I think the internet might be running out of supercut material.
October 26, 2015 1:01 PM Subscribe
/neeeeerd
I'm not entirely convinced the "cave" worm in TESB is actually bigger by definition than Herbert's sandworms.
posted by uberchet at 2:00 PM on October 26, 2015
I'm not entirely convinced the "cave" worm in TESB is actually bigger by definition than Herbert's sandworms.
posted by uberchet at 2:00 PM on October 26, 2015
How did they know I was going to re-watch Dune last night?!?
posted by blakewest at 2:01 PM on October 26, 2015
posted by blakewest at 2:01 PM on October 26, 2015
Also surely that tube train one from Men In Black is bigger than the one from Tremors that comes immediately after it?
posted by dng at 2:02 PM on October 26, 2015
posted by dng at 2:02 PM on October 26, 2015
And I can't believe they left out all the worms from the best worm film ever.
posted by dng at 2:03 PM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by dng at 2:03 PM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
How does the Star Wars worm survive? Like did it really evolve to eat random space ships that sporadically enter its mouth? If not, then what did it evolve to eat?
posted by oddman at 2:09 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oddman at 2:09 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
...midichlorians?
posted by The Tensor at 2:11 PM on October 26, 2015
posted by The Tensor at 2:11 PM on October 26, 2015
> I'm not entirely convinced the "cave" worm in TESB is actually bigger by definition than Herbert's sandworms.
There were certainly smaller sandworms, but the one Usul/Paul called that day was a large one, so said Stilgar. You can estimate the size of the Exomorph based on the fairly familiar scale of the Millennium Falcon. Compare that to Usul's height as the sandworm rolls to get the human irritant away from the abrasive sand, and it seems to me that the sandworm has the diameter of one or two Millennium Falcon-widths. The Exomorph more on the order of 10 widths.
It also seems safe to say that the Falcon was roughly the size of a Spice Harvester, and we know the scale of Harvesters to large worms pretty well.
On the other hand, neither the Imperial Planetologist Liet Keynes nor Frank Herbert give us any definitive upper limit on the size of the sandworm. Are there any really bit ones in the 4th through 6th books? Because I have not read them.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:45 PM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
There were certainly smaller sandworms, but the one Usul/Paul called that day was a large one, so said Stilgar. You can estimate the size of the Exomorph based on the fairly familiar scale of the Millennium Falcon. Compare that to Usul's height as the sandworm rolls to get the human irritant away from the abrasive sand, and it seems to me that the sandworm has the diameter of one or two Millennium Falcon-widths. The Exomorph more on the order of 10 widths.
It also seems safe to say that the Falcon was roughly the size of a Spice Harvester, and we know the scale of Harvesters to large worms pretty well.
On the other hand, neither the Imperial Planetologist Liet Keynes nor Frank Herbert give us any definitive upper limit on the size of the sandworm. Are there any really bit ones in the 4th through 6th books? Because I have not read them.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:45 PM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Has Ouroborous, the snake that encircles the world in Norse mythology, ever been depicted in film or television?
posted by Sleeper at 4:56 PM on October 26, 2015
posted by Sleeper at 4:56 PM on October 26, 2015
I think the internet might be running out of supercut material.
It's only a matter of time until machine learning and image recognition advance to the point where, for the cost of a server farm with ripped copies of the history of popular cinema, the supercut process can be automated. The end result will probably be a natural-language query engine, into which you can type things like “killer in bathroom mirror”, “dog putting paws over eyes” or “you son of a bitch” and get a 30-second supercut, all snappily paced and arranged with the nous one would expect from an actual human being. So enjoy these artisanal, hand-made supercuts while they're still a thing.
posted by acb at 4:02 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's only a matter of time until machine learning and image recognition advance to the point where, for the cost of a server farm with ripped copies of the history of popular cinema, the supercut process can be automated. The end result will probably be a natural-language query engine, into which you can type things like “killer in bathroom mirror”, “dog putting paws over eyes” or “you son of a bitch” and get a 30-second supercut, all snappily paced and arranged with the nous one would expect from an actual human being. So enjoy these artisanal, hand-made supercuts while they're still a thing.
posted by acb at 4:02 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sanburnt, the implication even in Dune is that much larger worms probably exist beyond the areas actively farmed by Fremen or the imperial outpost at Arrakeen, no?
Oddman: "How does the Star Wars worm survive?"
Lucas' "worldbuilding" -- if you can call it that -- almost never extends past the superficial. If it looks cool, he'll do it, and never mind the implications.
posted by uberchet at 7:43 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oddman: "How does the Star Wars worm survive?"
Lucas' "worldbuilding" -- if you can call it that -- almost never extends past the superficial. If it looks cool, he'll do it, and never mind the implications.
posted by uberchet at 7:43 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
> Sunburnt, the implication even in Dune is that much larger worms probably exist beyond the areas actively farmed by Fremen or the imperial outpost at Arrakeen, no?
Implied, yes, but something that's much larger than a 2-MF-width sandworm still has a lot of room to get really really large while still not being comparable to something that's a dozen MFs-width.
Such a sandworm would be more plausible than the exomorph for the reasons you mentioned-- at least the sandworms can manage a food supply, they live on a world with a lot of solar energy and something of a food chain to get that energy up in to large critters, and of course the delphic effects of the spice are a consideration.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:00 AM on October 27, 2015
Implied, yes, but something that's much larger than a 2-MF-width sandworm still has a lot of room to get really really large while still not being comparable to something that's a dozen MFs-width.
Such a sandworm would be more plausible than the exomorph for the reasons you mentioned-- at least the sandworms can manage a food supply, they live on a world with a lot of solar energy and something of a food chain to get that energy up in to large critters, and of course the delphic effects of the spice are a consideration.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:00 AM on October 27, 2015
> I'm not entirely convinced the "cave" worm in TESB is actually bigger by definition than Herbert's sandworms.
According to Dune's appendix, most sandworms on Arrakis were 400 meters long. Some Fremen claimed there were larger worms living near the poles, but they were never officially recorded. Then Paul came along and summoned a worm with a thumper (uh, spoiler). That beast was 2,414 meters long, dwarfing the largest exogorth which apparently tops out at 900 meters.
Here's the quote from Dune:
According to Dune's appendix, most sandworms on Arrakis were 400 meters long. Some Fremen claimed there were larger worms living near the poles, but they were never officially recorded. Then Paul came along and summoned a worm with a thumper (uh, spoiler). That beast was 2,414 meters long, dwarfing the largest exogorth which apparently tops out at 900 meters.
Here's the quote from Dune:
It came from the southeast, a distant hissing, a sand-whisper. Presently he saw the faraway outline of the creature's track against the dawnlight and realized he had never before seen a maker this large, never heard of one this size. It appeared to be more than half a league long, and the rise of the sandwave at its cresting head was like the approach of a mountain.posted by bard at 8:24 AM on October 31, 2015
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posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on October 26, 2015