Star Trek fans might be hoping we have a cloaking device ready for the Klingons and Romulans. According to an article on Fox News' tech page, the answer is yes. Invisible tanks, planes, and armor could be in use within 5 years. Rather than the whole "bending light" theory, this tech would use cameras and a high tech display to project the surrounding environment onto the hull of the vehicle rendering it effectively invisible - similar to a chameleon blending into the surrounding.
One thing I found cool is that I use a tech like this in my draft sci-fi novel, but not for military applications. The tech is used on the roof of an flying limousine and effectively makes the roof disappear so the occupants can stare at the stars. I one-up it by adding some touch-screen tech (like an iPad). Touch a star visible and get the info on it.
With this new tech coming out, I may have to tone down the surprise or make a comment that the characters hadn't heard of the tech used on anything besides military vehicles. Something to incorporate the science facts of this tech. Regardless, it's cool to see this tech really coming about. It's one of the great things about sci-fi. Things we dream can become reality.
Keep researching for your stories to include credible tech and
Write On.
Showing posts with label Weapons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weapons. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Training Day 1
Looks like I have another New Year Goal and something new to blog about. At my Tae Kwon Do class (can't believe the newsletter tab still has a picture from my black belt test - I'm the bald guy on the left side) last night, I went through some pre-testing drills with another black belt and some advanced red belts. So it looks like I'm going to be testing for my second degree black belt some time in February and that means that I've got to go into training mode!
Just for fun, and to keep me accountable, I'm going to include blog entries dedicated to training for this test. My first degree test was the most grueling thing I've ever gone through and this will be even tougher. The toughest parts were the three sparring sessions. Each spaced out between testing on techniques, and forms/katas. The first was just regular sparring. Nice warm-up.
The next was round-robin sparring. A group of helpers (mostly black belts) lined up and sparred me one at a time for about 30 seconds. Every 30 seconds I'd face a fresh opponent. I ended up sparring each person twice. Those taking their second degree test sparred their opponents three times. Definitely lots of cardio.
The last sparring session was multiples. I faced off against two black belts whose combined age was probably still less than mine (a 3rd and a 4th degree). Next time, I'll have to face three.
Other things are similar. Everybody works techniques and forms starting with white belt and working their way up. All black belts have to know the weapons forms. The simple one is with an escrima stick, but the more complicated (my favorite) is the bo form.
I need to take some time to polish my forms, and weapon techniques, but the most important thing to do is work on my cardio. This morning, I spent about 25 minutes warming up with a medicine ball workout and then going to the clubhouse gym for about 40 minutes on an elliptical. Since I'm working from home, I might practice some forms at lunch.
If you think it's out of place to talk about training for a martial arts test on a writer blog, don't worry. This is one of those things that I like to think goes to credible writing. Hopefully, if people see that on my book bio sections, they'll appreciate my fighting scenes that much more. Also, I have to write an essay - test of wisdom basically before the test.
So, be healthy, enjoy the new year and
Write On.
Just for fun, and to keep me accountable, I'm going to include blog entries dedicated to training for this test. My first degree test was the most grueling thing I've ever gone through and this will be even tougher. The toughest parts were the three sparring sessions. Each spaced out between testing on techniques, and forms/katas. The first was just regular sparring. Nice warm-up.
The next was round-robin sparring. A group of helpers (mostly black belts) lined up and sparred me one at a time for about 30 seconds. Every 30 seconds I'd face a fresh opponent. I ended up sparring each person twice. Those taking their second degree test sparred their opponents three times. Definitely lots of cardio.
The last sparring session was multiples. I faced off against two black belts whose combined age was probably still less than mine (a 3rd and a 4th degree). Next time, I'll have to face three.
Other things are similar. Everybody works techniques and forms starting with white belt and working their way up. All black belts have to know the weapons forms. The simple one is with an escrima stick, but the more complicated (my favorite) is the bo form.
