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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 13, 2006 12:10:54 GMT -5
At once, Piper's powers are both simple and easily misunderstood. Part of the confusion stems from Phoebe's mischaracterization of Piper's power in Something Wiccan. Phoebe all too hastily states that Piper has the ability to freeze things. This has led many to conclude erroneously that Piper has the ability to freeze time. She does not.
Piper's power has nothing at all to do with time. This was clearly demonstrated in That 70s Episode when Nicholas heard only five chimes. It was 12 noon. (Yes, I know the clock shows that it's well past noon.) However, if she had frozen time, then Nicholas would have heard all 12 chimes.
For further "proof", let me cite the entry in The Book of Three, Volume 2, the second part of the official companion. On page 29, the authors (Diane Gallagher, et al.), note that Piper's primary power is the ability "to slow or speed up molecules". In other words, it is particle acceleration (blow up) or particle deceleration (freeze) that characterizes Piper's primary power.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 14, 2006 13:14:58 GMT -5
Well, upon further review:
So, let's review That 70s Episode where I clearly indicate that Piper could not freeze time. (And, by the way, she can't freeze molecules either.) Let's start with an understanding of physics. At temperatures close to absolute zero, particle motion indeed slows down. At some point, a point very, very close to absolute zero, matter (d)evolves into a new form: the Bose-Einstein condensate.
At absolute zero, I am not certain what time does. Physicists are still wrestling to understand time. At best, we know that in perceptually different frames, time may either speed up or slow down. I don't know if time can actually be frozen in the real world and neither does anyone else.
What Piper does is to slow down particle motion so that movement cannot be perceived in our perceptual frame. Some upper level demons can pierce - or overcome - the slowing down, although their motions do not proceed in real time. They are slowed down, but not completely "frozen". Never does Piper ever truly "freeze" anyone. They move, but ever so slowly until the "freeze" wears off.
So, how does this relate to Nicholas and the clock? Apart from the fact that the clock does not accurately show the time, when Piper "freezes" the foyer, everything in the immediate vicinty, except she and her sisters slows down. The clock also would slow down. The chimes would also stop. When normal speed resumes, the clock would again move and the chimes would continue to sound. Of course, they don't because the writers haven't a clue about the "freeze" that they are attempting to employ.
For Nicholas to know that one of the sisters had frozen him, he can't refer to the chimes. (I know he does. It's wrong.) The only "proof" that he has is the vase. It should be broken; it's not. That's how he knows that the sisters have their powers.
Please note that I am revising my previous opinion. After writing my initial response, I thought more deeply about the whole chime bit since that's what Nicholas claims in the episode. Well, his claim is baloney, and my point was offmark. The overall point is retained, however: Piper does not have the ability to freeze time. (By the way, this is what I mean by intellectual honesty. My first attempt to be clear and articulate was unsuccessful. I'am telling you so and am revising what I wrote in the hopes of making it clearer. I am definitely not having a hissy fit!)
In Charmed Season 8, time indeed is frozen by the TRIAD. Exactly how they do this is open to speculation. The best explanation that I have heard is that the TRIAD have opened a temporal portal that allows them to communicate with Christy, but not to engage in any other physical activity in the "real" world. Thus, time - in the real world - stops, as long as this portal remains open! In other words, for the viewer to see what's happening during the time that this portal is open, we cannot see motion in any other plane of existence including where the sisters are. For us, time appears to stop since we have been extracted from the main timeline to witness events unfolding in the portal that the TRIAD have opened.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 14, 2006 13:21:25 GMT -5
Elder came back with this query:
I don't want to start any deabtes with people regarding physics since I have no clue about it. However I do have this to ask: What is different about Piper's "freeze" ability as opposed to the Angel of Destiny from the final episode of season four? Or what about the cleaners in the market scene from the "crimes and witch demeanors" episode of season six?
All these to the untrained eye (my eye) are of things being frozen or stopped. what is the difference if there is no other thing to campare to?
I replied as follows:
Good questions. The simple answer, I would think, is that the Angel of Destiny is able to accomplish what he wants on a grander scale. The cleaners have the ability to reset historical time. I would suspect that neither can freeze time per se, although the cleaners seem to be able to reverse time in order to alter the present perfect, the present, the future perfect and ultimately the future. Unfortunately, the powers of both the Angel of Destiny and the cleaners are not defined sufficiently in either volume of The Book of Three.
Whitelightertony added:
I definitely agree with you here, vandergraafk. Piper clearly doesn't have the ability to literally "freeze time."
