this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023
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Science Memes

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[–] Alter_Id@kbin.social 102 points 1 year ago

I've been a fan of the Godzilla franchise for a long time. I'm absolutely stunned to learn that the films don't hold up to scientific scrutiny. I feel lied to, and betrayed. How could they do this‽ Everything is ruined.

[–] money_loo@lemmy.world 94 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I mean it’s pretty well explained in the movie that there is actually an entire ecosystem of giant life forms living in the center of the planet, and that they sometimes accidentally find tunnels out into our world, duh! -pushes up glasses on face-

[–] Artyom@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

And they're all nuclear powered.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 4 points 1 year ago

I can't fucking believe they leaned into that.... Like out of nowhere considering Kong island. And still haven't brought it back up to do anything with it instead of immediately doing a journey to the center of the earth's sun monster mash.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

But being that deep would compound the square-cube problem.

[–] money_loo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

You would think so intuitively, but once you pass Max q it actually reverses polarity and you become lighter!

Like putting too much air in a balloon!

[–] Luft@lemm.ee 77 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Godzila for one is powered by ✨nuclear energy ✨

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 29 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Does he eat nuclear energy? Or does he like chow down on some humpbacks every day?

Is Godzilla the real reason the Japanese whaling fleet won't stop?

[–] Luft@lemm.ee 20 points 1 year ago

Their whaling fleet is a cover for his late night snacks. As near apex predators they have the highest concentration of radiation from Fukushima Daichi. Kinda like DDT and bald eagles.

But luckily we have Gojiro which is a natural sink for radiation 🥳👌🏽✨

[–] oce@jlai.lu 10 points 1 year ago

He does neutrosynthesis kinda like plants do photosynthesis but different.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

He drinks water and fuses the hydrogen into helium. This needs some deuterium to start off, which is why godzillas only occur in nuclear testing sites.

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

The oxygen concentration in today’s admoaphere would not be enough. That’s why bringing dinos backs wouldn’t work. That and Nedry.

[–] quixoticWoodpecker@mander.xyz 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But what if we gave each dinosaur an oxygen mask?

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Now there’s an idea…

[–] Num10ck@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

um what/who is Nedrid? google didn't help

[–] vodka@lemm.ee 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think he means Nedry, a character in Jurassic Park.

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Yes. Edited.

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[–] DarkGamer@kbin.social 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Strength squares as you scale up but mass cubes; creatures this large wouldn't be able to move their own body weight.

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 35 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you stop just before immobility, you'd have gargantuan fights at a glacial pace. Would be a terrible movie, but maybe a cool story or book.

[–] LetKCater2U@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This must be the real reason we have earthquakes.

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

A quick search suggests scientists haven't definitively proven it isn't the cause.

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

I accept this new theory without any further consideration.

[–] famousringo@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

First one to fall on top of their opponent wins.

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 1 year ago

Godzilla is nuclear powered so he's not limited by biological energy sources. There's still the entire issue of the form factor, but for that I like John Scalzy's take on the Kaiju Preservation Society.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They literally show the ecosystem in the movie... This meme sucks.

[–] roboticide@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well, kind of.

They showed the interior of the earth with other megafauna, but how exactly Godzilla or Kong are getting their caloric intake satisfied on a regular basis is somewhat of a question regardless.

Godzilla especially... feeds on radiation? But not just like, consuming uranium ore. He can take a full thermonuclear blast to the face and seemingly heals bodily injury. Maybe makes him feel really full too?

It's handwaved at best, which is fine. Trying to figure out how Kaiju work is like trying to explain The Force with physics. It's just magic, don't worry about it.

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

There are some real life fungi that are radiotrophic (like photosynthesis but with radiation [ok light is also a kind of radiation but you know what I mean]) So at least part of that makes sense but not the adsorbing a nuclear blast bit.

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[–] zagaberoo@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

My question is how are these boats so buoyant, rigid, and stable!?

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You also can't just scale things up and have them work the same way. I forget if there's a proper name for this but weight is related to volume which is the cube of the dimension, but pressure is related to area which is the square of the dimension. So giant king kongs ankles aren't looking so great right now as the pressure will increase with scale.

[–] randomsnark@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fittingly enough, this is called the Square-Cube law

[–] sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 year ago

Why can’t we just petition to amend the law?

Come on scientists.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Thank you! I was sure it had a name.

[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago

Ideally you aren't slamming all of your weight on your ankles with every step though. If you do that at human scale with normal human weight, there won't be much of your ankles left either. Your muscles work as a spring to catch most of the force and they also grow cubicly. So i think the law cannot be applied this directly to biological systems. Of course you are right, that King Kong would probably not just be a scaled up Gorilla, but also altered in his shape.

[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Massive flocks of meaty birds. Like Godzilla-sized plankton that can fly.

[–] dope@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago

Godzilla is nuclear powered. Fusion in special cells.

Kong is powered by plot magic.

[–] SuperJetShoes@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I hate that this is even a thing.

  • Godzilla is a metaphor (either intended or simply ingrained in the Japanese psyche) for Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  • King Kong is a "Beauty and the Beast" love story

They are from different eras and are important films in their own way.

But we end up getting this shite because monsters must fight monsters, apparently.

It's all a load of fucking shit and devalues the importance of each movies. It should never have been made.

Anyway, I haven't seen the movie but Godzilla would win. Atomic breath. Come on guys, the monkey's dead meat that you can't touch for a hundred thousand years.

[–] Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
  • Godzilla is a metaphor (either intended or simply ingrained in the Japanese psyche) for Hiroshima and Nagasaki

From what I've gathered, not quite. The film showed up around the time of the Castle Bravo tests at the Bikini Atoll. The bomb tested there turned out to be dirtier than predicted, and fallout made it to some Japanese fishing vessels. It became a bit of an international incident.

And then the original Gojira film launched. And one early scene showed a fishing boat, which went under in a bright flash of light.

Gojira, or Godzilla as he was westernised, was not just the personification of the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was the personification of the fact that this could happen again.

One take on it that I'm copying

[–] SuperJetShoes@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, you're absolutely right, I'd forgotten about that.

I think my main point is still valid though - Godzilla is a physical manifestation of the destruction that nuclear activity can cause.

As I read on another post somewhere: "Ask a Japanese, and radiation creates monsters. Ask an American, and radiation creates superheros."

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[–] TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Shin Godzilla was great for following the original idea behind the first movie. Also that version of Godzilla would kick King Kongs monkey ass every day of the week.

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[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The most "scientifically feasable" of all Godzillas, in my opinion, was from the 1998 film.

One single individual, born out of the radion from nuclear tests. This implies it took decades to fully grow and mature.

Although gigantic, one animal would be sustainable by the ocean.

The film ends with the animal being killed, so, for a change, humans eliminated a bigger global ecological threat.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I thought it ended with at least one egg intact?

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[–] makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The book Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi actually explains this for the megafauna in its universe. It's not a perfect explanation but it does well enough

[–] roboticide@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh shit, have not heard about this book and need one for my upcoming vacation. Gonna look into this!

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[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

More like Earth's gravity prevents living creatures of their size without serious changes to their skeletal structure.

Also, how the fuck do they eat enough to live?

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Godzilla is radiosynthetic isn't he, wasn't that like a big part of the cartoons? Like dude absorbs radiation to survive in most cases the sun but if there's a nuclear accident homie gets a buffet.

[–] Bunnylux@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago
[–] marcos@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Hummm.... Tokio, evidently.

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