sikozu's ability (minor spoilers about new character)

[steeef]

i don't think sikozu's ability to shift her center of gravity adequately explains how she can walk on walls/ceilings.

my physics knowledge is a bit rusty, but the most she should be able to do by changing her center of gravity would be something like standing on her head without use of her hands, or balancing on one hand. changing your center of gravity does not get rid of gravity's effect on you. you're still being pulled toward the center of the earth/center of the ship's gravity.

maybe they're just explaining her ability incorrectly. she's not shifting her center of gravity so much as generating an antigravity field encompassing her body, allowing her to stay on the ceiling a la lionel richie (see: the video for his song "dancing on the ceiling").

thoughts/comments?

[HumanReaction]

Ummm.... SURE!
-HR

[PillowRock]

I just took it for granted that were re-defining (misusing?) the phrase "center of gravity" for their purposes in the show. Perhaps "direction of gravity" would be better?

And the Lionel Richie video was based on a much older Fred Astair dance scene. I don't remember which movie it was in off the top of my head, though.

[steeef]

you're probably right. and whenever i think of someone walking on the ceiling, i can't help but think of the lionel richie video. i've never seen astair dance on the ceiling.

[Aryan_Son]

>my physics knowledge is a bit rusty, but the most she should
>be able to do by changing her center of gravity would be
>something like standing on her head without use of her
>hands, or balancing on one hand.

That would be the extent of it, unless she was able to change the center of her gravity to somewhere far outside of her body... and that ios probably what the show intended.

Actually, by simply shifting the muscles in your own body you are able to do a fair bit of this yourself. If you arch your back, do sorta a "bridge" on the floor with your feet at one end and your hands at the other, you are shifting your ceneter of graviuty to outside of your body, to a point floating somewhere below your belly.

I wasn't trying to consider the math while watching the episode, but if one were able to will their center of gravity far enough away, all of what you saw should have been possible.

-CTB

[tanstaafl]

Totally non-relevant, but in the old Destroyer series of books, the main character was said to be able to climb walls because he had learned to throw his center of gravity to the other side of the wall. That way, if he slipped and fell, he would fall "into" the wall.

No, it didn't make sense to me either...

[QuartzMan]

Ya know, I figure it's just a homonym phrase. Farscape isn't known for explaining and justifying everything (which I like) so maybe it's just the best translation someone could come up with for "Center-of-gravity throwing" which just doesn't sound good or very clever.

But I wonder - you think she's related to the boolites? I mean that hand should have been useless - bondable or not it must still rot if she is ANYTHING like any other bipeds in the show...

[HunterJumper]

>I mean that hand should have been useless
They can re-attach human extremities after quite some time...even after them having been mangled in accidents.

[Shen]

>i don't think sikozu's ability to shift her center of
>gravity adequately explains how she can walk on
>walls/ceilings.
>
>my physics knowledge is a bit rusty, but the most she should
>be able to do by changing her center of gravity would be
>something like standing on her head without use of her
>hands, or balancing on one hand. changing your center of
>gravity does not get rid of gravity's effect on you. you're
>still being pulled toward the center of the earth/center of
>the ship's gravity.
>
>maybe they're just explaining her ability incorrectly. she's
>not shifting her center of gravity so much as generating an
>antigravity field encompassing her body, allowing her to
>stay on the ceiling a la lionel richie (see: the video for
>his song "dancing on the ceiling").
>
>thoughts/comments?

i think you are right there...they should have said that she has the ability to alter gravity around her

[QuartzMan]

REALLY?!

Yipes! I mean I've heard of them reattaching lost limbs that were packed in ice right away, but I also always hear that they say you need to be in an emergency room having that piece sewn on before the detached whatever is too far dead - too likely to get gangrene.. but hey, it's the UT so who knows - not like walking on walls is normal either.

[steeef]

oh well. i should be more concerned about story development than technical details. if i wanted the latter, i'd watch something boring like star trek.

[TINemo]

For sure if you reattach an extremity, especially something as complex as a hand, you don't just tie it on with a rag. It takes a team of surgeons:one to reattach muscles/tendons/ligaments and someone else to reconnect nerves, yet another for blood vessels-both arterial and venous, and then someone to do the soft tissue repair and the skin closure. You are talking 12 or more hours of very finely detailed work, followed by a long period in which infection, swelling, blah blah are problems and then months of rehab to regain even partial use.

So whatever she is, this chick is not human. ---but is she compatible with our hero?? Wait and see. She is apparently going to be around for a while because she is scheduled for the Burbank Con in Nov.

TINemo

[DeathbyZamboni]

i noticed she has scales on her face (which seemed to get darker when she was excited - did anyone notice that?). I wonder if that is a hint at an animal origin - maybe she's part lizard(y)? alien lizard. She did grow up in Scarren territory & those guys definitely look lizardy. Lizards can regrow new limbs (not exactly the same, but close) or tails. And they can climb walls and ceilings too (admittedly with stickiness and tiny claws, but still...

Maybe when she moves her center of gravity, she puts all her weight into her finger tips or toes. Maybe she has to keep fluctuating it to generate an upward direction. ? dunno. maybe it's BS.

with the scales she could also be part fish-like alien. or something... could her species be related to scarrens? I think the fact that she grew up in scarren territory will play a BIG part later - there's going to be some big-ASS war with Scarrens i predict. And maybe crichton is going to be at the forefront of it. Maybe leading it even! just some guesses...

peace,
David David

[Tetsuo]

I did notice the scales on her face, kinda of blue, isnt it?
I thought that it could be just some light effect, but, now that you mention, maybe its really her skin. Whatever it is, i guess it will be explained sometime (have no ideia when, it took 21 episodes to find out that Zhaan was a plant).

The relations with lizards you showed are enought to not be ignored. Another cold-bloded-bad-to-the-bones-chick?

--
Tetsuo
http://tetsuo.geekbunker.org/