I need to take some time to polish my forms, and weapon techniques, but the most important thing to do is work on my cardio. This morning, I spent about 25 minutes warming up with a medicine ball workout and then going to the clubhouse gym for about 40 minutes on an elliptical. Since I'm working from home, I might practice some forms at lunch.
If you think it's out of place to talk about training for a martial arts test on a writer blog, don't worry. This is one of those things that I like to think goes to credible writing. Hopefully, if people see that on my book bio sections, they'll appreciate my fighting scenes that much more. Also, I have to write an essay - test of wisdom basically before the test.
So, be healthy, enjoy the new year and
Write On.
Friday, December 17, 2010
New Weapon Tech and Teleportation Theories
Despite my recent rant on Transformers 2, one cool scene was the use of the rail gun on Devastator. Well, it appears that it's not just sci-fi or a rumor. On December 10, a Navy test produced a 33 megajoule finding. To quote the article, "A single megajoule is roughly equivalent to a 1-ton car traveling at 100 mph." Remember, the rail gun does not use an explosive projectile. The destruction uses nothing but kinetic energy. The weapon is expected to be able to hit a target 100 miles away (compared to the current range of about 13 miles by current Navy guns.
So, if you're writing an urban science fiction story with a rail gun. I'm sorry, but it's no longer science fiction.
Next. For all the Star Trek, fans here's an article that has found new plausibility in teleportation/transporter theories. But rather than breaking down a subject's molecular structure, transforming it to energy and transmitting/beaming it to a location where it's reassembled, the theory follows new quantum physics theories on parallel universes. Not only do these theories bring new light on teleportation, but time travel. To be honest, it's all a bit too complex for me to really translate but I plan on keeping my eyes open for more articles like this.
Now think of the application in science fiction technology. Not only do you have a credible basis for teleportation technology, but you could bring parallel universes into it.
So, do your research and
Write On
So, if you're writing an urban science fiction story with a rail gun. I'm sorry, but it's no longer science fiction.
Next. For all the Star Trek, fans here's an article that has found new plausibility in teleportation/transporter theories. But rather than breaking down a subject's molecular structure, transforming it to energy and transmitting/beaming it to a location where it's reassembled, the theory follows new quantum physics theories on parallel universes. Not only do these theories bring new light on teleportation, but time travel. To be honest, it's all a bit too complex for me to really translate but I plan on keeping my eyes open for more articles like this.
Now think of the application in science fiction technology. Not only do you have a credible basis for teleportation technology, but you could bring parallel universes into it.
So, do your research and
Write On
Saturday, November 13, 2010
TrekTrax Writing and Klingon Weapons
The first annual TrekTrax, Star Trek Convention in Atlanta is over President's Day weekend. For details, you can go to the web site at http://www.trektrax.org/. I registered over a month ago.
Aside from the main TV/movie guests, including Tim Russ (Tuvok), Barbara March (Lursa), and Gwynyth Walsh (Be'tor), there are several Star Trek authors attending. Even better is that one of them, Ms. Diana Botsford, will be running a writing workshop where she will provide a critique of a one-page summary submitted. Well, I'm not waiting. I put together a one-page synopsis of LEGACY SOLDIER: HYBRIDS DEPLOYED and emailed it today.
Aside from that, I'm talking to some local Klingons to see if I can borrow some Klingon weapons - Bat'leth and Mek'leth. If I have enough time, I plan to try to adapt my Tae Kwon Do school's bo and sword forms to the Bat'leth and Mek'leth respectively. Maybe I'll even try to put on a weapons demo.
If I do that, I've got about 3 months to borrow the weapons, practice, get a Klingon costume, and
Write On.
Aside from the main TV/movie guests, including Tim Russ (Tuvok), Barbara March (Lursa), and Gwynyth Walsh (Be'tor), there are several Star Trek authors attending. Even better is that one of them, Ms. Diana Botsford, will be running a writing workshop where she will provide a critique of a one-page summary submitted. Well, I'm not waiting. I put together a one-page synopsis of LEGACY SOLDIER: HYBRIDS DEPLOYED and emailed it today.
