Star Wars: Science or Fiction ?

guynextdoor

The "Star Wars" Worlds: More Science Than Fiction?
for National Geographic News

Everyone knows the Star Wars galaxy is located "far, far away." But how realistic are the alien worlds (see pictures) described in the science fiction saga?

To find out, National Geographic News checked in with two experts on everything extraterrestrial: Bruce Betts, a planetary scientist at the Planetary Society in Pasadena, California, and Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, California.

National Geographic News: So how believable is the Star Wars galaxy?

Betts: They [the filmmakers] have set up a fictional structure that is so far outside our reality that they can get away with an awful lot. What they have in their favor is that they use an entire galaxy.

A galaxy has, say, a hundred billion stars and maybe that many planets. If they've picked out the worlds where life has evolved or where life can exist, it's hard to argue there couldn't be 20 [such planets] in a galaxy of a hundred billion planets.

Shostak: What we might complain about is that so many of the galactic sentients [intelligent life-forms] seem determined to live on planets. Truly advanced life is likely to build its own habitats, and escape the limited area and resources of a planet. In Star Wars, it seems that only Monsieur Vader has figured this out, building his own artificial habitat, appealingly monikered the Death Star, even though it's not a star at all. But "Death Space Habitat" doesn't have as nice a ring to it.

NG News: Should we assume the major characters are human?

Betts: The literature, I think, refers to them as humans sometime. Although we're in a galaxy far, far away, I still make the assumption that these people breathe oxygen. That makes things a little tricky.

No matter what atmosphere they drop into, they're able to breathe. It seems odd that the Wookiee planet, for example, would have the right amount of oxygen for people who grew up on Tatooine, when we know that even going to a higher altitude on Earth becomes a problem in terms of oxygen. But now I'm just nitpicking.

NG News: By all means, nit-pick.

Shostak: Maintaining a cohesive empire, or even a republic, over a decent swath of any galaxy would be impossible without faster-than-light travel, of course. You need FTL travel, which Star Wars has, to even contemplate such far-flung organizations.

Even so, it all seems unlikely, because the various inhabitants, many of which are biological, will have evolved at different times. Consequently, the top species will be many millennia ahead of the number two species, in terms of evolution, and millions and billions of years ahead of your average intelligent species. They won't want to share drinks with them in a Mos Eisley cantina.



NG News: Or have Wookiees as co-pilots.

Shostak: Right. Either all members of the Empire or Republic will be the same species, or there won't be an Empire or Republic. In addition to this, there are "droids" all over the place—synthetic intelligence. Since artificial intelligence can evolve much, much faster than biological smarts, why do the biological beings have any place whatsoever in the dramas of the Empire? They should have become obsolete very quickly.

NG News: Let's talk about some of the specific planets we encounter in the Star Wars movies. What about Naboo, for example, the home planet of Queen Amidala? It's an idyllic world (see picture) populated by peaceful humans and an indigenous species of intelligent amphibians, the Gungans.

Betts: It seems like the most Earthlike world. It's certainly not hard to imagine that it could have evolved underwater species. But from the wicked ways of our own world, it seems unlikely that two highly intelligent species would be able to live together peacefully.

Shostak: We have rather few examples of two or more intelligent species simultaneously sharing a planet, but it has happened. The Neanderthals coexisted with Homo sapiens for millennia. So maybe it's possible to share, as long as neither species has the technology to obliterate, enslave, or merely cook and eat each other.

There is the objection that an underwater species might have difficulties fostering technology. Smelting metals, or even developing radio or astronomy, are challenging, to put it modestly, in a watery environment.

NG News: How about Coruscant? Situated in the heart of the galaxy, it (see picture) is completely covered by one massive city and is the seat of government for the Galactic Republic and later the Empire.

Shostak: In general, you don't want to be quite in the "heart" of any large galaxy, as that's almost invariably the site of a massive black hole, and an active nucleus that will fill nearby space with corrosive radiation guaranteed to ruin your whole day.

So it's better to be in the "outer aorta" of the galaxy, far enough from the nucleus to avoid the radiation but close enough to take advantage of the fact that the density of stars there will be a million times higher than in the galaxy's outer neighborhoods. Not only does that give you more places to build condos but more raw material and more energy, all of which would be useful in sustaining the high-voltage, urban lifestyle of Coruscant.

NG News: Bespin is an immense gas giant (see picture) surrounded by a number of moons. It contains a band of habitable atmosphere among the clouds. This is where Cloud City is located, a mining colony set up to extract valuable Tibanna gas.

Betts: This is the one planet I have the most trouble buying. There are, of course, examples of gas giants surrounded by moons. We have that in our own solar system. But a "band of habitable atmosphere"?

Assuming we take that to mean temperature and oxygen without there being anything noxious or dangerous, that's certainly beyond our current expectations or measurements. Making this particularly tricky, molecular oxygen that we breathe does not occur easily in a planetary environment. Almost all the oxygen on Earth comes from life.

Shostak: I don't know what Tibanna gas might be. Gas-giant planets seem to be swathed in ammonia, methane, and other vapors that, frankly, are neither rare nor particularly valuable. They are useful for cleaning the bathroom or cooking dinner, of course.

NG News: What about Dagobah, the forgotten world (see picture) where Luke Skywalker trains with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back? Its huge lagoons and mist-shrouded swamps are teeming with life.

Shostak: This swamp planet is really only a [stand-in] for Earth during the Pennsylvanian period, when swamps were common, vegetation was lush, and coal was being formed. It's our planet as it was 300 million years ago, before things got a bit colder.