I believe the phrase "freeze time" was originally coined by Melinda Warren in the Book of Shadows...in other words, Melinda Warren used antiquated semantics to describe a magical power that she herself was only beginning to grow familiar with.
Melinda probably referred to it as "freezing time" because that's how it visually appeared to her...even though it should be more accurately described or worded as "freezing objects" or "freezing sentient beings."
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 14, 2006 18:38:00 GMT -5
Lest this become a back-slapping festival, I quite agree whitelightertony with your comments regarding Melinda Warren as the source of some of the confusion. However, Phoebe is at fault too since the writers used her character for exposition early on. She is the one who described Piper's powers as the ability to freeze time. Of course, her source is the Book of Shadows which she spent the entire first night reading from cover to cover in order to gain a greater understanding.
Now, in the Painted World, we are told that Phoebe is not exactly the brightest of the bunch. I guess that honor belongs to Piper, even though in A Witch in Time the writers unfairly have her ask what a dozen dozen roses is. I suspect that the Piper that we have met and come to appreciate deeply would have known the answer to that unless of course she was playing coy with Leo. Was she making a subtle hint for Leo to present Piper, too, with some roses? I'm male and I don't understand all the wiles that women possess. Since the writers chose to use Phoebe as their narrative voice, then all the pitfalls of using a character with a less broadly based knowledge of things came to fruition. Phoebe misdescribes the power; or, she simply regurgitates what Melinda has mischaracterized. (I'll have to watch the Witch is Back to see precisely how Melinda describes the powers.)
Before I get lambasted by Phoebe fans, let me just say that Phoebe was characterized as having a more practical side. She could use tools to make basic repairs. She knew how to change a flat tire (The Wendigo). Piper's learning was more book-based probably because that's what she was at school: a withdrawn, bookish person who (occasionally) doodled on her jeans (out of boredom, perhaps). And, yes I know that in Death Becomes Them, Phoebe is seemingly portrayed as a nincompoop when it comes to differentiating a tyre iron from a lug nut. But, she's just being coy. She knows the difference; furthermore, she knows that most men get a rush when they can help a damsel in distress.
As for my physics reference, let's be clear here. Physics is not the be all and end all for a SCI-FICTION show. My gosh, Star Trek violated the laws of physics all the time. Yet, it also suggested interesting concepts that might be illuminated by an understanding of physics. Is warp drive possible? Can wormholes be used for travel from one part of the universe to another? I'm sure that many youngsters were inspired by Star Trek to study physics.
I am constantly amazed by what physicists claim to accomplish. Sometimes skepticism is warranted (fusion energy via simple chemistry). Other times, it is truly amazing, e.g., the ability to stop light. That boggles my mind and keeps me glued to research on physics. It's also why I buy lots of physics books. Be that as it may, I would love to have Piper's power. I would even love to have both the mental capacity and the engineering ability to devise a machine that could do some of that. Wow, that would be sooooo COOOOOL. I'd also love to astrally project myself, too, but that's a whole other set of issues.
In short, what I am saying is that sometimes physics can help us understand the magical realism we are presented with. The more real it can seem, the more magical the fiction. We get sucked in and can really eat it up, unlike in other shows where sometimes the imagination gets way, way too warped, as to really seem beyond belief. Call that magical surrealism or magical irrealism, but it's one of the problems I have with some of the things that were done on Angel, e.g., blotting out the sun, etc.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 15, 2006 12:19:45 GMT -5
Whitelightertony shared my enthusiasm for having Piper's powers.
I would love to have Piper's freezing power too...that, and the ability to orb myself (or maybe astral projection instead...since anyone who can orb is also vulnerable to darklighter arrow poison). If I was a male witch with my choice of any two powers, they would be temporal stasis (freezing/cryokinesis) and astral projection.
I also think the relative area or circumference, geographically, which Piper (or another witch with temporal stasis) can "freeze" is directly related to how powerful she is....so it stands to reason that as Piper grows older, she will only be able to freeze larger areas. By the time she's in her forties, Piper should be able to freeze the entire city of San Francisco for extended periods of time.