Aside from that, I'm talking to some local Klingons to see if I can borrow some Klingon weapons - Bat'leth and Mek'leth. If I have enough time, I plan to try to adapt my Tae Kwon Do school's bo and sword forms to the Bat'leth and Mek'leth respectively. Maybe I'll even try to put on a weapons demo.
If I do that, I've got about 3 months to borrow the weapons, practice, get a Klingon costume, and
Write On.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Choose Your Weapon
One of the fun things about science fiction and fantasy is the action and battle scenes. So I wanted to take some time to talk about weapons. Not big "weapon systems" like you'd find on starships or vehicles. Let's get down in the trenches with hand-held weaponry. What do you like to see/read about?
Lasers have probably been in science fiction about as long as we've had science fiction. Yes, as a child, I sometimes played with a flashlight like it was a laser, so there.
For those who don't like the sometimes unlimited "ammunition" of lasers, you have a variety of projectile weapons modeled from handguns, rifles, machine guns. All requiring convenient and realistic needs to be reloaded (unless the character firing is Rambo).
Then there are the weapons used in various ways both in fantasy and science fiction.
Let's start with the sword. This is possibly the most popular weapon - even moreso than the laser. And to be honest, I'm over swords. If they've got any killing power, they're big, bulky, and heavy. Definitely not discrete, so there's little surprise if/when somebody draws one.
Even a perfectly balanced sword isn't balanced at the handle, so the weilder's going to get tired swinging that thing around. I know because in my Tae Kwon Do class, I practice with a demostration version of a Chinese broad sword. Going through a sword form/kata a few times always leave my arm/wrist tired and sore.
I will say that the coolest examples/demos I've seen with swords was done on Spike TV's show The Deadliest Warrior. Watching the carnage on gel torsos, pig carcasses, and the guy using a claymore sword (like William Wallace used) to slice 3 heads off neckbones with one swing was pretty cool. However, my favorite sword was the twin hooks sword used by Shaolin Monks. Hook-shaped swords with crescent bladed handles and even a short blade/spike at the opposite end. They could not only disarm an opponent, but hooked together could create a 12 foot (4 meter) diameter killing zone. Very cool.
While Star Wars made light sabers/laser swords more popular than ever in movies, I don't think that really helps literature. It seems that most sci-fi readers like more plausibility in their tech and there isn't even a theoretical way to make light stop at a pre-determined distance, much less clash with another like a solid object.
One of my favorite science fiction swords would have to go to the Klingons for the Bat'leth. Crescent shaped, two handled sword give better balance and better defensibility than straight handled swords.
Enough about swords. Let's move on to other weapons. We can definitely be thankful to the different forms of martial arts that helped to give us a variety of killing and battling instruments. One popular weapon, also in science fiction/fantasy, is the bo/staff. Darth Maul's light saber was really a light staff (until Obi Wan cut it in two). Two edges of fighting power that may not be as obviously deadly as a sword in the real world, but should never be underestimated. In the sci-fi universe though a bo can be just as deadly as a sword as Qui Gong Gin learned in Star Wars Episode I.
Whips. Anybody see Iron Man 2? Read the comic? Enough said I guess. If Whiplash wins the prize for coolest science fiction whip, I'd give an honorable mention to the Ferengi when they were introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Weapon of choice? Energy-firing whips, but I'll bet they would also pack a mean slap close-in also. Unfortunately, the Ferengi whips were seldom shown, preferring instead to go to the typical hand phasers. Oh well, innovations don't always last.
It seems like size does matter in weapons. I'd say the most common shorter weapon is a dagger. They're used ceremonially and as easily concealed sidearms. But what about other weapons? Kamas are short-handled weapons with a half-crescent shaped blade at one end. Like other martial arts weapons, the kamas weren't originally made as weapons (as I understand at least). They were farm instruments. But, there portability and killing potential made them excellent weapons. Since in science fiction, most farming would probably be done mechanically (except in some post-apocalyptic stories), kamas may not have much use/visibility, but I'm surprised I don't read more about them in fantasy.