Betts: One of the things I find less realistic in movies is that the planets tend to be very uniform in climate. With Mars and Earth you tend to have lots of variation across the planet, but planets in movies are characteristic of one climate area. So you have the jungle planet, the ice planet, and so on. But the most amazing thing about Dagobah, of course, is that Luke just happened to fall within hundreds of feet of Yoda. I suppose we chalk that up to the Force.

NG News: What do you think of Hoth, a world (see picture) of snow and ice? Although small meteorites from a nearby asteroid field constantly pelt its surface, the planet has developed several indigenous life-forms, including the tauntaun creature.

Betts: A nearby asteroid field? Hmm, it would be tricky to keep it in place. … Perhaps it's early in that solar system's development and the planet, like early Earth, is under bombardment. But then it would be odd to have very advanced life evolved there.

NG News: OK, so how about the big one, Tatooine (see picture), Anakin and Luke Skywalker's home planet? It's pretty dusty.

Betts: Is the whole world really arid? You can develop a really arid world, like Mars, but once it is mostly arid, it is hard to keep any liquid water. Liquid water is one of three things needed for life on Earth, so it's probably not a terrible assumption to make that it's needed for life elsewhere too.

Even Mars has had periodic outflows of water, but we're not sure how long it persisted as a liquid. But who knows what life looks like on other planets? Biologists can't even agree on what life is on our own planet.

NG News: One planet that looks even less pleasant is Mustafar (see picture), the volcanic backdrop of the final duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Shostak: This is a world that looks like Hawai'i Volcano[es] National Park—everywhere. How could you have a planet that's covered in hot, soft rock? Only two possibilities: One, it's a newly formed world, in which case, the mining operation here—mining lava?—is in trouble, because there will be lots of incoming asteroids that would routinely wipe out your industrial infrastructure.

Or, two, it's in a highly elliptical orbit around either a big planet or its home star so that, like Jupiter's moon Io, it's constantly subjected to the push and pull of a changing gravitational tug. Kneaded like bread dough, such a world would become very hot and might quite possibly have the blast furnace countenance that Mustafar wears. So this is not at all impossible.

Betts: But to make this compatible with contemporary life is a challenge. It's really tricky to imagine that you would have oxygen here. But, hey, they're Jedi—they can probably control their breath.

Shostak: The most amazing thing is, Obi-Wan and Anakin duke it out here amongst rivers of molten lava and they don't even break a sweat.

[ Last edited by  guynextdoor at 11-1-2007 12:41 AM ]

guynextdoor

By Alan Boyle
MSNBC


"Star Wars" never did let scientific facts get in the way of a good story: Fans just accept that X-wing fighters fly through outer space as if they were jets in an atmosphere, that huge spaceships could float on antigravity drives or zoom faster than light, and that lightsabers cut through virtually everything except another lightsaber (why don't they just make the darn things longer?).

But in the 28 years since the first "Star Wars" movie came out, science and technology have gone in directions that reflect some aspects of that galaxy long ago and far away: Particularly when it comes to space weaponry, robotics and communications, there are increasing parallels between "Star Wars" science fiction and science fact.

That doesn't mean engineers looked to the movies to figure out how to design a modern-day Death Star. Rather, the visions reflected in the movies had an impact on how real-life technologies were presented. The concept for a national missile defense system, which was nicknamed "Star Wars" during the Reagan administration, serves as a prime example.

Final frontier for weaponry
Space warfare was pure fiction when the first "Star Wars" movie came out, but now Pentagon policy is considering scenarios for monitoring missile launches from orbit, shooting down missiles with interceptors, or knocking out enemy targets using ground-based, airborne or space-borne lasers. Just this week, sources in the Bush administration have been talking about taking a more aggressive stance on space weapons.

However, military planners haven't made as much progress on their version of "Star Wars" as they expected to back in the 1980s. In fact, the missile defense system's scope has been scaled back to defend merely against smaller-scale threats from the likes of North Korea, rather than the doomsday scenario of a U.S.-Soviet conflict.

"The expectations have been radically scaled back," defense policy expert John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, told MSNBC.com. "It has achieved a degree of reality that it didn't have 20 years ago, but it has been constrained by reality in a way that it was not 20 years ago."

Slow progress on propulsion
In the field of spacecraft propulsion, researchers haven't yet gotten the faster-than-light hyperdrive to work (even Han Solo sometimes had trouble in that department).
  Speed test

How high can you score on “Star Wars” lore? Take MSN Games’ pop quiz.


But they have developed distant cousins of the ion drive that "Star Wars" spaceships used for sublight-speed travel. A solar-electric ion drive was used successfully on NASA's Deep Space 1 probe in the late 1990s, and yet another powered the European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft into lunar orbit last year.

The only trouble is, it takes months for these real-life engines to build up a head of steam — so the fusion-powered ion drive on Luke Skywalker's X-wing fighter would leave SMART-1 in the interplanetary dust.

The same drawback applies to space sails, the real-life analogs to the getaway spacecraft that the evil Count Dooku used at the end of "Episode II." Sure, they should work just fine, as the Cosmos 1 solar sail is expected to demonstrate next month. But it would take a long time for a solar sail or even a magnetic sail to reach appreciable speeds.

Sephiroth

There's still things we have not achieve yet which could make be similar to Star Wars. It's just matter of time.

reinloch

More like it's a matter of money.

guynextdoor

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor, right) receives a holographic transmission from an ally, Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) in "Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." Similar real-life video projection effects are in the works.

