From: Philip.Banks@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Philip Richard Banks)
Subject: Re: Plot holes in Alien^3 (*S
Organization: Dept. of Comp. Sci., Victoria Uni. of Wellington, New Zealand.
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 20:34:25 GMT

In article <1992Sep9.232054.24323@tandem.com> Montague_Kevin@Tandem.com (Kevvy Kev) writes:
[lots deleted]
>??? They used a high-tech, only-to-be-found-in-sf-movies laser to cut it off
>him.  How do you glean from this the inescapable conclusion that it was 
>plastic *not* glass?

   Watch the scene again sometime. The behvior of the helmet and the noises it
makes are all consistant with it being made, faceplate and all, of plastic.

>This spirals further and further. . .why are you so certain that the stasis 
>tubes were glass?  This is as unsupported as the assumption that the helmet
>was plastic.  

   Because in the scene where they are released the tubes are rocking slightly
on the floor of the medical lab making glass type noises. Given that it is a 
transparent material, reasonably strong, and inert to alot of chemicals glass
seems a good choice.

>All of which is so far beyond the point that it's ridiculous.  Look: the 
>idea here is that these creatures can secrete/spit/bleed a fluid ("acid" is
>probably not a good word) that is Incredibly corrosive.  Eats through every-
>thing. . .several layers of a spaceship, an environmental protective suit,
>flesh, pens. . .everything.  It went through all of that, it would've gone 
>through the holding tubes in _Aliens_ or the cryotubes in ^3.  Period.  The
>writers f--ked up.

   Why isnt acid a good word? In every reference to the creatures biology its
circulatory fluid is referred to as molecular *acid* which oxidizes on contact
with air after the creatures death. Oxidization is standard behavior for acids.

>A couple final points: Regardless of what any of us may wish, the cryotubes in
>^3 *were* cracked, Not melted through.  This is clear from the movie, as well
>as the two adaptations I've seen.  Finally. . .I may not be the best chemist
>in the world, but I find it hard to conceive of a substance that eats through
>Everything In The World With Frightening Speed Except Glass.  Assuming, of
>course, that the substances were glass.  Not.

    I can conceive of quite a few substances actually that have the property of
eating through most anything but glass. Try the following :-

HCl (Hydro chloric acid)
H2SO4 (Sulphuric acid)
HNO3 (Nitric acid)

(Apologies to chemists on the net - I have no subscripts thus the slightly
strange numbering scheme)

Then add alkalis (sp?) and you have a whole range of materials that only glass
is pratical to hold. There is nothing to indicate that molecular acid is any
different in this respect.

   Thus I say the writers didn't make a mistake in Aliens but rather with
Alien^3. A more reasonable entry point is they have to acid burn their way in
would have been through the metal casing of the cryosleep tube. But then I
suppose whats a little acid through glass snafu given the 'how did the egg
get there?' blunder...

   Philip
-- 
 Philip R. Banks  pbanks@comp.vuw.ac.nz (An Arc owner with a mission)  @@@@@/|
    (Quite what mission I am not too sure yet. But I do have one!)     @@@@/#|
 "There may be an om in moment,but there's very few folk in focus!"    @@@/--|
	--'Hallowed be thy Name' by Emerson,Lake & Palmer.             @@/###|