Since this post is getting longer than I really intended, let me skip to my personal favorite for weapons. The tonfa. Police nightsticks were based on the tonfa. The best explanation I've gotten for the origination of the tonfa was that it was a removeable handle for millstones. I was introduced to the tonfa in an early martial arts class. What I like about tonfas is their felxibility in combat. The long part of the shaft should extend just longer than the wielder's elbow, protecting the entire forearm. The other end extends several inches past the hand. This makes the tonfa excellent for blocking and striking. The short end extends the weilder's punch and the perpendicular handle allows the long shaft to be swung around for more striking. Even the handle can be a weapon. It's wider than the hand and can injure or kill with a ridge hand to an opponent's temple.
The style was Shorin-Ryu and the first weapon we used was the tonfa. In some ways, once you learn basic blocks and punches/strikes, you're ready to try basic tonfa tactics. It strengthens basic blocks and adds range/power to a variety of strikes. A couple of cool tonfa weapons I've seen in sci-fi/fantasy? One of the coolest was the zombie guy from the first Hellboy movie. He actually used a tonfa-sword, but I give points for getting away from the conventional sword shaped. Honorable mention goes to one Star Wars book. Sorry I didn't read it and don't know the title, but on the cover were two Jedi. One had a tonfa-style light sabre. How the Jedi used that without burning her own arm off with the blade is beyond me, but kudos for the innovation.
In my draft novel, LEGACY SOLDIER: HYBRIDS RELEASED, I created a sidearm for the heros based on the tonfa. I call it the Tonfa Blaster, or TB for short. The long end is charged for close-in combat. The shaft is also pressure sensitive. The harder the wielder hits, the more energy is discharged. While the handle "grounds" the user, an adversary had better avoid contact. Soft contact will stun, but a hard blow will remove body parts. I'd say this weapon has plausibility and it gives me an answer for readers who'd like something that could approximate a light-sabre type duel.
Swing around and the short end is the firing side. With a trigger on the handle, the weapon could fire energy or plasma blasts at an enemy. There may be some plausibility issues here, but there are some "givens" in science fiction that are still pretty well acceptable.
Got a favorite weapon in literature? Share it.
Until then. Write On.
Lasers have probably been in science fiction about as long as we've had science fiction. Yes, as a child, I sometimes played with a flashlight like it was a laser, so there.
For those who don't like the sometimes unlimited "ammunition" of lasers, you have a variety of projectile weapons modeled from handguns, rifles, machine guns. All requiring convenient and realistic needs to be reloaded (unless the character firing is Rambo).
Then there are the weapons used in various ways both in fantasy and science fiction.
Let's start with the sword. This is possibly the most popular weapon - even moreso than the laser. And to be honest, I'm over swords. If they've got any killing power, they're big, bulky, and heavy. Definitely not discrete, so there's little surprise if/when somebody draws one.
Even a perfectly balanced sword isn't balanced at the handle, so the weilder's going to get tired swinging that thing around. I know because in my Tae Kwon Do class, I practice with a demostration version of a Chinese broad sword. Going through a sword form/kata a few times always leave my arm/wrist tired and sore.
I will say that the coolest examples/demos I've seen with swords was done on Spike TV's show The Deadliest Warrior. Watching the carnage on gel torsos, pig carcasses, and the guy using a claymore sword (like William Wallace used) to slice 3 heads off neckbones with one swing was pretty cool. However, my favorite sword was the twin hooks sword used by Shaolin Monks. Hook-shaped swords with crescent bladed handles and even a short blade/spike at the opposite end. They could not only disarm an opponent, but hooked together could create a 12 foot (4 meter) diameter killing zone. Very cool.
