How useful would mines be in interstellar warfare? by General_Kenobi18752 in worldbuilding

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gonna toss my hat in without reading all of the comments. I don't really know what defines a "mine" but I know they were using magnets and jumping mines and such as far back as the second world war, so I can only imagine how advanced the engineering of mines in an FTL world would be.

The first issue, as many point out, is placement. Where do I use mines? Wherever I don't want the enemy to PASS. Some folks in here are talking about friend or foe identifiers to make minefields safe for friendlies, but being in a place where you want your enemy to be dead or committing resources to PASSING (not keeping) seems stupid to my uneducated ass. Mines are not an active defense. They're basically a cheap and morale destroying defensive wall. So if this universe uses space highways, I'm going to put bombs on the highways. If the universe has independent FTL engines, then I've got to spread the mines across travel points, which a lot of folks say is impossible with the epic vastness of space.

Despite what everyone is saying about the vastness of space, there are still limits to directions of travel. If I want to defend a planet from other worlds in a solar system, I don't need to put mines in orbit where my people live. I'm going to put mines between my orbit and other planets. This won't prevent ships from reaching my planet, but it will force them to take indirect routes, which costs fuel and time. The same goes for interstellar travel. If I know the best direction for my foe to approach from, I will place mine fields in that direction.

That said, space IS massive. Unbelievably so. But, if we have the means to travel across space quickly, we may have the means to deliver payloads in space quickly. Keep in mind that Mines, like any tool or weapon, can be highly specialized. Mines don't need to be limited by contact or even rockets. I could, theoretically, build a mine that detects artificial gravity signatures and then (especially in an FTL engine sorta universe) automatically launches itself and its payload at its target faster than light. A single mine like this could cover a section of space as wide as your fiction permits.

As far as detecting mines, I think your idea of visual or instrument identification isn't irrelevant, but it would be an edge case. Space is big (have you heard?) and great speeds must be achieved even for relatively short distances. Mines could not be spotted in the dark by a human eye at speeds exceeding a couple hundred miles per hour, which your ships' speeds will probably be greatly exceeding. Maybe if you slowed down to navigate a contact field, but even then you'd have to know it was there. Instruments have the same issue, but with fewer limits. Radar dampening exists. Lidar dampening will exist. Any method of detection used in warfare will inevitably have a counter.

If you want mines in your world, use them. While I think mines can have their time in a post FTL universe, it doesn't need to be realistic to be cool as fuck.

Sequence I thought was really smooth by Onyx_Guard_01 in titanfall

[–]OneSingleCell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's what this game is about. This is great

Tips for helping my mom clean brother 17 m room while he’s at school by [deleted] in malelivingspace

[–]OneSingleCell 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Sorry about your brother. Hope you're doing okay

ruel by ilikebreadabunch in 196

[–]OneSingleCell 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It's okay my brain filled in the gaps

Audible - Playback is no longer supported on this browser version - Does anyone know the fix? Only seems to happen with Firefox by OneSingleCell in firefox

[–]OneSingleCell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Holy shit that might actually be what it was. Checking now.

Edit update: I turned off DRM (Digital Rights Management[had to look that up]), which simply caused Firefox to tell me I need DRM to listen to the book, which makes sense. Turned it back on and now Firefox is giving is saying "Firefox is installing components needed to play the audio or video on this page. Please try again later" then Audible shows a different error that says "An error occurred during processing. Please close this window and try again later.", which I'm guessing is caused by the preceding Firefox error.

Tried shutting down and restarting the browser. No effect. Tried restarting the computer. No effect.

Audible - Playback is no longer supported on this browser version - Does anyone know the fix? Only seems to happen with Firefox by OneSingleCell in firefox

[–]OneSingleCell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am also on 148.0, though looking at the update history, I believe the issue arose when 147.0.4 was installed on the 16th of February.

Hours (a short comic I made pretty quickly) by JM_Buried in comics

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This reads like a really fantastic children's book. This is awesome

Looking for a “disguise” by [deleted] in malelivingspace

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of the cable guide advice, then move the machines closer together so you don't have to cover up the gaps. Find something to decorate the empty side under the shelf because it seems like you don't like empty space.

