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Sunday 10 March 2013

Back To the Future

Back to the Future was one of Robert Zemeckis and Stephen Spielberg's Crown Jewels the other's Being Who Framed Roger Rabbit for it's Cartoon and Live action combo and Forrest Gump for being able to super impose people into historical videos. This series was North America's answer to Doctor Who.  Is it no surprise that one of the main characters is named Doc? It has had 3 movies, a cartoon series and various video games.  The most Recent being the first of many nicknamed "sequel video games."  In which you are literally with the characters during the whole ordeal.

Our story begins in 1985,  local slacker and aspiring musician Martin "Marty" McFly was just rejected by an audition.  Though personally I think it was because Huey Lewis didn't like him over metalizing his song Power Of Love (Seriously folks he's the Judge that told him "You're just too darn loud.")  He spends his leisure hanging out with his girlfriend.  Watching his father George put up with his jerk of a boss Biff Tannen and participating in dangerous experiments with his friend Doctor Emmet "Doc" Brown.  A local scientist and resident crazy of Hill Valley California.  During the recent one Marty discovers that Doc had converted a DeLorean DMC-12 car into a nuclear powered Time Machine.  However after the initial test Doc was gunned down by Libyan terrorists for stealing the Plutonium needed for it.  When Marty uses the DeLorean to escape he is accidentally sent back in time to the year 1955.  During which he accidentally screws up a meeting between George and his future mother Loraine Banes. He finds Doc alive and well and they make plans to hook the parents up and send Marty Back to the Future.

Now I know what you're thinking.  "You're just as crazy as Doc, there is no way that all this is possible." Well only one way to find out.  Could It Exist In Real Life? 

First and foremost is the Time Machine itself.  As a Car, the DeLorean exists in real life, and there have been those that converted it to make it look like the titular machine. However for using it as a time machine its not impossible, just very complicated.  For those reading though be it now or 30 years from now, do not attempt to create one for you could be causing a paradox that could rip the entire space time continuum.  Or the resulting failure to do so could kill you.

Let's look at the components.  You have the DeLorean itself, which is really just an ordinary car that has been souped up for speed as well as the proper equipment.  While Doc was wrong about the amount of power (1.21 GIGAWATTS !!!!!!!) A machine like this would require a lot of power.  In the first film they used some kind of reactor capacitor generator capable of storing the electricity hence why striking it with a bolt of lightning was able to power it without blowing up the car. Said reactor took Plutonium Pellets so odds are its a miniaturized reactor which is quite possible, but I advise you not to try that at home either.  Sheldon Cooper learned the hard way in that case and he was only a kid at the time. This particular reactor was replaced by Mr. Fusion, a fusion style reactor that uses ordinary household garbage to power it.  This actually works and is safe to try at home.....well if done right that is.  As you recall in my Tron analysis, I told you about biofuels.  Fuels produced by the foods you eat.  This particular reactor extracts the bio fuels which charges the electric generator powering the Machine. However they took it a stretch further by stating inorganic objects can power it too which is half true.  I am not sure what you can extract out of a tin can as demonstrated in 2, but plastic from the honey bottle Doc used was made of petroleum a key ingredient to gasoline. As for how I can guess that Mr. Fusion burns down the fuel sources to its basic components needed which in turn charges the Machine.

Another component and this one is the most prominent one of all is the flux capacitor.  This in the series is what makes time travel possible.  How a flux capacitor works in the series is unknown. However I can guess that judging by the effects. The Flux Capacitor causes a type of energy source around the car that causes the speed to increase dramatically while at the same time creating a force field around it to protect the car and it's driver.  As explained in my Doctor Who article its a type of phase effect. As for how it goes back and forth through time, that part I can't say because honestly I don't know. But the best source has often been Hawking's Brief History of Time.

Last but not least in the Time Machine is it's effects during time travel.  Whenever the car goes back and forth through time ice builds up over it.  That is because the car is actually moving so fast that it's rapidly cooling evaporating water surrounding it causing the ice to cover it.  Much like how ice builds up over a plane when its in a thinner atmosphere.  If someone was outside and on top of the DeLorean during the entire ordeal they would have been frozen to death.

Now that the time machine is out of the way. Let's focus on another concept of the series. Hover Conversion and hoverboards.  They can exist. I was looking for a way to find out how when I stumbled upon something by accident.  A youtuber by the handle, DestinationCreation made a scale model of the classic pink hoverboard.  What this user did was fit the board with magnets then created a repelling field by making an electromagnet out of a hanger, magnets and a battery.  This intern created an Ionic field which helped the small board keep afloat even when the hanger was removed. While making a full size is often debatable since its the same argument as the one I made in my Zelda II article since standing on a floating board less than the rider's weight is just as dangerous as trying to run or walk on water. On the other hand that scale board, which is almost lighter than air was able to keep a full wine glass afloat so it could be possible.  Extra bonus points for DestinationCreation by making it 3 years before the Time these boards became commercial products.

As usual debate, argue and let me know what I missed.  Stay tuned for more.

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