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what happens if the gate at the other end is upside down?

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Good point, since there really is no "This Side Up" sign on the Stargate. My guess is, the Stargate system can sense which way is up (the thing transports matter across light-years of space in just seconds?so a gravity sensing mechanism shouldn't be too mysterious) by the gravity of the planet and hence adjusts the wormhole. Of course, the show has given us a look at what happens when the Stargate just happens to be lying flat (the episode "100 Days"?when a MALP probe popped up, then fell back into the Stargate's event horizon)

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Registered: Oct 2001
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Why would something be upside down?! Have you seen 2001, cos there Carter was kinda in the middle... and in ... erm... Bedrosians and Optricans... New Ground!! It made a hole in the ground....

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Last edited by Venus on 12-10-2001 at 06:22 PM

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I think the issue being addressed is, what if someone who just dug the Stargate out of the ground, then as they erected it, they oriented it "upside down" so that when SG-1 come plodding along they find themselves standing on their heads once they emerged...

My answer is that the folks who built these things in the first place couldn't have been too big a band of goofballs and thus they built some gravity-orientation protocol into the Stargate so that it would align along its lateral plane to the strongest gravity well.

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Last edited by Rhydderch Hael on 12-11-2001 at 06:53 AM

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Ok how about his:

Take a slinky, if you take one end and twiste it, then you don't have a twiste in the tube structure, or wormhole in this case. Then the matter would probible just flip on its way to come out right side up on the other side. Be the same reason that if two planets are right side up facing each other. One having a gate on the northern pole and the other planet the gate be on the southern. The wormhole would have to flip to be right side up for the matter to come out correctly.

Maybe slinky wasn't the best example, think of it as a tube like balloon.

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Registered: Oct 2001
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Oh. Well, I'll go with my previous answer; the Stargate would make a hole in the ground as the unstable vortex disintegrates it (the ground), as it did in New Ground (not Proving Ground, just to complicate matters!). Not entirely sure why the earth around what has just been disintegrated doesn't then fall in, but still...

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I MEAN IF THE GATE WAS UPSIDE DOWN. NOT ON ITS BACK. AND THERE IS A RIGHT SIDE UP AS THE TOP CHEVERON IS AT THE TOP AND CHERON 8 AND 9 ARE ON THE BOTTOM. WHAT IS IT WAS ROTATED? SO THAT 9 AND 8 WERE WHERE 1 IS???

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The Stargate in "New Ground" never carved a hole in the ground. It was stationed vertically, remember? Set into an ancient lava flow. The Stargate in "100 Days" did carve a cavity into the ground it was buried in.

And the matter isn't whether or not Stargates carve holes. The question is how does a Stargate "know" what is right side up? What if the gang at the SGC decided to flip the SGC Stargate 180? so the top was at bottom and the bottom was at top? (You know, as a cruel, cruel practical joke to a returning SG team) Would that trick even work, or would the Stargate "magically" put the incoming team on their feet as they passed through the gate?

Ya' got my theory already. It would reflect badly on the true technological power of the Ancients if their nifty lil' Stargate system was deemed dangerous and impractical just because someone aligned their gate upside-down (kind of like putting the "Coffee is Hot" label on cups, right?). These things are, in fact, somewhat foolproof. Dig the thing out of the ground, dust it off, and there you have it?up and running and already dialing in some hostile alien attack force.

I don't think some highly advanced, alien-designed transgalactic FTL transport technology could be foiled simply by having the Stargate ring rolled upside down...

...then again, these things stop working when you shovel a bunch of dirt on 'em...hmmmmm.

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Last edited by Rhydderch Hael on 12-11-2001 at 07:02 AM

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Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by Rhydderch Hael
The Stargate in "New Ground" never carved a hole ...The Stargate in "100 Days" did carve a cavity into the ground

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The original poster made the stargate sound somewhat simplistic in its operation by assuming that any orientation would rely purely on how the gates happened to be aligned with relation to each other. Perhaps if all the gates were within close proximity, on the same plane of reference and with the same orientation, this question would make sense. But as a previous poster has mentioned, this is not the case.

Take two planets, five light years apart. Now stick a gate on each planet, in the same location, so they're aligned vertically and horizontally. Next, take one of the planets and spin it longitudinally by 180?. The gate on this planet is now upside down relative to the other gate.

