We all memorise random bit of information about ourfavorite science fiction story , just from long exposure to them . But we’reaware , on some degree , that it ’s all useless entropy . Except that some trivium isanything but lilliputian . Here are 10 piece of music of science fiction trivia that couldbe really helpful in real life .
To compile this list , I asked some of my friend for help , and alsoaskedon the io9 Facebook Sir Frederick Handley Page . Thanks to everyone who helped out !
10 ) The solvent tothe Death Zone maze in Doctor Who , “ The Five MD ”
This is how I remember the first eight fingerbreadth of Pi — because the First Doctor intonate them right before he go toss coins outonto the deadly cheat board that can only be crossed if you step on thecorresponding numbers . For the ninth digit and beyond , though , you ’ll have touse other means .
9 ) What ’s adodecahedron ?
Anyone who ’s read ( and obsess over ) the Phantom Tollboothknows the answer : It ’s a twelve - sided shape . ( Also , if you ’ve memorized the Doctor Who instalment “ Meglos,”you’ll be covered as well . )
- “ Fear is themind - killer ”
Everybody is fond of quote this passage from FrankHerbert ’s Dune — but it ’s really auseful bit of psychological science that can facilitate you to have the best fright .
7 ) East and West inLarry Niven ’s N - Space
In Larry Niven ’s story “ The Kiteman , ” we learnthat the most of import axiom in the Smoke Ring is : “ East takes you Out , Out use up you West , West takes you In , In occupy you East . North and South bringyou back . ” But what does this mean?It make moresenseonce you realize that “ East ” means carbon monoxide gas - orbital and “ West”means anti - orbital , and “ in ” and “ out ” are in coitus tothe key neutron star .
6 ) One bit of StarTrek technobabble that could facilitate you learn
On Star Trek : The NextGeneration , they ’re always going on about theHeisenbergcompensators , a portion of the conveyor that gives them a plenty oftrouble . But this can actually help teach you aboutHeisenberg ’s UncertaintyPrinciple , the notion that you ca n’t know a particle ’s position andmomentum — which those compensators presumptively compensate for , somehow .
5 ) The reason for thetitle of Bradbury ’s most famous Word
Fahrenheit 451 refers to the temperature at which paperbursts into flame — and now you know what that temperature is , in case youever require to burn some paper in your oven .
4 ) The monster inForbidden Planet
Quote Forbidden Planetoften enough , and you ’ll learn something about our psychology that ’s asvaluable as “ fear is the mind - orca . ” The monsters are depict ascoming from the i d , the primitive part of the learning ability , which introduces you tothe idea that we all have primitive , belligerent impulses in our psyche that comefrom a primal place and ca n’t be gotten rid of .
3 ) “ Big Brotheris watching ”
really , George Orwell ’s 1984 is full of repeatable musical phrase which masses jabber off at theleast provocation — and they give us a way to talk about the rise of thesurveillance land , and the fact that Big Brother really is take in us now . Not to bring up how useful “ newspeak ” is in our geological era of media dual - public lecture .
2 ) skipper Kirk’sdeadly formula
Anyone who has obsess over the Star Trek episode “ Arena ” and can quote it from memoryalso knows the ingredients of powder . In picky , you might not haverealized K nitrate was an ingredient in the material unless you visit Kirkdealing with it .
1 ) Han Solo ’s mostfamous jactitation
Han Solo brags that the Millennium Falcon did the Kessel Runin under 12 parsec — motivate 10 of lover to direct out that parsecs area measure of length , not sentence . Which means now you know what a“parsec ” is . ( It ’s adequate to about 30 trillion km , or 3.25light year . ) And yes , there is an explanation for this in one of the novel — he was talking about reduce the distance of the trip by steeringdangerously unaired to black yap , or something .
Thanks to Adam Rogers , Horace Austin , Matthew du Plessis , Zem , Jennifer Kretchmer , Liz Taylor ’s Earrings , Ilana Teitelbaum , Jake Kerr , Sunil Patel , Scott Stearley , Cameron Marston , Chuck Hinshaw , Diane Barnett , Bill Rogers , Eric Hoepelman , Doug Champion , Sreedhar Yedavalli , Johnny Peters , Derek Collins , Adam MacGregor , Leighton Shell , Debie Baugher , Sarah D. Baker , Anthony Collado , Diana Heald , Chad Wayne , Aengus Fallon , Joe Meils , DavidVoderberg , Edmond King , Jeff Ballentine , Adam Novak , Kenneth James , Joshua L.Rubin , Thom Pintello , Jennifer Anne , Merrill Barrel , Jeff Bosco , Nick Sievert , Ed Parton , Kurt Miller , Chris Smith , Bruce DeShettler II , John Hulslander , Patricio Carrasco , Michael Arsenault , Matthew H. Smith , Hugh Kenneth David , Patrick Geberth , Heidi van der Vloet , Matt Brown , Kevin Leroux , ShaneMoorhouse , Anita Lerae , Gary Stott , Al Bartlett , Jerry Taylor , Tobias Lake , Billy Baughman , Adam Kennedy , Carl Minns , Emmanuel Mayer , Lucas Pitcher , Richard Waters , Evan Blanton , Ashutosh Mohanty , Thomas Meyers , Zack Heffner , Dan Brown , Justin Adams , Eddy Velazquez , Matthew Lohse , Scott Finstad , IsabellaSmith and everyone else who responded !
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