3111: Artificial Gravity

2025-07-05T16:23:02Z

2A09:BAC2:6221:1246:0:0:1D2:28: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3111
| date = July 4, 2025
| title = Artificial Gravity
| image = artificial_gravity_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x365px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Low gravity can cause bone loss, so we're pleased to report that, since we initiated capsule motion, the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a very unhappy astronaut. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The human body will experience slow but adverse side effects in a low gravity environment, such as a spaceship taking an interplanetary or interstellar voyage. Many prototype designs have been introduced to combat this, both in science fiction and real life, and one of the most common (for non-fictional purposes, or in {{w|hard science fiction}}) is to use [[123: Centrifugal Force|centrifugal force]] to simulate the effects of gravity on the crew.

[[Cueball]] describes a spacecraft in which the crew quarters are being continuously shaken. [[Ponytail]] immediately sees problems with this approach, and asks if the shaking pod can be replaced with a much safer and more stable spinning wheel or cylinder — a common sight in speculative (yet 'hard science') spaceship designs. Cueball concedes his agreement, but states that the crew is already stuck with the shaking-pod setup, implying the ship has already been built, launched, and is in operation.

A shaking spaceship design would in fact create an experience of gravity for the crew, just a very unpleasant one. When the capsule accelerates "up" (from the point of view of the picture), the crew will feel a gravity-like force pulling them "down" against the capsule floor. However when the capsule accelerates "down", the crew will find themselves thrown against the ceiling of the capsule, in an experience similar to falling several metres. This will result in the crew continuously falling against one surface or the other, which might make their life unpleasant {{citation needed}}. The direction of this artificial "gravity" will keep alternating as long as the capsule keeps shaking.

The title text discusses a real side effect of low gravity environments: a form of bone density loss known as {{w|Spaceflight osteopenia}}. The title text speaker claims that "the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing" — this is because the shaking, and subsequent multiple impacts, are fragmenting the crew members' bones. The broken pieces of bone are then being counted as bones in their own right and increasing the effective count, without telling if the pod's awkward centripetal force has done anything to reduce bone loss.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing near a blueprint of a spacecraft, with Cueball pointing at the blueprint. In place of conventional conical fairing, this spacecraft has a large mechanical arm on the nose. The arm is holding an egg-shaped capsule. Two semi-transparent drawings of the arm and the capsule are depicted on either side of it with speed streaks in between, implying shaking back and forth motion of the arm.]
:Cueball: To produce artificial gravity during the voyage, the crew capsule is kept in constant motion.
:Ponytail: Wouldn't it make more sense to spin it instead of shaking it, so the acceleration is steadier?
:Cueball: ...Listen. You, I, and the crew all wish we'd thought of that before launch.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Space]]

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3111: Artificial Gravity