Sephiroth

Originally posted by reinloch at 12-1-2007 10:27 AM
More like it's a matter of money.

Not all the advancement in Science is about making money. There are some good advancements in the World.

alhaadi2

http://www.burlingtonnews.net/leumurian1

guynextdoor

thread tu nak g mana bang... ke plant dantooine ke or dagoobah?

chiKenliTeL

history of STAR WARS...~~

THE ANCIENT JEDI

Millions of years ago, in the Vordarian Beltway Galaxy (called “Rutanimus” in Civian), 850 trillion light years from our Milky Way Galaxy, the events of the Star Wars Trilogies took place, but 100,000 years before this, the Sith remained hidden on their planet Korriban, the Rodar Wizards performed their magic on Perdonis, and the Galactic Republic was not nearly as powerful in the Galaxy as it was in the days of the Star Wars Trilogies.

The Galactic Republic started with only a handful of planets under its first Supreme Chancellor, Merk Quanto. Coruscant was at the center, with the new Galactic Senate. The Dai Nogas, the magical warriors of the Civian home world Ophuchi, protected the new Galactic Republic. The Whills started keeping Galactic History on Grentarik, their home planet. Granicus, the home world of the Gran, was made home to the new Galactic Republic Supreme Court. Other Core Worlds of the early Galactic Republic included Alderaan, Chandrilla, Corellia, Duro, Kinyen, and Malastare.

75,000 years after the formation of the Galactic Republic under the first Supreme Chancellor, Merk Quanto, the Sith were discovered on their home world, Korriban, by the millennia old Galactic Republic. (This was about 25,000 years before Episode 1.) The Sith were a primitive species, but had a powerful secret form of magic and religion. They had existed peacefully for centuries, undiscovered. Unfortunately, it was shortly after their discovery and the founding of the Jedi Order that an imbalance was created.

Kaja Sinis was a blue haired, blue eyed Civian with a deep voice, born on Coruscant 25,000 years before Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. He was the first Jedi and founder of the Order of Jedi Bendu Knights. The term Jedi meant “light bringer” in the Civian language. Sinis created the techniques allowing one to use the Force. He discovered two sides of the Force, the good side (called “Ashla” in Civian) and the dark side (called “Bogan” in Civian). His new Jedi Order replaced the Dai Nogas of Ophuchi, which only grasped the good side, and had a relatively weak grasp of the Force compared to Kaja Sinis. In the early years, it was the duty of a Jedi to study both the Ashla and the Bogan, but serve the Ashla or good side.

His first student or padawan was Shintor Beerus, a Twi’lek Sinis discovered on the planet Nefarion. The Jedi Academy on Coruscant grew large under the two and eventually the Civian home world, Ophuchi, was transformed into the Jedi stronghold, and the Dai Nogas integrated themselves into the new Jedi Order. Later, the Whill Shamans of Grentarik were integrated into the new Jedi Order as well. Kaja Sinis, aided by the Jedi scientist, Cobar Jacash, created the first light saber, as well as the first Jedi Holocron, a small hand-held cube which contained Jedi history. Cobar Jacash was a Bomewright from Sullust. The Bomewrights were frequently known as Sullustans by outsiders. Future Jedi light saber scientists tended to be Bomewrights as well.

Kaja Sinis built his light saber by finding a crystal on a secret planet to create the blade of light. Every Jedi followed in this path. They went to this secret planet and had to find either a green, blue or purple crystal in order to create their light saber. Whether this secret planet is identical with Vronioc, the most Force-sensitive planet in the Galaxy, of the Jedi stronghold planet, Ophuchi, is not known. After finding their crystal, Jedi constructed their own light sabers, often with the assistance of a Bomewright Jedi scientist. According to the Expanded Universe, the secret planet is actually Ilum. (Since Lucas won’t say, and the Expanded Universe exists to fill in the spaces Lucas does not consider integral to the background of the Star Wars Saga, it can be taken as literal according to each fan’s desire.)

After training Beerus, Sinis trained many padawans, including Oton Grent, Issius Pallon, Quotar Forsh and Whel Baroc. Beerus trained many padawans as well, including Xis Latos, Don Votal, Eegis Plati and Yag Malore. The Jedi supported the Peace established by the Republic. Sadly, in Sinis’ lifetime, the Dark Jedi were created by a rogue Jedi named Zuti Frugan. Zuti Frugan changed his name to Zuti Darklighter, founding the infamous Darklighter clan.

Dark Jedi could act as free agents, choosing any color of light saber they could create and even training themselves without a master. These Dark Jedi studied both sides of the Force, but emphasized the dark side or the Bogan. With the rebellion of Zuti Darklighter and others, the Jedi Council under Kaja Sinis saw that an imbalance had been created, so the practice of studying the dark side was disbanded. Nonetheless, the Dark Jedi were already flourishing. Dark Jedi were teaming up with Sith pirates to conquer the Sith, and utilize their magic to evil, power mongering ends.

The Sith were conquered by Dark Jedi who adopted their form of magic in Sinis’ lifetime. These Jedi called themselves Sith Lords. The first known Dark Lord of the Sith (Dark Jedi to conquer Sith) of recorded history was Darth Scarz. He is not to be confused with Darth Ghore, the first known Sith Monarch. In imitation of the Jedi Holocron, the Sith made their own holocron, the Sith Holocron. The tension between the two sides eventually came to a head at the Battle of Omicras, the first major conflict between the Sith and Jedi. Nonetheless, the Sith Lords remained and continued to grow the Sith Order including non-Sith species in their Order, as one Sith Dynasty succeeded another.