I love it when Piper selectively freezes/unfreezes people. Remember when she froze Krell in "Sleuthing With the Enemy," and then selectively unfroze just Krell's head? He was so ANGRY when he'd realized what had happened...and Prue and Piper's reaction/commentary/amusement toward
Yet, I was concerned about his use of temporal stasis to describe Piper's powers:
I am concerned, however, with the continued use of the phrase temporal stasis as a descriptor of Piper's powers. Literally, temporal stasis is the cessation of time. For however limited an amount of time, the flow of time is halted. Whether this can ever be accomplished in the real world, I don't know. In Charmedverse, the TRIAD and perhaps the Angel of Destiny accomplish this by opening a time portal (maybe). In the event, Piper can't do this. Nor can any witch who would have Piper's power.
Piper can accelerate or decelerate particle motion. But there are limits. She can decelerate or slow down molecular and sub-atomic motion so that it appears, from our frame of reference, that motion has indeed ceased. That would require the transformation of matter into Bose-Einstein condensation and the achievement of near absolute value temperatures. Neither occurs in Charmedverse. At the other end of the spectrum, Piper cannot achieve infinite velocity. The speed of light serves as barrier at the upper end of the spectrum. Long before particles reach the speed of light, matter itself will be converted to energy following the formula E = mc2. The explosion that we perceive is the transfer of matter into energy.
Piper can clearly freeze mortals for lengths of time that depend on her intentions and her skill level at the time. By Season 3, she is able to freeze an entire hallway during the Magic Hour for at least 5 minutes while the sisters debate what to do. (Yes, I know that this is absurd, given the time constraints imposed by an actual full eclipse of the sun. Hey, this whole episode is absurd from an astronomical viewpoint. An eclipse never follows a full moon!, etc.) Be that as it may, she is able to freeze mortals for quite some time. Her ability to "freeze" warlocks and demons depends on their powers and her skill level. In Season 1, Jeremy, a lower level warlock who can't even blink, freezes momentarily. As time goes on, Piper can begin to freeze upper level demons partially or even completely. (There doesn't seem to be any consistent logic to this.)
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 15, 2006 15:20:19 GMT -5
Xenith offered a different path for analyzing Piper's ability to "freeze" warlocks, demons and even good witches. Auras. I really think a lot of stuff on Charmed could have been very easily explained by the barely touched upon subject of auras. I have a strong feeling that her aura is what actually protects a good witch from being frozen by another good witch. (Because think about it what else actually differentiates a good witch from a bad witch? If a bad witch turns good or a good witch turns bad then genetically she usually has not actually changed has she? Only if the witch were to go from a witch to a warlock would I venture that there is any real genetic change) So too do I think a demon could have an magical aura that acts to negate
I responded as follows:
As for the aura question, I suppose the only time this came up in Charmed was during Charmed Again, Part II when we see nascent witch Paige enshrouded in a black aura. If you are right, then Piper should have been able to freeze her. Instead, of course, they seemed pushed her aside and had Leo orb her to safety. Presumably, the aura stayed with her since Paige was deemed possessed when the remaining sisters returned to the manor.
If the concept of an aura had been more fully developed and we had seen an example of a "white" aura surrounding good witches, then we could explain the seemingly inexplicable, that is, why allegedly good witches freeze in Witchstock, for example.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 15, 2006 16:45:00 GMT -5
Yet, some fans seem deeply reluctant to abandon the phrase "temporal stasis" as an adequate descriptor of Piper's power. Quoting me, Whitelightertony opined:
"I am concerned, however, with the continued use of the phrase temporal stasis as a descriptor of Piper's powers. Literally, temporal stasis is the cessation of time. For however limited an amount of time, the flow of time is halted. Whether this can ever be accomplished in the real world, I don't know. In Charmedverse, the TRIAD and perhaps the Angel of Destiny accomplish this by opening a time portal (maybe). In the event, Piper can't do this. Nor can any witch who would have Piper's power."
I think it's fine to refer to Piper's power as "temporal stasis" because, from the perspective of the person whom Piper freezes, time appears to have stopped. Obviously, time continues to progress normally for anyone who has remained unfrozen. But time has stopped for the person whom Piper freezes, up until the time that person unfreezes.
The Triad, on the other hand - - I believe that their power was not to actually freeze people, but to extract individuals from time. When they seemingly "froze" Billie and the Charmed Ones, what probably happened was that The Triad extracted Christy from that point in time solely to communicate with her (thus Billie and the Charmed Ones appeared frozen from the perspectives of Christy, The Triad, and the viewing audience - - but they weren't actually physically frozen *by* The Triad).
I am still bothered by this. To wit:
That's a really, really BIG PROVISO. I suppose I can "accept" use of the phrase "temporal stasis" with the understanding that we are not using the literal meaning: that is, to stop time. I suspect though that this will simply continue the confusion that has been carried forth in this thread.
