When Things Spin, Science Happens: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}

{{quote|''"[...]and if science has taught me anything, it's that if something is spinning, it's important."''|'''Gordon Frohman''', ''[[Concerned]]: The [[Half-Life]] and Death of Gordon Frohman''}}

We all know [[Everything's Better with Spinning]], but sometimes it is so much better that science'''When happensThings Spin, Science Happens'''.

In [[Real Life]], technology is usually not visibly exciting to watch in action. For example, your computer (while it has fans and drives which spin) does not actively move while in operation. In many cases, the fact that the machine or technology is operating at all can be somewhat oblique to the naked eye. Witness the many people who call into Tech Support claiming that their [[Computer Equals Monitor|computer]] isn't working... [[Discredited Trope|because]] it [[Idiot Ball|it isn't turned on]]. When it comes to various visual media, [[Rule of Perception|movement equals operation]], which allows the audience to recognize that the machine is actually working or operational. Even if there is an obvious, prominent signifier of power (big green light, flashing red lights, etc) positioned on the machine, in the eyes of many - it's not actually ''on'' until something starts moving.

* In ''[[Shinkon Gattai Godannar]]'' the titular robot's plasma drive does this whenever it powers up.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130807013750/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=10 An example of "spinning = time travel"] at Superdickery.com.

* In ''[[Batman]]: Gotham Knight]]'' (Field Test) Batman employs a powerful EM field generator to stop bullet-fire, normally no practically sized device would be capable of this, but hey, it spins; it must work.

* The time machine in the 2002 remake of ''[[The Time Machine]]'' is a cool-looking clockwork [[Steampunk]] mechanism with many spinning parts that projects a glowing spherical force field in which it travels through time.

* The Doomsday device in ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]'' spun faster as it got closer to exploding.

** Roberta Leigh's (associate of Anderson) puppet series ''[[Space Patrol (UK)|Space Patrol]]'' (aka ''Planet Patrol'') had doughnut-shaped spacecraft that were surrounded by spinning forcefields in flight. For a group of people who had to worry about things like strings getting caught, they sure did love this trope.

* The Ragnarok Engine in the first ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]]'' movie.

* * In the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld/Thief of Time|Thief of Time]]'', master clockmaker Jeremy Clockson's perfect clock built to measure the universal tick used electricity and [[Magitek]] to spin light round and round... and made a hole in the universe. And stopped time.

** Also Bloody Stupid Johnson's spinning wheel on which pi equals exactly three, which was used in ''[[Going Postal (Discworld)|Going Postal]]'' to punch a different hole through the universe in order to sort letters.

*** Well it was made as part of an organ. It just turned out to work better for sorting letters.

* [[James Blish]]'s Spindizzy drive. It's never actually been seen or described in canon, but it has "spin" in the name so [[Fanon]] assumes that it spins.

** It's a word made from ''spin'' and ''dizzy''... since dizzy is something that happens when you spin, how can it '''not''' be spinning? Something's going on that's spinning. And it's making something dizzy. Maybe it's spinning the Universe and making God dizzy?...

** Spindizzies are based on [[wikipedia:Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett|P. M. S. Blackett]]'s work on planetary magnetism, correlating magnetism, gravity, and angular momentum. As angular momentum is a key factor, of course a spinning <s>doohickey</s> device is necessary. If memory serves,{{verify}} the intent was to use magnetism and spin to change Newton's <s>fudge factor</s> gravitational constant, flipping it negative, and causing anti-gravity. Blackett's work in this area was discredited to his own satisfaction in his lifetime.

* The ''[[Ring WorldRingworld]]'' not only spins for gravity, its spin also allows it to act magnetically on its sun to produce [[Wave Motion Gun|solar-flare megalasers]], fuel its stabilizing jets with ramscoops, and even {{spoiler|turn the whole Ringworld system mobile}}.

{{quote| "I'm the general and I want it to spin!"}}

{{quote| The Doctor: "This little dish should go round. That little dish, there." (About thirty seconds pass.) "Oooh, the little dish is going round!"}}

{{quote| This is my [[Timey-Wimey Ball|Time-y Wime-y]] Detector. It goes "ding" when there's stuff.}}

* We don't actually get to see them doing their thing until very near the end of the series, but jump drives in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' must "spin up" before being activated.

* As an inversion, the spinning sections of Earth Alliance, Drazi and Vree ships in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' show that they are less advanced than the other races, who use artificial gravity instead of centrifugal forcesforce.

* Surely every ''[[CSI]]'' *''ever*'' deserves a mention here? Centrifuges are some of the most visually impressive pieces of equipment in many laboratories, especially biological ones, but they don't really give you all the answers..

* Large spinning external reel-to-reel [[Computer Equals Tapedrive|tape drives]] are how you know computers are working. Shown as recently as ''[[Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal]]''.

* The Tau Cannon (aka Gauss Gun) from ''[[Half Life]]'' has a set of rotors that spin up to speed as the secondary fire mode is charged. Partially justified as it seems to be some sort of electromagnet contraption.<ref>see Real Life below, namely the power plant section</ref>.

** Also the anti-mass spectrometer,<ref>the contraption that starts the resonance cascade</ref>, which has several parts that must spin for it to work.

* The Ryan Industries building in ''[[BioshockBioShock (series)]]'' contains a few rooms that feature huge spinning wheels. Presumably these are part of some mechanical equipment, but why they specifically intrude into corridors and the like seems to have no practical purpose. Knowing Ryan, the ones in Hephaestus are likely there just to show off.

* When ''[[Persona 3]]'''s [[Robot Girl|Aigis]] activates her [[Overdrive|Orgia Mode]], the headphone-like disks on the side of her head spin with a loud whirring sound and emit a thin wisp of smoke.

* Lampshaded in [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20120512005622/http://hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2006-10-05 this] episode of [[Concerned]]:

{{quote| "...and if science has taught me anything, it's that if something is '''spinning''', it's '''important'''.}}

* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' spoofs this in the [[Parody Commercial]] "Coach Z's 110%":

{{quote| "My whole deal's backed up with actual scientific findings and rotating computer graphics, so you ''know'' it's legit!"}}

* ''[[Justice League]]'' and ''JLU'' used this on occasion.

** Also the spinning icons while progressive download buffers video content.

* Any number of supposed "perpetual motion" machines with spinning components.

*** This is referenced in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld/Small Gods|Small Gods]]''. One inventive character has constructed a primitive steam engine - similar to Heron of Alexandria's, described below - and mounted it on a small boat. Long story short, it's hit by lightning in a storm, overheats, and explodes. The inventor talks about the need for something to prevent excess pressure building up,

{{quote| "some sort of governor device. I feel I could do something with a pair of revolving balls."<br />

** which is why you set up two of them, counter-rotating, to cancel out most or all of said spin. Then you use gyroscopes (MORE''more SPINNINGspinning'') to correct for any remaining spin.