Kaja Sinis slew 3 Sith Lords and 17 Dark Jedi in his life due to their attacks on the Jedi. The 3 Sith Lords were Darth Mirage, Darth Sinistar and Darth Horrar. The 17 Dark Jedi were discovered and slain in the Dungstaka Uprising on the planet Natisular. Kaja Sinis was eventually assassinated at the ripe age of 187 under the orders of Prince Ganchok Krancore of Utarius, by a bounty hunter named Harbontin Dumis. Dumis slew Sinis by means of a fireball explosion, from which the tradition of burning a Jedi in a funeral pyre originated. After Sinis’ death, Beerus took over the Jedi Order. He recorded a prophecy made to him by Kaja Sinis in the Jedi Holocron. It regarded the One who would bring Balance to the Force. Shintor Beerus survived to the age of 174. His Jedi Holocron was lost and not rediscovered for several millennia.

Several millennia of strife between Jedi and Sith ensued. 5,000 years before The Phantom Menace, a Dark Jedi named Jeer Dexton created the Order of the Dark Jedi, who refused the discipline of the Sith. The Sith continued as well, fighting against the Republic in the Great Hyperspace War. They were led at that time primarily by Naga Sadow, successor to the great iron-fisted Marka Ragnos, who had ruled the Sith for 100 years.

4,000 years before The Phantom Menace, the Sith War occurred. The Sith were ruled by Darth Revan, succeeded by his apprentice, Darth Malak. Darth Revan was slain by a Force avalanche. Darth Malak was seriously injured in a duel with Jedi Knight Kylo Spartos, which is why Darth Malak lost most of his jaw. Other great Sith arose at this time, such as Darth Sion, Darth Traya, Darth Nihilus, Darth Bandon, and Exar Kun.

Other important Sith of note in Sith History are Darth Tantalon and Darth Cladar of Ropetru. The legendary Darth Tantalon was one of the ten most powerful Sith in regards to Force ability. He was slain by a Force fireball. Darth Cladar was the physically strongest Sith ever. Darth Kanamite was the dumbest Sith ever and lasted only a few days as a Sith. He was a short-lived apprentice in the Sith Order of Darth Bane. Kanamite died on his first mission. In addition to the powerful Sith already mentioned, the most powerful Sith include such notables as Darth Vak, Darth Slane, Darth Vicrone, Darth Secretus, and Darth Thrax.

While the dark side of the Force created many great warriors, the light side of the Force did as well. 2,000 years before The Phantom Menace, the most formidable light saber fighter before Yoda lived, the amazing Yendar Platis. Yendar Platis had six arms and could use six light sabers at a time. Another fascinating Jedi was the renowned Jedi scientist Crutus Penari. Penari succeeded in creating a yellow-bladed light saber, which could actually slice through any other light saber. This light saber was called the Penari light saber. The Jedi Council considered the light saber too dangerous and it was destroyed with its blueprints. The yellow crystal used to make it was made illegal. Of even greater note than either Yendar Platis or Crutus Penari was the beautiful Ce Ce Denowai from the planet Rotteron. She had a higher midichlorian count than any female Jedi ever. Of course, the Jedi had to have their clumsier, less intelligent Jedi. The biggest buffoon of the Jedi was Zistar Flamgag.

chiKenliTeL

THE SITH ORDER OF DARTH BANE

Eventually came the Dynatic Sith Dynasty, about 1,000 years before The Phantom Menace. Sith Lord Qordis (whose Sith name was Darth Sinistog) trained Darth Bane in the arts of the Sith. Darth Bane never completed his training and rejected his master, but managed to gain possession of the Sith Holocron and his own student, Darth Riven. The Sith had weak control over the Galaxy at this time, and Darth Bane foresaw the fall of Sith tyranny and despotism. He slew Darth Riven, not finding her to be a worthy successor.

All Sith were wiped out at the Battle of Gradon. Only Darth Bane survived, as well as his apprentice to be, a young woman named Ishto Papar from the planet Nibon. Ishto Papar left Darth Bane to become the fabled Dark Woman, who fled Darth Bane and returned to the light side of the Force in hiding. This is not the Dark Woman who lived to train Aurra Sing the Herclu, but was her mentor, as she had found a way to make herself virtually immortal.

Darth Bane took on a new apprentice, whom he dubbed Darth Seer, a Dynat from planet Dynaticus. This would begin the secret Dynatic Sith Dynasty. With Darth Seer, he hid upon Coruscant, where the Sith were to remain for several generations. Darth Bane established a Rule of Two, only one master and one apprentice at a time, the sole inheritors of the Dynatic Sith Dynasty.

Upon his death of old age, Darth Seer established a formalized Code for the Sith Order, recruiting the next Sith, Darth Mongerer, who followed his code. One rule was of course, the Rule of Two. Another was that a Sith apprentice needed to construct his own light saber and it had to be red-bladed. The secret to making a red-bladed Sith light saber was to be found in the Sith Holocron. The Sith Holocron was encrypted by a password code containing a long series of Sith words. Darth Seer further insisted the title “Darth” which merely meant “shadow warrior” be made equivalent with the title “Lord” in honor of Darth Bane. Before this, the title Darth was similar to Mister, and was considered a rude and unacceptable title to a Sith with the rank of Lord. This was to remind all future Sith that being a Sith Lord meant always being a warrior.

