Episode 0: Voltron's Technobabble

Well now, here we are at the beginning of the… the beginning? Greetings and welcome to Episode Zero of "Physics Not Included." Now we do realize this is not really an official episode since the show has not gone into filming yet, but we wanted to post something to start with so you see a glimpse of what to expect down the road.

Here at "Physics Not Included," we believe that the designers, artists, and writers of our favorite media sometimes get a little lazy about their science. Why is it the time traveling Delorean has to go 88 miles an hour? Why does a lightsaber stop only a couple of feet from the hilt if it’s made of energy? How exactly does a stream of protons catch ghosts? This is where we step in. Every episode, we will pick out one or more questions submitted by our viewers, and our host, Theorne, will challenge himself to fill in the missing science (regardless of whether he wants to or not... he is under contract, after all).

So, how do you submit a question? It is quite simple. First, pick yourself out an unexplained bit of physics from your choice of any visual medium (movie, tv series, anime, video game, manga, comic book, etc) and then email it to Theorne@gmail.com. Please keep in mind that if the event in question only happens maybe once in a given series, pinpointing the circumstances (such as giving the episode or issue, or perhaps saying when it happens) so we can find it faster would be helpful in solving the question. Please keep in mind that the show will be focusing on physics and technology, so questions concerning biology (How do midicholreans generate the force?) and chemistry (Just what was the ooze that mutated the ninja turtles?) may not be used, as Theorne is not as knowledgeable in those subjects.

Let's do a sample shall we? Hey, Theorne! Wake up, lazybones!

"Snore... snore... no, I don't wanna go to school today, Mommy."

I said wake up right now, or we're suspending your World of Warcraft privileges!

"I'm awake, I'm awake! What? Is it time to work already? The camera gear hasn't even fully arrived in the mail yet."

Doesn't matter. You're gonna answer a sample question so people know what we're all about.

"Okay, what do we have?"

A nostalgic question from your childhood actually...

Dear Theorne,

In the US translation of the Voltron series, what does all that stuff that Keith says before they form Voltron mean?

---ViewerX

"Nostalgic indeed. Ready to form Voltron. Activate interlock. Dynatherms connected. Infracells up. Mega thrusters are go. Go, Voltron Force! Ah, that does take me back. Now, for those who aren't familiar with the show, Voltron was the American translation and release of the Japanese series Beast King GoLion. Originally, it came out back in 1984 and 85 and was re-released on DVD only a few years back in 2006. The series featured a giant robot called Voltron, which was formed by five lion-shaped robots fusing together. Each lion had a human pilot and a connection to a natural force of nature. When the team faced a threat they couldn't beat with the lions as separate fighting machines, they could unite them all together into the sword swinging Defender of the Universe, Voltron.

Now in the American release, they added the technobabble lines before the transformation sequence. So what do the lines mean? Let's watch the transformation first then we'll decode this conundrum."



"And I'll form the head! I'm gonna have to dig out my toys later I think... oh yes… ahem. Now, what does all that stuff Keith says mean? Let's go line by line. Active Interlock. Well, pretty simple if you think in terms of the process of transforming. Interlock would be both the systems powering and governing the lions metamorphic qualities. This would also include the automatic programs that take over the robots to correctly align and link the systems of each robot together. After all, that kind of precision would be really rough on a human pilot.

"Dynatherms connected. Let's think engineering problems with a machine this big running off of what could only be potentially five atomic type reactor systems. Heat... and lots of it. What makes this a bigger problem is that you have to take into account that inside the robot in five spots are five living pilots. If Voltron blocks an attack by moving an arm to intercept and moves the cockpit area to close to the heat venting system, you get roasted pilot. If that wasn't enough, consider that the robot doesn't always work in space, so you can't vent exhaust heat into a living ecosystem and cook the wildlife. You would need a heat sink system able to adapt to a moving machine and its environment... a DYNAmic THERMal exhaust system. I kinda always pictured this as a really complex series of pipes that link up and shunt heat around the lion to safe points to disperse heat from... like maybe the wings.

"Infracells up. Power. Voltron uses a lot of it... flying around, shooting lasers, keeping the pilots protected, and forming the Blazing sword. Now, the sword in particular would be a problem, given that they whip that thing out of nowhere. So that means the robot is either teleporting the thing in from somewhere or is converting mass within itself into the sword. I find the mass conversion to be the more likely scenario, given the lion robots all had knife blades they could hold in their jaws and often aren't on their home world. The process of summoning the sword by using interchangeable mass would still use a butt load of power, so you'd need to make sure the robot would be able to maintain full power even while using such a draining ability. The solution... really big batteries or otherwise named here infracells.

"Megathrusters are go. This could be one or both of two things. The first would be the flight systems that keep the lions aloft while they are shapeshifting and linking up. The second could be the systems the robot uses as a giant robot in space to make it easier to move its limbs as if it were in an environment with gravity and air. While I'm sure it is the first, the second is also a good possibility. And there you have it, the technobabble has been solved."

Well, that does seem a pretty fit explanation to the question, but what if the viewers disagree?

"They can email me or leave me a comment. And I do honestly want to hear from everyone if they agree or disagree. And if you disagree, be sure to let me know why. Keep watching folks; we're only about one week away from Episode One."

"Physics Not Included" was written before a live studio audience and is a production of "Team Sidequest." Voltron and all related characters and media are owned by World Events Productions.