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When Things Spin, Science Happens: Difference between revisions
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|'''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
In [[Real Life]] rotation has many interesting and perplexing properties: precession, gyroscopic stabilization, and the generation of electric/magnetic fields just to name a few. Writers often use the intrinsic mystery of such phenomena to increase the plausibility of their devices functioning by making them rotate. This is especially true when the device involved needs to generate a field or zone of fictional type, being directly analogous to electric field generation.
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In addition rotation is visually exciting informing the audience that the device is operating, and hopefully doing something sciency. Besides, rotation has the benefit of a closed path: if science just flew off in a straight line it'd be out of shot.
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|
This trope is a sub-trope of [[Applied Phlebotinum]]. Probably related to [[Technicolor Science]].
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** It's also the theme of a [[Fauxlosophic Narration]] delivered by Leeron.
*** Although considering which [[Anime]] we're talking about perhaps it might be more like "When Things Spin Science Collapses."
* In ''[[
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'' has Momentum, a big spinning thing that provides power to all of Neo Domino City. It's not quite explained how it works, other than by harnessing the powers of momentum. Although if it explodes, then it can split the land in two.
* In ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', ships have rotating sections which appear to be gravity generators. (Note that this is a concept that has been seriously proposed in [[Real Life]]; for example see the [[wikipedia:Island Three|O'Neill Cylinder]].)
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