Darth Seer died of old age, succeeded by his apprentice. Darth Mongerer faithfully continued the Order of the Sith in hiding on Coruscant. A Jedi dueled and beheaded Darth Mongerer, but Mongerer hid the fact that he was a Sith and his apprentice succeeded him as Sith Master. Around this time, Yoda D’Kana the Whill was born on Grentarik, the World of Records. Yoda’s father, Syville Demetris D’Kana, allowed his son to be taken in by the Jedi Order at a young age. Yoda trained under Bontu Sitmus the orange Whill. Bontu Sitmus trained under Losho Yik the Whill as a youngling, and under Tracktius Mutheon as an apprentice. Bontu Sitmus became a legend in his own lifetime by slaying 7 Dark Jedi at a single time, all by himself.

Two centuries into the Dynatic Sith Dynasty, the Sith Lord Darth Gilgon discovered Darth Augor on the planet Nefeyi. The young Darth Augor grew to become one of the greatest Sith of all time. Darth Gilgon was slain with a Force tornado, making Darth Augor the Master. Darth Augor slew dozens of Jedi, but was in turn ambushed and slain by 17 Jedi, including the young Yoda. Darth Augor concealed his identity as a Sith and the Sith Order continued undetected.

When Yoda was 177, the Jedi Holocron kept by Shintor Beerus was rediscovered, prophesying the One who would bring Balance to the Force. Yoda was a more formidable Jedi than Evins Croslod and even Aenon Jurtis, the most formidable Jedi before his time. Many considered Yoda to be the fulfillment of the prophecy, but upon examining the Holocron, Yoda could not be the One, for the One would be born of a virgin mother.

Yoda rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a member of the Jedi Council under Lady Lidia Frotgus. Under her, the Jedi Holocron kept by Shintor Beerus was rediscovered. Yoda lived during the rise of the most powerful Dark Jedi ever (with the exception of the Sith). This Dark Jedi was Norius Havok of Eegius, who lived 150 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. The second most powerful Dark Jedi was named Fluvian Destu, and the most powerful female Dark Jedi was named Sashees Vrtrik.

Unnoticed to the Jedi, one Sith succeeded another on Coruscant, eventually leading up to Darth Frordon of Dresdane. On Dresdane, Frordon set up a duel between his apprentice Baltimort and Baltimort’s potential replacement, Imperius. Baltimort and Imperius were each Baraosi, both from the planet Bothiwite. Since Imperius had a collection of kyber crystals, but was less experienced than Baltimort, Imperius and Baltimort teamed up against Frordon. Baltimort became Imperius’ master, until Imperius slew Baltimort by an ever-growing collection of kyber crystals and heightened skill. Imperius slew Baltimort by means of a Force earthquake.

chiKenliTeL

DARTH PLAGUEIS THE WISE

Imperius was eventually slain by a Dark Jedi called Plagueis the Wise, a former Jedi and master of the techniques of the Rodar Wizards of Perdonis. Plagueis was a half breed from Tindell 5, the fifth planet in the Tindell Star System, half human and half Disonian. Plagueis actually tracked Imperius down with his own kyber crystal, and basically forced Imperius to teach him the ways of the Sith, before Imperius could find what he deemed a proper successor to succeed him. Imperius had it in his heart to slay Plagueis after training him if he could, or simply accept a more powerful Sith such as Plagueis would successfully slaughter him. Either way, it was an acceptable sacrifice for Imperius. Imperius learned the wickedly regenerating ways of the Rodar Wizards, and Plagueis the self-destructive path of the Sith.

While training on the planet Skaggis, Plagueis sliced off Imperius’ arms, sliced Imperius in half from head to hip, then finished Imperius off with a Force tornado when Imperius was 52 years old. After Plagueis defeated Darth Imperius, Plagueis became a Sith called Darth Plagueis. Soon afterwards, Darth Plagueis apprenticed a young boy from Naboo, Dantius Palpatine. Plagueis paid Palpatine’s parents a large sum of money to not allow Palpatine to be taken by the Jedi for training. Plagueis dubbed the young lad Darth Sidious. Plagueis had several kyber crystals and eventually gave Palpatine one of these kyber crystals.

By means of the kyber crystals in conjunction with Sith magic and Jedi training, Plagueis had discovered a method for transferring the spirit from an old body to a cloned one by manipulating the midichlorians. He was never able to make a clone body he could successfully transfer his spirit into, but was able to remain young longer than a Sith typically could, being that most Sith would age very rapidly due to the destructive nature of the dark side.

The kyber crystals were forged by the Rodar Wizards of Perdonis and scattered throughout the Galaxy, about 100,000 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. Perdonis was a twin planet, which means it was composed of two planets that have collided and merged with each other. Perdonis was located in the Clatock star system near the Fride Beltway. The Rodar Wizards were powerful warlocks who could harness the powers of th Force. They found a way to create crystals that could highly concentrate the power of the dark side. These crystals were reputedly made from crystal ore harvested on the planet Mimban. The Rodar Wizards were greatly feared in their part of the galaxy as the most evil persons alive at that time. They made the Sith look like nuns. The kyber crystals were made so that a dark side Force user could boost their powers greatly by possessing the crystals.

