt, meaning it enables LONG DURATIONS of high accelerations.

[@waltsears]

Are you sure it’s high acceleration. I thought it was the ability to sustain gradual, efficient acceleration over long periods.

[@TruAnRksT]

Really tiny stuff is scary because you can't shoot it. LOL great line.

[@DrEsky914]

LOL. Love that the astronomer has jeans and fleece on! My brother graduated from CalTech and he would approve!

[@andppo]

PLEASE CAPTION THIS VIDEO??? I'M DEAF! THANKS.

[@paxwallacejazz]

I'm so glad that I'm semi stranger in a foreign country being kept very busy keeping my head above water. That way I am unable to watch but if I weren't so occupied in a positive way then I'd just binge watch this over and over. Once I'm in my death bed that's what Ima do.🤩🤓🤷‍♂️ can't wait

[@stevefranklin7402]

Very strange to watch this in 2020, with the comment about the scary little things you can't shoot, in a global pandemic

[@SchupfnudelOfDeath]

Watched it the 3rd time now and a question came to mind: Will you do another one for season 3? Would love to see it. Please?

[@NickKharchenko]

And next seasons?

[@ChrisZacho]

Every now and then SciFi will choose to air something besides B-rate shows and when they do it is usually something magnificent.

[@rafaelsantosx]

Until they cancel it.

[@francoisleveille409]

Having an engineering degree, there are multiple technologies I know exist today and could make a great deal of difference if they were present in the storyline of 'The Expanse'. One of them is ADS, the active denial system which is a powerful non-lethal weapon - makes a change from using only tasers. Also, cubic boron-nitride is used as armor on attack helicopters and it can stop 23mm munitions. I suppose cubic boron nitride nanotubes could be used as armor on the Rocinante or other military ships and in theory it could stop PDC munitions.

[@cmdrTremyss]

What about plasma shrugs?

[@francoisleveille409]

@@cmdrTremyss I can't find 'plasma shrugs' on Wikipedia. However... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System ... are things that do exist.

[@Adrian-qk2fn]

With regards to Jessie Christiansen's comments at 1.07.00 about the use of automation to do Asteroid Mining this is one area where the show got it right and the scientist got it wrong. Consider. The Belters are shown as resource poor. What technology they have is outdated, is unreliable and would be very scarce. It would be more logical to hoard what little precious technology they have for what they absolutely need it for and make use of something they have in relative abundance- human workers. They would be much cheaper and easier to replace than automation like rovers which would have to be bought from Earth or Mars and then shipped out to the Belt- assuming the Inner Planets would be willing to sell that technology in the first place.

[@desrumeauxjeansebastien7336]

32:20 as long as things are relieving with contingency that's OK. Good to stay here... But when it's about imperious survival necessity, we have to adapt.

[@Hailfire08]

Have Ty and Matt O'Dowd (PBS Spacetime host) ever been seen in the same room?

[@SkipSpotter]

Dear diary, I must create a playlist of the random youtube stuff I wake up to. Because none of them are ever something I would choose intentionally

[@danemuckler7625]

this idea of integrating the missing ninth planet into the show really excites me!

[@joeymarchesi]

No one asked about why their ships make sound in space 😭 I just really wanted to hear their reason for including it even though space is a vacuum with no sound.

[@fuzzyherbivore193]

Same reason why there's little automation in mining asteroids I guess: It's fucking boring to watch space scenes with no sound.

[@mshell1959]

@@fuzzyherbivore193 Absolutely!

[@TheSanien]

Great panel loft of fun and not a lot of goofing around.

[@dondelapongo]

great talk!

[@SpaceCaseZ06]

the communicator on the eppstein drive episode doesn't appear divergent enough from the communicators/computers that appear in the 23rd century 130 years later.

[@TrollogyExpert]

its a tv show man, sometimes you have to cut corners.

[@Dziki_z_Lasu]

SpaceCaseZ06 Communicators in expanse are weak clients, they are running completly on cloud, as we saw on Eros, so they are as obvious low tech equipment as comb - are you intrested in innowations in combs?

[@SpaceCaseZ06]

How much tech went into combs versus how much tech went into phones versus how much tech went into computers? to tell you the truth, i anticipate the tech to evolve into glasses or goggles as opposed the tablets. as a pair of glasses, solomon epstein might have been able to rescue himself. in all honesty, I think space travel will still involve helmets especially during high thrust and those crash couches would be more like full body crash chambers if they don't stay with space suits.

