What could a scientist in my Star Wars RPG be researching?

[Maximum7]

Originally Posted by Kax

that statement has a couple of problems. :P

* the SW canon and SWI lore are written by non-scientists and non-engineers, and most were written years or decades ago. So their view of 'highly advanced' includes stuff we have or know now.

* you've been given a set of topics, some outside present knowledge--'highly advanced'--and some at the outer edge, that fit your stated requirement.


So to be useful to you we'd need a more concrete idea of both what you mean by 'highly advanced' in this context and what your acceptance and rejection criteria are.

And there's a good chance that once you work that out you'll think of an answer yourself. :P

Okay. Something advanced would be anything that we could NEVER do now in the real world.

[Kax]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Okay. Something advanced would be anything that we could NEVER do now in the real world.

Finding and/or generating and manipulating dark matter or dark energy. Bonus: if any bad guys hear about this (in fact, any power or government) they will be very interested.

[Maximum7]

Originally Posted by Kax

Finding and/or generating and manipulating dark matter or dark energy. Bonus: if any bad guys hear about this (in fact, any power or government) they will be very interested.

Its a GREAT idea, but dark matter/dark energy/ and quinetessance is how Starkiller Base's weapon works

[Lord Azagthoth]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Its a GREAT idea, but dark matter/dark energy/ and quinetessance is how Starkiller Base's weapon works

There might be other uses. The Imperial Remnants always use science for destruction. Your scientist might come up with something else.

[Maximum7]

Originally Posted by Lord Azagthoth

There might be other uses. The Imperial Remnants always use science for destruction. Your scientist might come up with something else.

To weaponize it again is redundant and I can’t think of any other applications. Rick and Morty used it for propulsion as concentrated dark matter but I don’t buy that idea.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

I can’t think of any other applications.

Long-term data storage (as in holocrons). Dark matter doesn't interact via forces other than gravity, so it's remarkably free from most forms of interference and degradation of records.

[Maximum7]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Long-term data storage (as in holocrons). Dark matter doesn't interact via forces other than gravity, so it's remarkably free from most forms of interference and degradation of records.

Is dark matter even able to be made physical?

[Maximum7]

Ok my scientist is studying sub-Hyperspace, the dimension in which quintessence can be turned into Phantom Energy and then travel to destroy star systems in real time. This is how Starkiller Base fires it’s weapon after draining a sun. (I’m sure Disney will explore it more in due time). However, in the mean time; I wonder what other things my scientist can study about it. Applications I’ve considered would be a sub-hyperdrive which would allow for instantaneous travel like Star Trek: Discovery’s Spore Drive. It also could be used for instant communications. Good stuff but too much of a gamechanger to tinker with. What else could my scientist be studying about sub-hyperspace?

[Irish Wolf]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Ok my scientist is studying sub-Hyperspace, the dimension in which quintessence can be turned into Phantom Energy and then travel to destroy star systems in real time. This is how Starkiller Base fires it’s weapon after draining a sun. (I’m sure Disney will explore it more in due time). However, in the mean time; I wonder what other things my scientist can study about it. Applications I’ve considered would be a sub-hyperdrive which would allow for instantaneous travel like Star Trek: Discovery’s Spore Drive. It also could be used for instant communications. Good stuff but too much of a gamechanger to tinker with. What else could my scientist be studying about sub-hyperspace?

Keep in mind that one major reason they stopped using the Spore Drive in DSC was because every time Discovery transited mycelial space, they were doing damage to the native ecology, some of which was sapient.

Perhaps the subspace of hyperspace that you're investigating is similarly "inhabited", so in the long term it can't be used, but right now we have to get this ship/small fleet full of experts to the galactic core so it has to be risked? Or perhaps it's actively inimical to life (it's filled with eldritch monsters or cuts you off completely from the Force while in transit or something), and your expert is along in an attempt to minimize damage to the crew.

(I'm trying to think of some reason why it can be used for your story, but not become a general part of SW background, similar to why Trek no longer uses Spore Drive. Also why your character, who is a research scientist, would be along for this trip, not "safe" back at home in his lab.)

[Kax]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Its a GREAT idea, but dark matter/dark energy/ and quinetessance is how Starkiller Base's weapon works

Quote: " a type of dark energy called quintessence".

Which implies very strongly there's more than one type of dark energy.

Also, he could be looking for a use of 'quintessence' that doesn't involve pulling suns into hyperspace for funsies.