Unbeknownst to Plagueis, Palpatine had found a far more potent kyber crystal than anything Plagueis had. Palpatine located it on the planet Moovis, which he purchased from Ushkar Madcra, a bounty hunter who sold it as junk. This potent kyber crystal made Palpatine too powerful for his master to control. On the planet Skaggis, Palpatine slew Plagueis as he slept. Plagueis never even saw it coming. Like his master, Imperius, before him, Plagueis was slain on Skaggis at 52.

RISE OF THE SITH

Palpatine took on an apprentice named Voltres, calling him Darth Venom, or alternatively Darth Voltres. Darth Voltres, while still an apprentice himself, apprenticed Darth Orcron and possibly others, breaking the Sith Rule of Two. Palpatine found out and sliced Darth Voltres in half, from head to torso, then hunted down and slew Darth Orcron as well. (It is possible one of Voltres’ surviving students trained Asajj Ventress of Rattatak, who claimed to be a Sith warrior when Count Dooku discovered her.)

Undaunted, Palpatine sought out a new apprentice. He found a very young Zabrak on Iridonia named Khameir Sarin. Succeeding Palpatine’s tests, Khameir Sarin began to be known as Darth Maul. Before the Sith revealed their existence to the Jedi, Darth Maul succeeded in slaying 3 Jedi: Barco Trellius, Roro Fergus and Ji-Dis Flar. Darth Maul revealed himself to the Jedi, as shown in The Phantom Menace. The Sith markings made Maul’s identity as a Sith clear to the Jedi.

Some of the Jedi in The Phantom Menace were in fact the most powerful Jedi in history. Not only was Yoda of Grentarik one of the most powerful Jedi ever, but so were some of his colleagues on the Jedi Council including Plo Koon of Dorin, Yarael Poof the Quermian, Even Piell the Lannik and, of course, the amazing Mace Windu. Yarael Poof was trained by Zinkor Dawn and Even Piell was trained by Haccor Topkin.

Mace Windu came from Erberius and was trained by Cloto Nervon on the planet Ophuchi. Mace Windu in turn trained Depa Billaba, Ipto Follers, and his nephew, Usby Thape. Mace Windu fought Dark Jedi Barkius Zok. Let us not forget Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Gon Jinn was born on the planet Hargithon, but his parents moved to Racine. The Jedi often went to Racine to find Jedi, and there they found Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan was born on the yellow rocky world of Pilegias. As a very young boy, he was found on the planet Kelchase and given by his parents to the Jedi Order.

chiKenliTeL

RISE OF THE EMPIRE

After the death of Darth Maul, Palpatine immediately sought out three potential apprentices; Sifo Dyas, Detori (Darth Rage), a cyborg Toban from Yetis and Dakkus Vitrich’s Jedi student, Count Jard Dooku of Serreno (Darth Tyranus). Detori grew up as a youth on Sevara, just past Iridonia and was there found by Palpatine for training. Palpatine first approached Sifo Dyas. Palpatine had asked Sifo Dyas to become a Sith, since the Kaminoans were expecting his visit. Sifo Dyas refused and Palpatine slew him by a Force fireball and Force earthquake. Palpatine then approached Detori and Count Dooku, who each accepted the possibility of apprenticeship. Detori, as Darth Rage, was given training prior to Count Dooku, but would have to duel to prove himself against the Dark Jedi. The two were to duel for the position of apprentice, Darth Rage to retain his recently achieved position, Count Dooku to replace him.

Before the duel could be set up, Plo Koon fought Darth Rage in a fierce light saber duel, eventually destroying Darth Rage by a Force avalanche. During the fight, Plo Koon snatched the kyber crystal Darth Rage was wearing from his neck. Before dying, Darth Rage denied being a Sith and claimed to act alone.

Count Dooku became Darth Tyranus, Palpatine’s apprentice, in less than a year after the events of The Phantom Menace. One of his first missions was to order a clone army as Sifo Dyas, who was on his way to Kamino. (Sifo Dyas was an Ogdarian born on the asteroid world of Esiken, and discovered by the Jedi when he moved to Allistare.) Count Dooku had Billigo Hilgobottomager (a Jedi master of disguise and possibly a changeling) pretend to be Sifo Dyas and order an army cloned from the bounty hunter, Jango Fett. Jango Fett had proven himself as the best bounty hunter throughout the Galaxy by always beating the formidable cyborg Montross to a mark. Montross had the benefit of cybergenetic enhancements implanted in him by the Techno Union, so if a non-cyborg such as Jango Fett could always beat Montross to any given mark, nothing better could be expected.

Palpatine and Count Dooku quickly found a Jedi to aid them in their nefarious plans to take over the Galaxy. His name was Visivious Drakarn. Drakarn was born on Gishomire, where his parents gave him over to the Jedi Order. Drakarn was a rebellious student and as punishment at age 17, was sent to Melbius Prime to work for a Jedi charity organization. Drakarn was resentful for this punishment and took the opportunity to get revenge on the Jedi once he was allowed to return to Coruscant at age 20. Recruited by Count Dooku on Coruscant for the task, Drakarn erased the files concerning the existence of Kamino. This act remained unnoticed for years.

Dooku thought he was gaining much power in the dark side, but Palpatine was merely utilizing Count Dooku as a tool. Count Dooku started the Separatist Confederacy, headquartered on the planet Vicodis. As Count Dooku unified the Separatists, Palpatine brought adepts of the dark side into his conspiracy. He made Sly Moore of Umbara his secretary, due to her ability to read minds. He befriended two Jedi during this period, considering which one he would choose to replace Dooku as an apprentice. Their names were Anakin Cleevon Skywalker of Thessius and the little known Vorron Tastras.

