Re: BSG thoughts(spoilers for the most recent episode)

It is alleged that Catman Andy claimed:

> > Proof? We already saw that they are stronger and have better stamina
> > than stock human. It is not a far stretch to then assume that they can
> > handle more G force, too.
>
> Agreed in part. We are both making assumptions since we lack proof.
> Can you prove that the Hulons can take higher Gs?

No hard proof, because as you said, we don't have any in either
direction. I'm extrapolating on what we know in reality about physical
stamina, conditioning and withstanding G-forces. A real human fighter
pilot is in way better shape than I, and I would not be able to handle,
not for long anyway, even some of what an F16 pilot deals with
routinely.

What we +have+ seen on the show is that the "Hulons" are physically
stronger than Humans, with a higher endurance. I'm not saying that
they'd be able to withstand a 25G maneuver, but where the typical Human
pilot may be able to handle 8Gs briefly on his/her own or longer with
the G-suit, I'd be surprised if a "Hulon" needed such help at 9 Gs.

Note too, that even though the Hulons are stronger, etc, than Humans,
they are not the combat units.

> huge load on their hearts. We've seen that the Hulons are physically
> identical to humans, so why would you assume they could stand the

No, they're not. They only +look+ physically identical.

> > Their fighters are not piloted by Cylons, they ARE Cylons. We've
> > specifically seen that the Raider model is itself a Cylon entity, not a
> > vehicle piloted by a Cylon.
>
> Ah yes. I was still focused on TOS fighters with toasters and that
> big bouncy red eye. They must still have some of those around for
> toasters. Have we seen any? The new fighters are partially organic,

We saw a picture of one in the miniseries. Other than that, their
replacements are the ones with the stiletto fingers and guns in their
arms. IIRC, we've seen five classes of Cylon so far:

The "Hulons" as you call them
The "Toasters"
The Raider craft
The transport (used to board the Galactica, and by Starbuck, etc, to
leave Caprica with the arrow)
The BaseStar.

The transport may or may not be a sentient, as the times we've seen it,
it was definitely being piloted, one was disassembled and one was
stolen by Humans and a maybe-defecting Hulon.

> > > since the crews are moving about and would be tossed hard. Gentle,
> > > constant acceleration will get the big ships going much faster than
> > > fighters.
> > Non-sequitur.
> Why? I was addressing the speed differences. But, playing my own

Because we were discussing the capabilities of the "Hulons", not how
fast a BaseStar can maneuver.

> devil's advocate, since Galactica apparently has inertial dampners, we
> must assume the cylon ships also have them.

Absolutely. The existence of artificial gravity strongly implies
inertial dampers. After all, if you can control the gravity field, you
can control its strength and direction. Sudden shocks will likely
overcome its abilities, such as collisions and explosions, but for
maneuvering, it had damn well better work.

> > > I have to disagree. Consider our cars. The 2006 models are for
> > Bad analogy. Consider instead military tech. Research to deployment
> > is generally faster in the military fields in part because they don't
> > have to worry as much about consumer safety, and field deployments are
> > part of the research anyway.
>
> Granted, but the difference is only the lag time. The F117-a was
> totally unknown for several years and 10 years before it became public.
> Weapons secrets are well guarded. The premise still holds.

Besides... who said that the Cylons were a military project? We've
seen no evidence of any enemy other than the Cylons. My guess is that
they were developed to be household appliances, hence why they're
deridingly called "toasters". You know, mow the lawn, wash the dishes
and laundry, clean the house...

> Before the F117-A, the latest deployed tech was the F14 with latest
> upgrades, F16 and F18. They're still formidable weapons, but the F22
> design has been final for what? 2 years? Prototypes are flying now.
> When deployed, they will run rings around the earlier jets and
> simultaneously track more bogies than any other jet on Earth.
> If OUR own 'cylons' had split from us just 20 years ago, the latest
> they could take would be F14 with old avionics. Once the 'slow' F117-A
> was out, it could sneak up on their ships and destroy them before they
> knew it was coming. Our top secret F117, B1 and B2 project would be
> unknown to them. Their new weapons would be based on F14s and MAYBE
> develop into the F16 and F18 class fighters. We'd still have the edge
> for a while. Given 40 years on their own, they could outpace us
> because they are computers.

If they stuck to mechanicals, electronics and software, they'd outpace
much, much faster. What took the Cylons so long, I think, is the
organics. You can build a robot in maybe a couple of hours, depending
on the model, but it takes a couple of decades to grow a biological
adult.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"To achieve that end we must remain free and Babylon 5 is our only
hope. We have expended the last of our energy in getting here. We
request sanctuary." (War Leader Na'Kal, B5 "The Fall OF Night")

.

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