For that matter, we might just use "PARTICLE PARALYSIS", even though we know that the particles are not really stopped or paralyzed, but merely slowed down. On the other hand, we would have to come up with another phrase for the other side of the coin: PARTICLE BLAST, even though we know that nothing is truly blasted, but merely converted from matter into energy.
As far as the TRIAD was concerned, I didn't discern a difference. My reply reflected this sense of agreement:
As for the TRIAD, I think we're describing the same phenomenom. Someone else started using the phrase "temporal portal" to describe what the TRIAD had after I had expressed my discontent that the TRIAD had shown the ability to freeze. I confess that I was naive at the time and hadn't really thought through these issues, especially since I was suffering the delusion that Piper could freeze time.
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Post by avallach on Jan 18, 2007 1:03:45 GMT -5
First, let me say, that had I the choice of any Charmed power, I too would wish to have Piper's abilities. I also wondered exactly the nature of the "freeze" power. Clearly, as you said, she is not freezing time. Recall an early freeze (I think it was the second episode in season 1) where she inadvertately froze Andy and the chefs in the kitchen at Quake, but when Prue went to check on the dining area, the diners were unaffected. When I first saw that, I thought Ah-ah; she was not freezing time, at it were.
One aspect I never quite got an handle on was if not time was not being stopped, then how was it that one is unaware of being frozen..another words, there is no conscious memory during the duration of the freeze when it wears off. Can something as temporal as consciousness be subjected to "particle acceleration"? Also, Piper's power must also affect gravity as well, as she is able to stop falling objects in midair. She must be doing something to the gravitational forces around the object (as opposed to affecting the particles of the object itself).
Also, it seems to me that the Angel of Destiny, Candor from the Triad, the Cleaners, the Avatars, and the warlock from the horrid Witchstock episode, can all actually freeze time itself. They can project an absolute stillness of both living and inanimate. Recall that Paige could not close the front door when the Angel of Destiny appeared in "Witch Way Now?". Also, in most of these scenes, the lighting has dimmed, as if to indicate a different state of reality; this is a different affect from Piper's freezes.
This might also lead to the thinking that when these beings stop time, they are pulling themselves and selected others out of our reality into a different plane of existance where time has no meaning. Perhaps when in this state, they cannot directly affect us or anything in our reality. This might explain why Candor and the Witchstock warlock whats-his-name and other evil beings with this power cannot take advantage of the seemingly vulnerabiltiy of those that are in the "frozen" state, but in actually are still in our reality.
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Post by vandergraafk on Jan 18, 2007 19:05:08 GMT -5
I agree wholeheartedly. In the Charmed Cafe, I have offered the hypothesis that perhaps Nigel, the warlock in Witchstock, actually was an agent of the TRIAD and thus had the ability to open a portal between planes of existence. Thus, the TRIAD could extract Christy (or Nigel, Robyn) from the Charmed plane of existence in order to communicate with her. We see a freezing of time in the Charmed plane of existence while Christy communicates as time elapses with the TRIAD.
Your point about consciousness during a particle deceleration could be addressed thusly. Neurons, the building blocks for forming memories, are equally decelerated. Although the "frozen" person might be able to "see" while frozen - as Prue was able to do so in Bride and Gloom after she kissed the warlock, a frozen person cannot process the phenomena due to neuron deceleration. When particles resume their normal pace, the previously perceived might simply be overwhelmed by the on-rush of real time data. Phenomena observed during the freeze period might simply be described as some inexplicable white noise that the mind discards.
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Post by avallach on Jan 20, 2007 1:10:07 GMT -5
Interesting theory regarding neurons. So when a person is frozen, the neuron networks comprising memories in the brain do not form (or are formed at a greatly depreciated rate), such that the person has no conscious memory while in the temporal stasis state (or whatever you want to call it). Make sense to me.
Also, I never really thought about the body senses still being active, though the brain cannot process this information it is receiving. However, there seem to be an effect if there is an overload such that a shock to the senses can break a freeze (or until it wears off). I can't think of a specific instance, but there are number of examples where a frozen person or demon is physically pushed (or thrown around by Prue's TK) and the freeze is no longer in effect. There's also the case in "Witch Way Now?" where the witch hunter FBI agent, frozen by Piper while wearing headphones eavesdropping in the trailer, is suddenly shocked back into mobility when Phoebe turns up the stereo. This indicates that the temporal stasis state is not totally unresponsive to outside influences.