Though Palpatine’s relationship with Vorron Tastras remains largely unknown, it is known that he had legions of Dark Side Adepts led by the extremely tall masked General Lettow, and utilized the skill of the Dark Jedi assassin known as Xio Jade, the first “Emperor’s Hand” and aunt of Mara Jade. Xio Jade became the most powerful female Sith of all time.

Though Anakin would always consider Tatooine his home world, he was actually born on Thessius. Thessius was a watery island world Anakin’s mother Shmi Skywalker moved to. Shmi’s first husband, who died long before Anakin was conceived, was Lodon Skywalker. Lodon Skywalker was a direct descendant of Aden Trackus, born 2,700 years before Episode 1. Aden had to go into hiding, and changed his last name to Skywalker, because he liked to pilot ships. Shmi was sold as a slave and taken to Tatooine, but was originally herself from the planet Cardonas. While Palpatine and Dooku were growing in the power of the dark side, Anakin was growing in the good side of the Force. This did not prevent him from negotiations. In fact, the negotiations he had with the rogue Halbertas on the planet Verkig got quite aggressive.

The events depicted in Episode 2: Attack of the Clones transpired. These were followed by the Clone Wars. It was during the infamous Clone Wars that Anakin received his eye scar by a Portris Battle Droid at the Jarkotic Battle on Gorinusk. To enhance the specialization of each type of clone troop category, clones of other individuals besides clones of Jango Fett were included in the new Galactic Military. Eventually, non-cloned humans were allowed to join the Clonetroopers, and the combined forces of clones and non-clones were called Stormtroopers. However, the majority of the Imperial Galactic Military’s troops were still clones. Troops, whether clones or not, were given numeric designations, like TK 421. TK actually was short for Tandis Keplar, which meant “warrior of valor.”

During the Clone Wars, Count Dooku found Asajj Ventress on Rattatak. She claimed to be a Sith warrior and though Count Dooku rejected this claim, he agreed to instruct her and utilize her skills. He found an Omix-patra of planet Kalee on the world of Divon. Dooku trained Grievous in the arts of a Dark Jedi as well, though only to the level of padawan. This Omix-patra was transformed into a cyborg, and soon thereafter became known as General Grievous, the Droid Army Leader. He could wield four light sabers at once, by splitting his two robotic arms into four. General Grievous was kept alive and made into a cyborg by a scientific genius of the Techno Union named Sago Milius on the world of Disicon. General Grievous slew many Jedi, even the great Even Piell in the Battle of Corellia, and Grievous’ super battle droids even succeeded in ambushing Bultar Swan on Kanspa. At the time of Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, he actually slew the powerful Shaak Ti.

chiKenliTeL

THE NEW EMPIRE

After the Clone Wars, in which Anakin successfully slew Asajj Ventress, the events of Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith occurred. Anakin Skywalker slew Count Dooku early on. Obi-Wan hunted down General Grievous and slew him, making the Separatist leaders worthless to Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine convinced Anakin Skywalker to help slay Mace Windu and become the next Sith apprentice, known as Darth Vader. Vader, in the Sith language, signifies a dreaded tormentor.

Anakin and the clone troops commenced to slaughter the Jedi. Anakin personally slew the Separatist Council on Mustafar, Nebar Foxis and the Jedi younglings in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and several other Jedi in the Jedi Temple, including Jedi Master Cin Drallig. Throughout the Galaxy, clone troops slaughtered their Jedi leaders under Emperor Palpatine’s orders. Pablo Jill was slain by his troops on Gedius. Adi Gallia was slain by hers on Eugiinax, Ki-Adi Mundi on Mygeeto, Aayla Secura and Barriss Offee on Felucia, Luminara Unduli on Kashyyyk, Quinlan Vos on Boz Pity, and Plo Koon on Cato Neimodia.

After a violent duel regarding Padme, Obi-Wan left Anakin for dead on the lava planet of Mustafar, but Palpatine revived Anakin, giving him his cyber-genetic suit and possibly placed a chip in Anakin’s suit by which Palpatine held the life of Anakin in his hands. (All the means by which Palpatine held Vader in his power are not known.) Darth Vader made sure Dooku’s surviving minions would soon meet their doom. Visivious Drakarn, Billigo Hilgobottomager and Shatar Hooslun would not survive Palpatine’s purge against Force users.

Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Emperor and reorganized the Senate under his rule, renaming it the Imperial Senate. He legitimized his rule with the aid of the highest court in the Galaxy, the Supreme Tribunal, located on the planet Granicus. The head of the Tribunal was the Consul, Cos Da# of Alderaan. Da# decided to cast his vote in favor of making Chancellor Palpatine the Emperor. Other members of the Supreme Tribunal who supported Cos Da# included Son Hhat of Granicus, Mara Horus of Townowi, Crispin Hoedaak of Aquilae and the obese Hutt, Vantos Coll. All had received their appointment by Chancellor Palpatine, and always ratified whatever he put forth. Ngai Thuc of Ophuchi and the courageous Seig Darklighter of Tatooine were the two judges of the Tribunal to oppose the measure. Seig Darklighter was expected to support the measure, being appointed by Palpatine and a direct descendant of the founder of the Dark Jedi, Zuti Darklighter.

