Mistborn Era 3/Era 4 Tech: How the Metallic Arts Might Influence Scientific Development

[Quadrophenia]

1 minute ago, bleeder said:

"Mr Davar, set impulse power to 30%."

"Aye, Captain."

*beooo-weeep*

"Commander Colms to the bridge"

 

Wait, in this scenario, is everyone in the crew native to Scadrial or is it like Star Trek proper and you have the one token "Alien" on the bridge? (Like, say, some guy from Roshar or Sol)

[soyperson]

I was thinking a bunch of humans from various spheres (Scadrial, Roshar, Sel, et c.) and then one, like, listener and one kandra. 

[Quadrophenia]

2 minutes ago, bleeder said:

I was thinking a bunch of humans from various spheres (Scadrial, Roshar, Sel, et c.) and then one, like, listener and one kandra. 

There should be one Koloss. He'd be like the team Worf (if we go by Next Gen rules). 

[Spoolofwhool]

16 minutes ago, bleeder said:

"Mr Davar, set impulse power store mass to 30%."

"Aye, Captain."

*beooo-weeep*

"Commander Colms to the bridge."

"On my way, sir."

Fixed.

[Quadrophenia]

Heh heh, I feel we're getting off track from the main topic a little.

Although, in fairness, Star Trek did inspire real life science and technological advancement, so we're still technically on theme XD

[Shadeshadow227]

We have reached new levels of nerd. I, for one, am happy that there is an oasis of geek in this scholarly place.

 

 

[Quadrophenia]

1 minute ago, Shadeshadow227 said:

We have reached new levels of nerd. I, for one, am happy that there is an oasis of geek in this scholarly place.

 

 

 

Ha, indeed!

[Quadrophenia]

So what other technologies and sciences have not touched on? Open to all ideas.

[Eki]

Just the fact that there are cheap, relatively clean, and mostly fossil fuel free energy sources is a massive deal. I don't know if they've figured out induction and alternating current yet, but once they do, they will be able to use massive amounts of energy practically without any drawbacks. If Scadrial is anything like Earth, they won't exactly run out of iron any time soon.

[Quadrophenia]

3 minutes ago, Eki said:

Just the fact that there are cheap, relatively clean, and mostly fossil fuel free energy sources is a massive deal. I don't know if they've figured out induction and alternating current yet, but once they do, they will be able to use massive amounts of energy practically without any drawbacks. If Scadrial is anything like Earth, they won't exactly run out of iron any time soon.

It also helps Harmony deliberately remade the world, or at least the Basin, to be exceedingly human-friendly and rich and plentiful in all manner of resources. Already that's a step up in the right direction, eh?

[soyperson]

3 hours ago, Quadrophenia said:

So what other technologies and sciences have not touched on? Open to all ideas.

Well, the Basin has rarely extended beyond its own little area. Possibly out of laziness, but perhaps if they had some sort of faster travel, they could go out and explore more. 

Perhaps electrum metallions? Electrum/Bronze metallions? To keep work ethic high. 

[Quadrophenia]

Just now, bleeder said:

Well, the Basin has rarely extended beyond its own little area. Possibly out of laziness, but perhaps if they had some sort of faster travel, they could go out and explore more. 

Perhaps electrum metallions? Electrum/Bronze metallions? To keep work ethic high. 

Well, they already have trains and they've only recently created automobiles- hey, do they run on fossil fuel in Scadrial or...?

I do suppose they could try to start constructing railways and highways that extend far beyond the Basin.

[Spoolofwhool]

9 minutes ago, Quadrophenia said:

Well, they already have trains and they've only recently created automobiles- hey, do they run on fossil fuel in Scadrial or...?

Biofuel. No fossils for fossil fuel.

[Quadrophenia]

35 minutes ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Biofuel. No fossils for fossil fuel.

Seriously? damnation, man, Scadrial's got it made in the shade. No wonder the Lord Ruler was terrified of a technological uprising, the sheer potential for advancement is incredible.

Fun fact, we could have had fuel-efficient electric cars as early as the 1890s... oh, how history would have altered if we had gone that route. 

 

[kenod]

36 minutes ago, Quadrophenia said:

Fun fact, we could have had fuel-efficient electric cars as early as the 1890s... oh, how history would have altered if we had gone that route. 

Really? If you have an article about it, can you post it? It looks interesting.