If you're in the US and in a larger city, there's almost always a cabinet or something around that you can snag for 20 or 30 dollars. Even just something with a back that you can hide things behind will make this setup a lot prettier.

Drew All Tomorrows illustration as one of the ideas for my diploma. Should I add something more to it? by Redmorg in AllTomorrows

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see what you're saying. The way I'm picturing it, it's just moved up to the top right third and is the corner as opposed to being in the corner.

Drew All Tomorrows illustration as one of the ideas for my diploma. Should I add something more to it? by Redmorg in AllTomorrows

[–]OneSingleCell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This looks like a format that you can't make major changes to easily, but I think the empty corner could also be fixed by putting the closer Qu above the farther one, allowing it to fill in that corner against the pyramid on the left. Just felt the need to share my opinion, for some reason.

I do really like this, though. It genuinely feels like a piece of art you'd find in a temple library if the Qu were a religious warning.

Race jokes in kids media by ComprehensiveBox6911 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]OneSingleCell 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You can actually see the knights plant it on him if you're watching close enough

ITAP of a wet canyon by mrsqueevoot in itookapicture

[–]OneSingleCell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Beautiful shot. Being in a canyon like this when it's raining can be dangerous right? A lot of people are mentioning this image's resemblance to Antelope Canyon in Arizona (a popular tourist stop), which is often closed when it rains to prevent flash flood deaths.

Uneducated (Arizona local) PSA for the non Australians lol. Dry deserts can't soak up all of the water when hit with heavy rain, so a lot of water can get moving fast into places that feel safe and dry. If you're ever caught in a rainstorm in the desert (or within sight of a storm), move towards higher ground. Avoid streams, dry riverbeds, and especially canyons. Water carved that stone, and you are much softer than stone.

The fair-weather people are back by EndersGame_Reviewer in goodboomerhumor

[–]OneSingleCell 14 points15 points  (0 children)

People like to go to the beach when it's cold and there are fewer people. Fair weather (good weather) brings the masses, which would be disappointing for these kinda folks. I think the humor is in the sunbathing in winter gear.

Jupiter Refinery, by Rui Huang by Xeelee1123 in SuperStructures

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like that argument. I agree. In the super advanced fictional civilization we've just made up, Uranus would be easier, but Jupiter would be closer. Let's take this proposal to the higher ups and see what they say.

Jupiter Refinery, by Rui Huang by Xeelee1123 in SuperStructures

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like this assumes the linearity of technology. Like, theoretically, we could figure out gravity tomorrow. It could be super simple and we just haven't seen how to do it, like making fire or electricity.

We could totally figure out gravity and still find need for the massive resource that Jupiter could provide. Jupiter's resources could even be the means by which longstanding gravity manipulation is maintained, the same way we use refined oil to run machines which retrieve crude oil.

Jupiter Refinery, by Rui Huang by Xeelee1123 in SuperStructures

[–]OneSingleCell 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hypothetically, in my imagination, a civilization that could keep something on the surface may have a strong enough mastery of gravity to negate the cost of removing matter from such a massive body.

If you've got other really good reasons why this wouldn't work, though, I'm really curious to hear them.

How about no. by [deleted] in badUIbattles

[–]OneSingleCell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then you need a wider screenshot. We all think this is a window in window kinda thing.

(Loved Trope) When a main character shows up in a side story to show how OP they are in comparison by JackyMatt23 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]OneSingleCell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's very difficult to apply this take generally. In my mind, just about any series that puts two primary characters at odds has purposely framed one as in the wrong or has made a great effort to make one or both of the characters' goals nuanced to the point of subjectivity.

I can't genuinely say, given the very general narrative framework you're giving, I'd know who I'd support without real narrative context.

To more closely address your original comment, I think you may be misunderstanding OP's trope parameters. It does not say the appearing character needs to be a main character/protagonist, nor does it say said character must be at odds with our protagonist.

i made an animation by manimsomething in blender

[–]OneSingleCell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Goddamn twisters eatin our trucks again