Through Darth Vader and others, Palpatine established the Galactic Empire and executed the Jedi Purge, which began in Revenge of the Sith. Thousands upon thousands of Jedi were massacred. The Order of 10,000 Jedi virtually disappeared. Great Jedi were just memories. Rido Fander, one of the ten greatest Jedi ever, was no more. Chase Hintock, the Bomewright Jedi scientist of Sullust, who aided Anakin in constructing his light saber, was dead. The golden haired, yellow-skinned Jedi of Ord Mantell, Nebar Foxis, was considered the best looking male Jedi of his time. He died valiantly defending the Jedi children on Coruscant. Dethal Vangris, the prettiest Jedi throughout the Galaxy, was gone. Other Force Users were eliminated as well, such as the peaceful Sutrans, the Biotans, and the powerful female Vortari, which took their name in honor of their founder, Lady Vortari.

The only Force Users to survive were those lucky enough to remain in hiding on remote worlds. We know some members of E.T.’s species, which were Sutrans, survived. However, most Force-sensitive individuals were tracked down by Grand Inquisitor Tremayne and were either made to submit their abilities to Emperor Palpatine’s rule or perish. Under Tremayne and a warrior general named Lettow, a dark side elite developed. The dark side warriors who submitted to the Emperor were called the Legions of Lettow. In addition to Darth Vader, a very tight circle of Shiboku (Dark Side Adepts) surrounded the Emperor, none having the level of midichlorians found in even a common Jedi, but all surpassing the Jedi in prowess. The Shiboku Council consisted of General Lettow, Vorron Tastras, Xio Jade, Sly Moore, Mas Amedda, Sate Pestage, and two Royal Guards who were always found at the Emperor’s side.

According to the Expanded Universe, the Emperor’s Dark Side Elite included Nefta, Sa-Di, Executor Sedriss and others. Assassins with Force ability were brought into the fold as well. They were called the “Emperor’s Hands” and included such notables as Mara Jade. Each “Emperor’s Hand” was led to believe they were the sole Emperor’s Hand, giving them great self confidence. Aurra Sing the Herclu supported the Jedi Purge, seeking out her master, the Dark Woman. Ironically, Aurra Sing was slain by a Jedi, Nto Boraj, who did not survive the purge himself.

The Emperor appointed Sate Pestage as his Grand Vizier to control the mundane aspects of the Empire. No one but Sly Moore saw the Emperor without his permission. Emperor Palpatine made Armand Isard his Director of Intelligence and Ved Kennede the Master Royal Guardsman, in charge of training the Royal Guardsmen. Other important Imperial Dignitaries included Janus Greejatus, Kren Blista-Vanee, Sim Aloo and Ars Dangor. The Grand Moffs and the Grand Admirals were appointed in time, of which Grand Moff Tarkin and Grand Admiral Thrawn were the most notable. Dark Prince Xizor was also held in high esteem by the Emperor. Through Xizor’s criminal organization, Black Sun, the Emperor could successfully direct the criminal elements throughout the Galaxy.

Sephiroth

I thought we discussing Science behind Star Wars. :hmm:

Sephiroth

Anyway ... here's something interesting ...

Source : http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2007 ... eapons_070130150451


Tue Jan 30, 10:04 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Fleeing Iraqi insurgents downed by artificial ice sprayed on the road; an angry mob in        Afghanistan dispersed by non-lethal ray gun blasts. This is the future of US weaponry, at least for the        Pentagon's high-tech arms research division.

The space-age weapons of Star Wars are not beyond the imagination of researchers at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US        Department of Defense.

Mounted on a trailer, the ADS is a parabolic antenna-like unit that shoots out a focused electromagnetic radio-frequency beam of millimeter waves over 500 meters (yards), giving it a much greater range than many crowd-control devices like rubber bullets or water cannons.

When they hit their target, the beams penetrate the skin to about 1/64th of an inch, or 0.4 millimeters, causing a sensation that makes people think their clothes are on fire. This can be used to scare off a menacing mob without causing real injury, according to DARPA.

DARPA stresses that ADS is not a laser, nor does it use more dangerous microwave energy.


Well ... USA seems to take Star Wars Technology quite seriously. :hmm:

But I must say ... that Electromagnetic Waves seems to be like something from a "someone's" fanfics.

geForceFX

tak mustahil masa depan akan ada teknologi star wars

weta_studio

better teknologi star trek dari teknologi star wars

johnconan

Originally posted by weta_studio at 14-6-2007 09:04 AM
better teknologi star trek dari teknologi star wars

saya lebih suka dunia cam star war berbanding star trek. Ada unsur perkembangan spiritual berbanding star trak yg hanya pasal teknologi semata-mata.

Sephiroth

Originally posted by johnconan at 14-6-2007 10:22 AM
saya lebih suka dunia cam star war berbanding star trek. Ada unsur perkembangan spiritual berbanding star trak yg hanya pasal teknologi semata-mata.

Correct, sebab itu Star Trek gagal menarik perhatian generasi muda sekarang. Star Trek dulu2 - 1960an dan movies sekitar 1970an itu masih segar dlm ingatan semua kerana ia juga diselitkan dgn unsur2 kerohanian.

Tetapi Star Trek zaman sekarang (New generation) lebih kpd teknologi semata-mata, tak ada kerohanian serta kebolehan utk belajar dr benda2 lain.

weta_studio

Originally posted by Sephiroth at 15-6-2007 08:50 AM


Correct, sebab itu Star Trek gagal menarik perhatian generasi muda sekarang. Star Trek dulu2 - 1960an dan movies sekitar 1970an itu masih segar dlm ingatan semua kerana ia juga diselitkan dgn ...

bagi aku keupayaan teknologi star trek lebih mudah berbanding star wars