[Shadeshadow227]

I've got an Idea. For energy production, a piece of metal, like a giant crank, could be hooked up to a turbine, and some Coinshots or Lurchers would be positioned on both sides of the crank, Pushing or Pulling on it to provide power. The Allomancer makes some extra cash from their effort, and power is created which then goes to electronic devices.

Also, Brass metalminds could be used to fight fires. How? Storing enough heat would draw flames to you, as heat goes from high concentrations to low, and the heat would be absorbed and stored as it enters your body, putting out fire and simultaneously giving a large amount of heat to draw on.

And Copperminds could possibly help treat amnesia.

[Eki]

15 minutes ago, Shadeshadow227 said:

I've got an Idea. For energy production, a piece of metal, like a giant crank, could be hooked up to a turbine, and some Coinshots or Lurchers would be positioned on both sides of the crank, Pushing or Pulling on it to provide power. The Allomancer makes some extra cash from their effort, and power is created which then goes to electronic devices.

There was a topic about making "real" energy from Investiture a while back, it had very interesting ideas similar to this one. I think something similar to how the (BoM spoilers (not sure if I really need to tag that for this particular topic, but anyway))

Spoiler

Southern flying pod powered its downward fan

would be better, since that seemed to only require a constant push downward. I'm still not sure how they achieved that.

You could also use two Iron Ferrings, alternating their weight to push a see-saw up and down. The advantage with that method is that no iron is expended, only the energy it takes to produce the food that keeps the two Ferrings alive.

[Quadrophenia]

1 hour ago, kenod said:

Really? If you have an article about it, can you post it? It looks interesting.

It was something I read about a few years ago, I'll prowl around the net, see if I can pull it up again. I just remember we apparently had the technological feasibility for it.

57 minutes ago, Shadeshadow227 said:

I've got an Idea. For energy production, a piece of metal, like a giant crank, could be hooked up to a turbine, and some Coinshots or Lurchers would be positioned on both sides of the crank, Pushing or Pulling on it to provide power. The Allomancer makes some extra cash from their effort, and power is created which then goes to electronic devices.

Also, Brass metalminds could be used to fight fires. How? Storing enough heat would draw flames to you, as heat goes from high concentrations to low, and the heat would be absorbed and stored as it enters your body, putting out fire and simultaneously giving a large amount of heat to draw on.

And Copperminds could possibly help treat amnesia.

 

I can't seem to recall if there have ever been any brass metalminds that have actually stored away external (as opposed to internal) heat sources. Even so, one would think the brass would melt from absorbing too much eat, not unless it were reinforced with high-tempered and fire-resistant metals.

... And huh. Hadn't thought of that. It would be a neat draw, but otherwise limited. I don't think a coppermind could, say, necessarily restore brain cells or repair damaged components of the brain that produce long-term or short-term memories. Still, it's a good step.

34 minutes ago, Eki said:

There was a topic about making "real" energy from Investiture a while back, it had very interesting ideas similar to this one. I think something similar to how the (BoM spoilers (not sure if I really need to tag that for this particular topic, but anyway))

  Reveal hidden contents

Southern flying pod powered its downward fan

would be better, since that seemed to only require a constant push downward. I'm still not sure how they achieved that.

You could also use two Iron Ferrings, alternating their weight to push a see-saw up and down. The advantage with that method is that no iron is expended, only the energy it takes to produce the food that keeps the two Ferrings alive.

 

So, essentially, we'd have various oddjobs for Ferrings or Allomancers... where they'd be forced to spend hours at a time in human-sized hamster wheels, so to speak? I have to say, I could see a union rising rather quickly out of those circumstances.

[Eki]

1 minute ago, Quadrophenia said:

So, essentially, we'd have various oddjobs for Ferrings or Allomancers... where they'd be forced to spend hours at a time in human-sized hamster wheels, so to speak? I have to say, I could see a union rising rather quickly out of those circumstances.

Well, I'd hope so.

But really, it's probably an easy job. I don't think burning metals causes any sort of physical exhaustion, and if you don't even have to pay attention to whatever you're pushing or pulling, you can just sit there, reading a book or something. The only trouble would be that you'd be constantly pushed or pulled into a harness or the ground, which could cause strains and injuries over time. Since Allomancers are in limited supply, the pay would probably be okay, and they would have power to bargain. The reason unions started initially was that people did jobs that required very little training, and could be done by most people. That made it easy for factory owners to fire anyone who tried to get better (ie more expensive) working conditions and wages, or who got injured in those bad working conditions. Since not anyone can do what Coinshots or Lurchers do, the power plant owners might hesitate to fire the ones they employ, even if they do ask for more benefits or higher wages. And their services would be useful in other places, so I think few Allomancers would feel like they were forced to do a job like this. Still, I do hope unions start popping up, if they haven't already. They were a big and important part of the industrial revolution in our world.