While Star Wars made light sabers/laser swords more popular than ever in movies, I don't think that really helps literature. It seems that most sci-fi readers like more plausibility in their tech and there isn't even a theoretical way to make light stop at a pre-determined distance, much less clash with another like a solid object.
One of my favorite science fiction swords would have to go to the Klingons for the Bat'leth. Crescent shaped, two handled sword give better balance and better defensibility than straight handled swords.
Enough about swords. Let's move on to other weapons. We can definitely be thankful to the different forms of martial arts that helped to give us a variety of killing and battling instruments. One popular weapon, also in science fiction/fantasy, is the bo/staff. Darth Maul's light saber was really a light staff (until Obi Wan cut it in two). Two edges of fighting power that may not be as obviously deadly as a sword in the real world, but should never be underestimated. In the sci-fi universe though a bo can be just as deadly as a sword as Qui Gong Gin learned in Star Wars Episode I.
Whips. Anybody see Iron Man 2? Read the comic? Enough said I guess. If Whiplash wins the prize for coolest science fiction whip, I'd give an honorable mention to the Ferengi when they were introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Weapon of choice? Energy-firing whips, but I'll bet they would also pack a mean slap close-in also. Unfortunately, the Ferengi whips were seldom shown, preferring instead to go to the typical hand phasers. Oh well, innovations don't always last.
It seems like size does matter in weapons. I'd say the most common shorter weapon is a dagger. They're used ceremonially and as easily concealed sidearms. But what about other weapons? Kamas are short-handled weapons with a half-crescent shaped blade at one end. Like other martial arts weapons, the kamas weren't originally made as weapons (as I understand at least). They were farm instruments. But, there portability and killing potential made them excellent weapons. Since in science fiction, most farming would probably be done mechanically (except in some post-apocalyptic stories), kamas may not have much use/visibility, but I'm surprised I don't read more about them in fantasy.
Since this post is getting longer than I really intended, let me skip to my personal favorite for weapons. The tonfa. Police nightsticks were based on the tonfa. The best explanation I've gotten for the origination of the tonfa was that it was a removeable handle for millstones. I was introduced to the tonfa in an early martial arts class. What I like about tonfas is their felxibility in combat. The long part of the shaft should extend just longer than the wielder's elbow, protecting the entire forearm. The other end extends several inches past the hand. This makes the tonfa excellent for blocking and striking. The short end extends the weilder's punch and the perpendicular handle allows the long shaft to be swung around for more striking. Even the handle can be a weapon. It's wider than the hand and can injure or kill with a ridge hand to an opponent's temple.
The style was Shorin-Ryu and the first weapon we used was the tonfa. In some ways, once you learn basic blocks and punches/strikes, you're ready to try basic tonfa tactics. It strengthens basic blocks and adds range/power to a variety of strikes. A couple of cool tonfa weapons I've seen in sci-fi/fantasy? One of the coolest was the zombie guy from the first Hellboy movie. He actually used a tonfa-sword, but I give points for getting away from the conventional sword shaped. Honorable mention goes to one Star Wars book. Sorry I didn't read it and don't know the title, but on the cover were two Jedi. One had a tonfa-style light sabre. How the Jedi used that without burning her own arm off with the blade is beyond me, but kudos for the innovation.
In my draft novel, LEGACY SOLDIER: HYBRIDS RELEASED, I created a sidearm for the heros based on the tonfa. I call it the Tonfa Blaster, or TB for short. The long end is charged for close-in combat. The shaft is also pressure sensitive. The harder the wielder hits, the more energy is discharged. While the handle "grounds" the user, an adversary had better avoid contact. Soft contact will stun, but a hard blow will remove body parts. I'd say this weapon has plausibility and it gives me an answer for readers who'd like something that could approximate a light-sabre type duel.
Swing around and the short end is the firing side. With a trigger on the handle, the weapon could fire energy or plasma blasts at an enemy. There may be some plausibility issues here, but there are some "givens" in science fiction that are still pretty well acceptable.
Got a favorite weapon in literature? Share it.
Until then. Write On.
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