Soviet Superscience: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

It is worth noting that historically the most recognizable disciplines of any super science--genetics and cybernetics--received a poor start in the USSR as the Party proclaimed those "false sciences" for being "bourgeois" (yes, this makes about as much sense as [[Those Wacky Nazis]] dismissing [[Albert Einstein|Einsteinian relativity]] and the modern theory of the atom as "Jewish physics"). This stance was lifted after Khruschev took power and USSR's first computer was finished in the mid-50s, but it was too late to successfully catch up with the US. The Soviets, however, [[I Love Nuclear Power|loved Nuclear Power]]--the world's first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for a power grid went online in USSR--so there are some roots for the trope to grow from. Of course, the inconsistencies can be [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] by the means of an [[Alternate Universe]], as [[Command and Conquer Red Alert|Red Alert]] testifies.

 

 

[[The New Russia]], sadly, won't be able to have anything vastly superior due to economic problems and lack of funding, so no, "Russian Superscience" is not a likely prospect and wouldn't be anytime soon. Contemporary Russian electronics, however, don't lag behind their Western counterparts much, though the opinions on this tend to [[Internet Backdraft|differ]].

The fall of the Soviet Union is often used as a reason why long-abandoned [[Soviet Superscience]] is once again rearing its ugly head, it having been forgotten about, lost in the confusion or sold off by corrupt handlers in the post-Soviet restructuring of Russian society.

 

{{examples}}

 

* ''[[Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (Film)|Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull]]'' has the Soviet search party in the jungle riding a huge truck that clears its path by mowing down trees like grass.

* ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'' is a pretty well-done thriller about, well, the hunt for the ''Red Oktober'', a highly-advanced Soviet ballistic missile submarine, the so-called "stealth-bomber" of submarines. Instead of the traditional propeller-driven sub, this one had one that sucked in water, compressed it, and shot it out, like a jet engine. The result is a sub with nearly zero-sound, meaning active Sonar will be almost the only thing able to detect it; making it virtually impossible to track, due to the danger of using active Sonar often. That doesn't stop Seaman Jones from inventing a way to track it though.

 

 

*** One could argue that the Soviets are actually ''lagging behind'' technologically - a large amount of the "super-science" is more or less a redux of the prior game's technology - compared to the Allies, who between Red Alert 1 and 2, developed lasers, cloaking devices, and weather control. Red Alert 1 might play it straight, but essentially every game from 2 onwards might just count as a subversion.

* ''[[Singularity]]'' <s> has quite a bit of this</s> Just check the game's page. It'd be faster.

* ''[[Freedom Force]]'' features [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Nuclear Winter]] who is a Soviet spy dunked in his own chemicals, ''Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich'' features Red October, who for some unexplained reason is a witch.

* In ''[[Destroy All Humans]]'', the Soviets have a secret moon base and an alliance with aliens.

* There was an Soviet attempt to create [[Half-Human Hybrid|man-chimpanzee hybrids]] for use as workers. Didn't work, but explains the weird science aspect they get in fiction. The precise details of that infamous experiment, which is usually considered (understandably) little more than an [[Urban Legend]], is that the Soviet scientist who did it worked more or less alone, only got a grant from Stalin due to red tape (and probably would have been shot if Stalin had discovered what he was actually doing), the experiment consisted of trying to use human sperm to artificially inseminate orangutans (because they didn't know about the close genetic relationship between humans and chimps), and his actual goal was to "prove" evolution and use that to stymie the political power of the Russian Orthodox Church, not to make [[Super Soldier|Super Soldiers]].

* There are rumors about Soviet low-frequency Sonic Weapon devices at their borders, threatening to instill depression and anxiety in the whole population. Some even argued that this was already taking place...

* Some conspiracy theorists believe that the Soviets developed "[http://mindjustice.org/golgotha.htm psychotronic]" weapons that could do tremendous damage (and other effects) at a great distance using technology that [[You Fail Physics Forever|violates the known laws of science]].

** [[Dragon Magazine]] #204 had an article on Soviet psychotronic weapons.

** US worked on flying submarines too. But the Soviets took it [[Up to Eleven]] when they actually started cutting steel for a nuclear submarine aircraft carrier/amphibious warfare ship. Sadly, it was canceled immediately afterwards.

* The world's only extant modern balanced ternary computer, a design that allows for more efficient handling of many computational algorithms (including basic addition and multiplication), is a Soviet design from the late 50s (Setun). Designs and theories have appeared in the West as well as one of the world's first computing devices, a 19th century wooden calculating machine, but no ternary computers have been actually built outside of the Soviet Union due to general lack of interest and the ubiquity of binary hardware.

** These gaps were based on truly heinous intelligence gathering. In one example the USSR displayed a new strategic bomber by flying one formation of them over a military parade repeatedly; the US assumed each appearance was a different formation. A little later, US aerial reconnaissance photographed dozens of bombers at one Soviet airbase. Via reckless multiplication they assumed every airbase had a similar stock when in fact the group of bombers photographed was the ''entire'' production run at the time.

** US intelligence has a running history of making inflated evaluations of enemy capabilities. For example, the [[Mi G]]-25 'Foxbat' interceptor (created in response to the US B-70 program, which was canceled after one of the two prototypes was lost) was monitored flying over Egypt at a speed of Mach 3.2, which was assumed to be the normal performance of the aircraft, and was believed to be an agile dogfighter (with the US F-15 being designed to counter it). Only after Lt. Belenko defected with a [[Mi G]]-25 in 1976 was the [[Mi G]]-25 discovered to be a relatively unmaneuverable high-altitude interceptor, and that its demonstrated speed capacity would require replacing the engines after the flight.

* Subversion. A lot of Russia's best technology has never been super-science, but [[Boring but Practical]]. The T-34 tank is considered by some to have been the best of [[World War II]] and Soviet small arms have long been quite good. On the less bellicose side, Russia makes some pretty good bush planes and similar heavy weather equipment.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Dirty Communists]]

[[Category:Soviet Superscience]]