[@michaelk-j6123]

In the books this is explained as most privately owned spaceships were often a hundred years old, just being patched up and rebuilt by factions like the OPA. High tech modern ships were only commonly seen in the UN and Mars navys. The Canterbury in particular I remember reading that it was specifically a hundred years old or more, originally a colony ship, retooled as an ice trawler.

[@kipel1563]

This is GREAT!!! Love it!!!!

[@mshell1959]

Next... The Bobverse!

[@IblameBlame]

In the show, Eros was a Main Belt asteroid, whereas in reality, it's a Near Earth asteroid.

[@ricardoabh3242]

All your gravity straight lol, you mean curved?

[@lowbudgetmic]

The Expanse T.V. actor asks about WestWorld T.V.! 😮

[@nsambataufeeq1748]

If only the ST Discovery team is took a few notes from the expanse

[@redelephantsdotnl]

That team needs to watch some Star Trek, first.

[@billtang79]

Thank you for sharing this video

[@ke6ziu]

The best part of the show, is how the writers actually watched the physics of space travel...

[@bratimm]

The one thing that has bothered me the most about the science in The Expanse besides automation (Manned cargo transports? Really?) is that when something is destroyed in orbit it falls out of orbit in the series. The orbital mirrors on Ganymede crash into the surface as well as some ships and many more examples in the books. I mean, you could argue that during maneuvering in fights the ships could be suborbital temporarely, but it is pretty clear that that is not the case.

[@iainhowe4561]

Welcome to people being cheaper and more flexible than AI.

[@bratimm]

In 200 years AI will be way more advanced than now. The things the roci can do are a sign of that. And unmanned transport ships could easily accelerate at 20g, since the actual limit of the epstein drive is how much g a human can survive. A trip from the earth to the moon at 1g (accelerating half the time, deccelerating the rest) takes about 3.5 hours. At 20g, it's only 46 minutes. Both are quite fast, but if you are travelling between Ceres and Saturn for example, it is a difference of 10 days vs 2,1 days (at opposition).

[@nehorlavazapalka]

enough to turn Eros into gas, esp. a ship 2 km long projected for 10 % of c

[@rockjock3]

With regards to AI being present in the future in the Expanse, I like to believe there are independent cargo ships running in the background story, just that they're not the focus of the series writers because there is no human element to ground that story and make it relateable to the audience.

[@sivasuc]

Yeah, the writers really don't like automation which is good for the plot. Also I'm not certain but I don't think the orbital mirrors were falling down in the books.

[@learnedhand7647]

_The Churn_ should definitely be an episode in season 3.

[@TruAnRksT]

Yep.

[@miramarensis]

I'm loving the show so far (newbie, just started to watch) but I'm trying to ignore the fact that if some of the action takes place in the dwarf planet Ceres, which has a tiny portion of Earth's gravity, how is it possible that everybody seems to behave as if they still were on Earth. I may be missing something but I don't think so. Physics is physics.

[@miramarensis]

Ok, I just read someplace that Ceres was spun up to create an artificial gravity about 1/3 that of Earth. I still think that humans act too much as if they were back on Earth.

[@XerrolAvengerII]

It's not realistic, but the idea is that ceres spins fast enough that ships dock and hang from its surface, and people walk upside down on the ceilings of caves that are carved into it. The problem is that (in real life) the natural material of ceres doesn't have the tensile strength to hold up to that kind of momentum, but in fiction the writers pretend that it does, or that the problem is solved, so they can use ceres as a narrative location.

[@miramarensis]

@@XerrolAvengerII Thanks for the clarification and insight.

[@TheAngryAstronomer]

That dude that felt represented by Cas and wanted to cosplay him. He let him the fuck down man. So sad.