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Post by vandergraafk on Jan 26, 2007 20:01:50 GMT -5
That might also explain why touching a "frozen" being by Piper releases the freeze. But let's try to avoid the mangled mess that Charmed magazine tried to concoct for its readers. Not even the heading "Here Comes the Science Bit..." can save this drivel. Let me give everyone the full statement from Issue #15, Page 57.
"Molecular immobilization (or temporal stasis as it's also known) is the ability to slow down molecules to such an extent that they stop moving, causing whatever, or whomever, is on the receiving end to freeze for a period of time. This power works on all but the most powerful of demons and other good witches."
Later, the abuse of science is continued when the enhancement of Piper's powers at the conclusion of Season 3 is explained under the heading "Power Enhanced" (page 58):
"In season three, Piper gains the power to speed up objects, effectively causing them to blow up, as well as to slow them down. This is known as molecular combustion, but we'll look at this ability in more detail in a future issue."
God, I hope not! Molecular combustion? What is this nonsense? Molecular immobilization? Hmmm! I don't know whether the author of this drivel, Kate Lloyd, has ever had a course in physics or even read a lay text on physics, but let's set the record straight.
Suppose that Piper could achieve a state of molecular immobilization. What would this mean precisely? Do sub-molecular particles remain immobilized as well? Or, is the effect only at the macro level? I would hope that whatever the effect is that it would penetrate all the way down to the level of elementary particles: quarks, gluons, etc. If indeed she could "immobilize" particle motion, then she would be able to alter matter by condensing objects into a Bose-Einstein state. That would be quite a feat and quite the freeze, given that this state only occurs marginally above absolute zero.
If the effect is at the macro level only, then I suppose we are to imagine something like the surface level of a pond freezing while the water underneath is still free to move. How that would work at the sub-molecular level is beyond me. I'd much rather accept that whatever power Piper has works all the way down to elementary particles.
Of course, I would deny that she could "freeze" or "immobilize" such particles. True, she could decelerate them to such an extent that their motion would appear to us to be frozen, when in fact their motion is still on-going, but impercetible to us.
Accelerating objects, on the other hand, is even more problematic. I have no problem accepting the possibility that somehow Piper could cause matter to be accelerated to such an extent that its ability to retain its form as matter is lost and the accelerated matter becomes pure energy. That is in keeping with E=mc2, Einstein's energy-mass equivalence equation. But where is the combustion here?
When I think of combustion, I am thinking about an object, perhaps wood or gasoline, that when brought into contact with a flammable object, say oxygen gas, and a catalyst causes a reaction to occur, the object bursts into flames or ignites. Absent the catalyst or the flammable gas, wood or gasoline will not spontaneously combust. So what would cause matter in the guise of a lower-level demon or a warlock to "explode" in a combustible reaction? Is there something about Piper's powers we don't know?
Perhaps the potion which Piper created in Charmed and Dangerous in order to replicate her exploding power is just such a catalyst. Thrown at a warlock in the presence of oxygen, the potion might just cause a combustible reaction to occur. But, I thought when Piper flicked her hands, no ooze was required. So how exactly is this molecular combustion? It's beyond me and maybe even beyond science.
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Post by avallach on Jan 27, 2007 22:03:11 GMT -5
I think it is very interesting applying scientific principles to supernatural powers. Can magic be subjected to laws of physics such as natural forces such as gravity and magnetism? I never thought so, since magic by definition is the attempt (whether by spells, spirits, what-have-you) to control natural forces. Still, these theories to explain Piper's freeze power follows a certain logical reasoning based on scientific paradigms.
I also wonder whether Patty and other witches in the Halliwells line with the "freeze" power are also capable of the explosive aspects of partical acceleration.
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Post by vandergraafk on Jan 29, 2007 19:29:37 GMT -5
I suppose the trick here is to make a magical or sci-fi oriented show as realistic as possible. By definition, any magical or sci-fi show asks the viewer to suspend disbelief and accept certain premises. The extent to which we (the viewers) buy in may well depend on how well the show gets the basic stuff correct. Star Trek has been lambasted by critics over the years for messing up basing things like explosions (with sound) in space. Since sound requires a medium for transmission, the absurdity is all too apparent.