To complicate matters, try spinning one of the planets 180? laterally as well, so the gates are now relatively upside down and facing the wrong directions.

These situations must arise all the time as planets are seldom going to be aligned in a convenient way. Since orientation only starts to become an issue as matter is reintegrated at the event horizon, it makes sense that the gate has, along with it's intuitive shutoff logic, a "client-side" method of determining how to take the matter stream, which has no orientation anyway because, well, it's a matter stream, and aligning it to the surface directly in front of the stargate.

This is just an extension of the existing intelligence that the stargate displays in adjusting the vertical orientation of objects being reintegrated?the most logical method would be for the trasmitting gate to first and foremost sample their positions and orientations as they step through, and transmit this data with the matter stream to the receiving gate. This gate would then make any adjustments for floor height or other obstacles so that people stepping through wouldn't lose their shins because someone decided to be overzealous when they dug the stargate in. There almost must be some form of communication between the stargates, although it's possible that each stargate is just really, really smart and never wrong. Personally, if I were designing the system, I'd build a simple communication protocol into what is already a peer-to-peer network anyway.

So in answer to the original question: nothing. The gates are probably often "upside down", or at least not completely aligned.

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RIGHT!
OKAY, WHERE THE HELL DID U GET ALL THIS GATE BURRYED UNDERGROUND CRAP FROM?!?!??! FOR GODS SAKE, ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS ONE SIMPLE THING.

I HAVE DRAWN PICTURES TO HELP U ALL.

SAY SG 1 ARE RETURNING FROM A MISSION FROM A PLANET. (FORGET ALL THAT PANTATERY ALIGHMENT S***) AND THE GATE IS NORMAL AT THE PLANETS END. THEY ARE COMING HOME AND THE GATE IS UPSIDE DOWN. WOULD THE COME OUT UPSIDE DOWN?

KEEP IT SIMPLE, IM LIKE JACK

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Last edited by nug on 12-11-2001 at 01:47 PM

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Okay, so we're taking client-side sampling of the orientation of the gate to the floor, my mistake. Although shouting (CAPS) and swearing tends not to make you any friends.

I can't see any reason that objects leaving the event horizon would be reintegrated at only one orientation. If the gate can sense things like the height of the floor, you would imagine it could also sense the location of the floor, and the effect of gravity. Heck, you could use a simple gyroscope and radar/infrared sensor to do that.

That the gate is circular seems to support this idea; the probable intent being that no matter how you decide to align it, since it's a ring there is no particular top. The fact that the "top" chevron is always the last to lock is likely just a de facto standard (and of course for coolness' sake)?I find it difficult to believe that whenever some culture discovers a gate, they somehow always get it right way up (although this does bring to light a small nit).

On the other hand, bearing in mind horizontally-laid gates that we have seen, there would appear to be a default alignment in the event that the gate is unable to determine where the ground is.

Without a close examination of the architecture of the gates themselves, in order to get an idea of any "this side up" cues worked into the design, we're all guessing, so demanding an answer isn't going to get you anywhere.

Chill dood.

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quote:

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Originally posted by gazmaster
RIGHT!
OKAY, WHERE THE HELL DID U GET ALL THIS GATE BURRYED UNDERGROUND CRAP FROM?!?!??! FOR GODS SAKE, ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS ONE SIMPLE THING.

I HAVE DRAWN PICTURES TO HELP U ALL.

SAY SG 1 ARE RETURNING FROM A MISSION FROM A PLANET. (FORGET ALL THAT PANTATERY ALIGHMENT S***) AND THE GATE IS NORMAL AT THE PLANETS END. THEY ARE COMING HOME AND THE GATE IS UPSIDE DOWN. WOULD THE COME OUT UPSIDE DOWN?

KEEP IT SIMPLE, IM LIKE JACK

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*someones got their knickers in a twist*
as so wisely said by bnonn
chill dood (even though its spelt dude..........sorry couldnt help myself)

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Last edited by nug on 12-11-2001 at 01:48 PM

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shush

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Kree

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Why does gazmaster remind me of doh-[death] ?
This is a PG board gazmaster...(or at least used to be), just to let you know.

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