[@DWORLD-xl4pb]

I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE EXPANSE AND BINGE WATCHED SEASONS 1 THROUGH 3! 👀😳😱🖤👌💪🏽✅. OMFNG THRUSTS! THIS IS THE AHOW ABOUT US IN SCI-FIAND TOTALLY RELATABLE. ITS WELL PRODUCED AND THOUGHT OUT FROM THE CASTING UP TO THE DIRECTING, WRITING, AND ACTING! BRAVO! SCI-FI HAS SOMEHOW EDGED TOWARD LIGHT COMEDY AND COULD NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUS. NOT SINCE BSG (2004) HAVE I BEEN EXCITED ABOUT AWARDS. MY ONLY CRITICISM OF THIS PERFECT SHOW THAT IT WAS NOT PROPERLY MARKETED TO LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT A GREAT SAGA THIS IS! I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO WATCHING SEASON 4 AND 5! 👌🖤✅💪🏽👀

[@rafaelsantosx]

Really Amazon should invest a lot more in advertising it. The Expanse has the potential to be their Game of Thrones (before the disastrous ending), with several seasons ahead. It should be the main show for the Prime Video.

[@bfebrian]

the true science fiction really want to know the science, the fiction just a bonus

[@Celyuz]

1:18:15... a dream come true xD... poor slingshoter

[@Danny_Boel]

5:34

[@Swidhelm]

I think the closest thing we may get to an Epstein Drive in the near future may be the VASIMR, if it pans out. Unless we can get that fusion thing down. :P

[@ReddwarfIV]

VASIMR doesn't even look good compared to other electric propulsion systems, requires a massive space-grade nuclear generator to power (which has not yet been developed) and high-temperature superconductors to operate in space (which have not yet been invented). And iVASIMR has been in development for decades, it's not new. Nuclear thermal and nuclear electric (using ion drives, not VASIMR) are the future of space propulsion. I'm with you on fusion though, ICF would be great.

[@Lungsandaheart]

In order to get anywhere near the thrust and efficiency of an Epstein drive, you'd need a specific impulse several orders of magnitude better than the theoretical best that VASIMR can do. Nuclear power and electromagnetic confinement is pretty much a requirement.

[@an1skh4n]

Swidhelm if VASIMIR doesn’t pan out all we’ll be left with is VAGISIL

[@mhead81]

U forgot about 1.9 tdi drive

[@1320crusier]

One thing Id like to know about the Epstein drive is if the center portion is a flow through aerospike and if that could work on a real rocket.

[@benjaminbrewer2569]

35:17 should be intense accelerations Cas Anwar

[@tonysalvatelli8975]

John 3:16-21

[@CNC295]

Yeah it was such a hit show that scifi canceled it at the end of its 3rd season it's the height of its popularity. The Amazon picks it up a year later and runs 2 and a 1/2 seasons and cancels it. Great sci fi has no future While crap like discovery and picard seem to never end

[@MizMite2002]

Cas made a nice comment on women but...

[@RangerHouston]

*God Bless Texas*

[@nothanks1545]

God bless the inventor of gummy bears

[@STSWB5SG1FAN]

Weird that the other clips were able to play full audio with no problems. What was so special about this particular one?🤔🤨

[@xyzzyx7812]

writers in 2017: the little stuff is the really scary stuff... wait till you find out 2020

[@desrumeauxjeansebastien7336]

27:26 in Star Trek, ships are fitted with inertial dampeners which drastically reduce positive and negative g's effects...

[@Blaisem]

I am trying to find where the producers talk about why there's sound in space. I checked the entire video and can't seem to find it. Anyone know?

[@bosyber]

Mostly, because tv likes music, and sound to accompany the visuals; they try to make it as if it is a sound you'd hear from vibration in the ship, or through the suit-radio, but in the end 'rule of cool' I think (they have talked about that in other places).

[@Blaisem]

I can also speculate reasons, but I was looking for the producer's specific reason.

[@AVerySillySausage]

bosyber Eh, tbh I think showing space sequences take place in silence would be pretty cool.

[@ChrisZacho]

It worked for Joss Whedon.

[@matthewgoodwin8093]

If Mars is like the u.s. The belt is probably like australia. Built by the scum who survived. I'm Australian by the way. Some of my ancestors arrived here in chains. Some had been here a long time.