Charmed has many fantastical elements. Yet, we can accept some of them if we can explain them by resorting to the actual physics of the time (or biology, for that matter). Worse: some fans try to explain Charmed in terms of physics and fancy their descriptions with terms that look science like (molecular combustion), but are nonsensical when examined closely. I, for one, don't think it's necessary to abandon science when discussing Charmed. I do believe it's important to understand that we are talking about powers that none of us can ever aspire to have. But, if we did have such powers, here's why they would work! To me, that makes the series more realistic and appealing!
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Post by vandergraafk on Feb 16, 2007 19:59:52 GMT -5
Oh my, what a debate we have had in the Charmed Cafe on Piper's powers. Here's a recap:
Ljones quoted another contributor - whitelightertony - and asked this seemingly rhetorical question:
The usage of "combustion" here is just another way of saying "explosion."
It gets tiring always referring to it as "Piper's blow-up power."
This was the quote. Now, here's the rhetorical question:
Isn't there a more correct phrase for Piper's ability?
I responded to whitelightertony and - by implication - ljones by offering the following:
Whitelightertony,
I suppose I can understand that some people might get tired of referring to Piper's explosive power as "blowing up". And, referring to it as particle acceleration is probably even more cumbersome. But, in the context in which it was used and the heading with which it was adorned, the author clearly intended to use this in a formal, everything explaining way. Unfortunately, use of the word "combustion" only complicates matters and muddles the waters even further.
Ljones contributed the entry at the Wikipedia site that characterized Piper's powers as follows:
According to the Wikipedia site, Piper's two psi abilities are molecular combustion and molecular immobilization.
The reference to Wikipedia obviously did not sit well with vandergraafk. In this pointed rebuke, he offered the following:
And, since when is Wikipedia to believed about anything? Any moron can post anything to Wikipedia. The whole point of Wikipedia is that it allows unedited contributions from anyone. Or, rather, it has up until recently. Because of certain malicious and factually incorrect entries and updates to entries, certain postings are now subject to editing.
I rather doubt that anything Charmed related has been vetted for sense and sensibility. Molecular combustion is nonsensical in and of itself. Molecular immobilization is another term that on the surface seems to make sense; but, when examined, it is just as vapid as molecular combustion.
At least I now know the source of the garbage written in the last issue of Charmed. Perhaps the writer went on to the Wikipedia and looked up this stuff, copied it down and incorporated it into an article. Garbage in, garbage out!
Now, if that sounds patronizing, perhaps it is. Yes, I have a real hostility to intellectual rubbish!
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Post by vandergraafk on Feb 16, 2007 20:12:50 GMT -5
Whitelightertony tried to salvage what he could of molecular combustion:
The point is, even though it's not actual combustion, it's close enough that "combustion" can be used as an interchangeable synonym with "explosion" and "blowing up," for the limited purposes of describing how objects appear when Piper uses her power.
When Piper accelerates the motion of objects, it obviously causes them to heat, burn, and/or oxidize. For that reason, "combustion" is a close enough descriptor, even if not scientifically perfect.
This scarcely assuaged vandergraafk:
Can you tell that I like precision? Combustion always requires a catalyst. There is none. Don't use it!
Even though vandergraafk went a bit over the top by insisting that combustion always requires a catalyst, whitelightertony tried to find a catalyst in the haystack with this contribution:
The catalyst in this case would be Piper's emotions, which she channels through her hands as a force that heats and/or burns and/or oxidizes matter.
It may not be traditional combustion by definition, but nothing on Charmed is scientifically accurate.
Simply tossing a problem aside by suggesting that nothing on Charmed is scientifically accurate misses the point, as far as vandergraafk was concerned:
Wait a minute, whitelightertony! It's quite true - and you are quite correct - that Charmed's reality is grounded in science fiction. But, most good science fiction succeeds - in part - because the science might be credible, given a few important developments. For example, warp speed is clearly not possible as depicted on Star Trek. The acceleration alone would send crew members out of the rear of the ship. However, given the curvature of space and the particular geometry of the universe - for better or worse, I am a mathematician - it is quite feasible to cross seemingly vast distances in space in relative short amounts of time. Why not construct your science fiction based on what we now know about space? Star Trek had a good excuse. Much of what we now know was not known then. Just as many writers depicted a steamy planet Venus overrun with jungle vegetation in the 1950s, their reality was a guess, a guess that we now know is wrong.
It would be great to be able to accelerate or decelerate particles to the velocities that Piper is able to achieve. Assume she can, now can we explain it in terms of what we know about particle physics? Yes, of course we can. We don't need to bring science seeming rubbish into the dialogue. Combustion is wrong-headed. It came from wikipedia. That's two major strikes for me.
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