(BoM spoilers)

Spoiler

I did have an idea a while back, that there could be some kind of medallion market, where poor people are paid to sleep and stuff, to fill up wakefulness medallions for rich people. That's a really dystopian idea, if you think about it.

However, the existence of compounding might make that less viable for profit, I dunno. It might depend on the process of creating medallions.

I think something like this was discussed a few pages back as well...

 

[Quadrophenia]

4 minutes ago, Eki said:

Well, I'd hope so.

But really, it's probably an easy job. I don't think burning metals causes any sort of physical exhaustion, and if you don't even have to pay attention to whatever you're pushing or pulling, you can just sit there, reading a book or something. The only trouble would be that you'd be constantly pushed or pulled into a harness or the ground, which could cause strains and injuries over time. Since Allomancers are in limited supply, the pay would probably be okay, and they would have power to bargain. The reason unions started initially was that people did jobs that required very little training, and could be done by most people. That made it easy for factory owners to fire anyone who tried to get better (ie more expensive) working conditions and wages, or who got injured in those bad working conditions. Since not anyone can do what Coinshots or Lurchers do, the power plant owners might hesitate to fire the ones they employ, even if they do ask for more benefits or higher wages. And their services would be useful in other places, so I think few Allomancers would feel like they were forced to do a job like this. Still, I do hope unions start popping up, if they haven't already. They were a big and important part of the industrial revolution in our world.

(BoM spoilers)

  Hide contents

I did have an idea a while back, that there could be some kind of medallion market, where poor people are paid to sleep and stuff, to fill up wakefulness medallions for rich people. That's a really dystopian idea, if you think about it.

However, the existence of compounding might make that less viable for profit, I dunno. It might depend on the process of creating medallions.

I think something like this was discussed a few pages back as well...

 

 

3

Now that opens all sorts of interesting, nifty possibilities...

[Spoolofwhool]

1 hour ago, Eki said:

You could also use two Iron Ferrings, alternating their weight to push a see-saw up and down. The advantage with that method is that no iron is expended, only the energy it takes to produce the food that keeps the two Ferrings alive.

Another advantage is that it could be done without tapping, so both Skimmers would end the day with full metalminds as well.

34 minutes ago, Quadrophenia said:

So, essentially, we'd have various oddjobs for Ferrings or Allomancers... where they'd be forced to spend hours at a time in human-sized hamster wheels, so to speak? I have to say, I could see a union rising rather quickly out of those circumstances.

True, but they would probably be paid really well. Might not even require feruchemists or allomancers even. If medallion production becomes cheap enough, then companies could just hire a whole bunch regular people, give them medallions and have them to do the repetitive work required. That way energy production would become cheap, people with weak skillsets get paid, and mistings and ferrings are free to perform in more advanced which requires a more skilled touch in the metallic arts.

[Quadrophenia]

1 hour ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Another advantage is that it could be done without tapping, so both Skimmers would end the day with full metalminds as well.

True, but they would probably be paid really well. Might not even require feruchemists or allomancers even. If medallion production becomes cheap enough, then companies could just hire a whole bunch regular people, give them medallions and have them to do the repetitive work required. That way energy production would become cheap, people with weak skillsets get paid, and mistings and ferrings are free to perform in more advanced which requires a more skilled touch in the metallic arts.

 

The medallions are such a technological game-changer it's unbelievable. 

[Turbonator]

1 hour ago, Spoolofwhool said:

If medallion production becomes cheap enough, then companies could just hire a whole bunch regular people, give them medallions and have them to do the repetitive work required.

Or, depending on the cost, ettmetal-fueled machines make it so that little human interference is needed.

[Spoolofwhool]

14 minutes ago, Turbonator said:

Or, depending on the cost, ettmetal-fueled machines make it so that little human interference is needed.

True. It's interesting, because at that point, you've got a society entirely reliant on Harmony's power. So if something were to happen to him, then modern Scadrial would be completely screwed over.

[Quadrophenia]

1 minute ago, Spoolofwhool said:

True. It's interesting, because at that point, you've got a society entirely reliant on Harmony's power. So if something were to happen to him, then modern Scadrial would be completely screwed over.

 

... Now there's an idea for a novel...

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