[@MidnightSt]

am I weird if my first need to shout at the screen was "A-VAS-ARA-LA, YOU FUCK!", when he said Asavarala? I mean... It took me about a month of reading to start getting the name right, but IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE PAID FOR SAYING IT, LEARN IT RIGHT!!! =D =

[@a8lg6p]

1:00:00 Jessie says she thinks it's realistic that there's no transhumanism, no mind uploads or superintelligent general AI etc... I think that's by far the least realistic thing about The Expanse. We already have more advanced AI/robotics than I've seen on the show. And the show makes it clear how deadly space is and how frail and squishy humans are... I'm pretty sure most space exploration will be done by AI/robots, which, surely in 200+ years, will be superior to humans at literally everything. But it would be hard to make an entertaining show with relatable characters in a setting like that. But I'd love to see someone try... Something like GURPS Transhuman Space as the setting for a TV show... That could be really neat. Edit: She says it's more realistic that we're still normal humans basically (to a question about the Singularity, will our minds be digitized, etc), but then 7 minutes later, she says it's weird that there isn't more automation, and people are running around with sticks of dynamite to mine asteroids etc instead of having drones do it, to which Ty says: do you know what's boring to watch? Plus, who cares about the romantic life of robots? Fair point. Counterpoint: WALL-E was a great movie, and it was about exactly that.

[@azezamaheenchowdhury4391]

To be fair, the robots in WALL-E were anthropomorphized, so essentially they were still evoking empathy from the audience. It might be harder to feel the same way about robots that didn't have human characteristics and where only in a short scene. On the flip side, shows have made me care about their main ships, like titular Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, but those were by way of how the human characters in the show felt about them and the fact that they were permanent fixtures of each show. Interesting to think about either way, though.

[@estherstrek4796]

❣❣❣❣❣

[@antr7493]

Rahm Emanuel, really?

[@richardbroughan3766]

It still stuns me that just over 4 years since this was filmed we're driving affordable electric cars, have an orbital satellite internet service and Musk building the Roche-sans-PDCs as well as a return to Luna next year! SO STONEAGE 2017 :D

[@BillWiltfong]

I'm surprised the scientists didn't complain about the show's copious use of sound in space.

[@madman2u]

37:27 The science of porno.

[@richardbroughan3766]

Isn't the Alcubierre drive the real world example of the Epstein drive?

[@raiduke]

1:14:36 r/agedlikemilk

[@plummet3860]

Nobody gives a shit about what colour race or sex characters are people care if they are good characters

[@sakcee]

Man the Caltech nerds !!! They need to learn to communicate better, only showrunner Naran with phd in physics is explaining

[@jakeand9020]

Inaros is far too intelligent and charismatic to resemble Trump. I just don't see any comparison.

[@mutleyeng]

the downer on white men is becoming a bit of a tired trope now people

[@davidemarzoli4815]

It’s not a dig on white men, it’s a reference to how traditionally in sci-fi everybody is white men with token representations of other groups. In the future, everybody’s going to be in space so there are going to be a lot more non-whites represented. You’re too sensitive.

[@serg3y]

For every one common Hollywood mistake about space that this show tied to fix fix it introduces 3 new ones. So many law of physics defiled because the film makers could not be bothered. and assume all viewer did not finish school or don't care.

[@lindholmaren]

Like what exactly?

[@serg3y]

The list is long, but here are a few. 1) If you depressurize suddenly you will experience a lot of pain in your ear drums, and you have to exhale not hold your breath. Also from safety perspective it would be unusual to have a visor that can be easily opened in space. 2) you cannot spin an asteroid to create negative g and not have it fall apart. Keeping it together would require something very special 3) There is not distinction in walking between normal-g, low-g, or magnetic boots. Also we hear people running with magboots in zero g... running is not possible. 4) zero g does mean you have to do everything in slow motion. Like passing things. 5) If you have so much energy for rockets you would not bother with mirrors. You would use lights. 6) At 10g continues acceleration it should take at least 18 hours to travel from Earth to asteroid belt.

[@asasial1977]

everything is that way in cinema. you think the way military, law enforcement, sciences, or anything else is portrayed accurately? No they aren't. hell when do people on most TV shows even have time to sleep? cars are not indestructible, a grenade won't destroy a city block, a car gas tank wouldn't explode in a huge fireball from the flick of a cigarette. it is far from being just this show.

[@serg3y]

Agreed, my comment is response to other comments that hail the show as being great for its scientific content and accuracy... in some respects yes, in many respects no.

[@astronomenov99]

The audience for the TV series is not 100% science graduates. It has to appeal to every sci-fi fan and their families. If it hasn't got broad appeal they can't sell it. No money = no show. It's entertainment with a good foundation in science. Watch the show. Buy the merchandise. Evangelise about the show to all who may be interested. Pray that it doesn't get cancelled before the story is finished. Hope that it becomes a franchise like Star Trek and has numerous spin-offs.