k8ie
Corporal
Posts: 1,482
|
Post by k8ie on Dec 28, 2008 1:57:41 GMT -5
Eh, I'd say something that obvious would be something Skynet would address in an infiltrator model.
Not to mention that thermal imaging, as I understand it, pretty easy to beat - according to Generation Kill (book, IIRC), it took insurgents in Iraq less than a month to figure out you could beat the thermal scopes on Marine rifles by hiding under a blanket.
|
|
|
Post by Derek Reese on Dec 28, 2008 15:04:54 GMT -5
Then there's gotta be some other method to spot the Terminator besides becoming a walking target or using Cameron or dogs. Maybe a one time type of thing, that gets taken out of play by the Terminators themselves instantly.
|
|
|
Post by aceplace57 on Dec 28, 2008 16:11:03 GMT -5
Maybe body temp is something a Terminator can turn on/off. Infiltrator mode - they need to be warm to the touch. Hunt mode they could turn off their interior heat coils and avoid thermal scopes, cameras etc.
Mythbusters tried various ways to avoid thermal security alarms. They sprayed Tory with a Co 2 fire extinguisher. They checked him with a camera and his thermal pattern disappeared. But, half-way into the room he warmed up enough to set of the alarm.
|
|
|
Post by Derek Reese on Dec 28, 2008 16:20:28 GMT -5
I like that idea, Ace. Seems possible to me since the Terminators are constantly upgrading models. It just seems like they would factor in upgrading the older models on some levels and then sending them out. Or something of the sort.
Unless of course they were destroying the old models ala the T3 novel. Can't help but think that Skynet would put all of the old versions of Terminators to use, no matter their capabilities in the future war. But I could see them modifying the ones, that were sent back into the past to give them the benefit of more cover. Doesn't mean that they are, but it's a possibility.
|
|
|
Post by richardstevenhack on Dec 28, 2008 23:52:36 GMT -5
I got the impression that the guard in the interrogation house in "D&D" was an older model - an Arnold T-600 or T-800 or whatever he was. So I think Skynet continues to use older models until they actually wear out.'
I'm sure infiltrator Terminators can evade heat sensors when they want to and show up on them when they want to. Wouldn't be that hard to do given the level of technology that produced those endoskeletons and their synthetic flesh covering.
Since Terminator blood is synthetic and doesn't look like human blood when analyzed, I'd guess that a quick blood test could be used to weed out Terminators. The question is: what do you do when your test has just discovered a Terminator? Since he proceeds to kill you anyway. That was why the blood test of George Laszlo was so tense - was the person sitting there Laszlo or the Terminator? If the latter, Ellison would have been dead.
My guess, though, is that in the future war, the primary purpose is to spot Terminators before they get close enough to a Resistance bunker to be able to attack it. Depending on code words and the like (like Allison's wrist bands) would be sufficient to weed out Terminators impersonating a returning patrol, or something. Because once they get inside, they can kill a lot of people before they get taken out by heavy enough firepower. So the goal is to spot them at range. Dogs are good at that - they seem able to detect a Terminator almost on sight - although the dogs in episode two last season didn't detect Cameron until she came in the door. Put some dogs on patrol outside your bunkers and that would be sufficient, as well as dogs inside the entrances like in T-1 to catch any that evade the external patrols.
Retinal scans that detect failure to blink at normal human rates might be useful. I would have thought that Terminators would blink at normal human rates just for concealment purposes, but apparently not. Someone should tell Cameron to blink more - certainly would keep Summer Glau from going blind eventually.
|
|
|
Post by potomac79 on Dec 29, 2008 23:18:28 GMT -5
It does seem that Cameron gets outed by dogs less than the average terminator. She needs to be in very close vicinity, it seems. With the resistance using dogs as their primary alarm, it makes sense that one of the terminator refinements would be a reduction in canine detection.
I imagine that it's a combination of both olfactory and auditory differences that annoy the dogs. I can't imagine that there is much organic difference between Cameron and your typical T-8xx model, but improved actuators, lubricants, and other minor mods would certainly reduce her sound signature, making it less annoying to dogs.
If I'm creating an artificial detection device, my focus would first be on what is it about terminators that ticks dogs off? Even the T-1000 set off "Wolfie", and there wasn't a bit of organic to it.
How Cameron affects dogs versus other T's would make for the interesting 1- or 2-second aside from time-to-time. After all, she's inhabiting L.A., which is hardly a place that's shy about having dogs of all sizes out and about. Dogs must be a significant obstacle to the more stealthy aspects of her mission.
|
|
|
Post by richardstevenhack on Dec 30, 2008 7:25:08 GMT -5
It could be that the T-1000 set off John's dog BECAUSE he had no smell. The dog would probably treat that as threatening, if it saw a human it couldn't smell. But there could also have some sort of energy signature to him, as well. I doubt it was strictly mechanical because he had no moving parts like Uncle Bob did.
Yeah, it would be interesting to see Cameron figure out a way to deal with random dogs.
Also, remember when Cromartie's head activated his body? That body no longer had any flesh on it, as far as we saw when he was getting his new flesh. So the dog that got upset at the junk yard must have been reacting either to something else or possibly merely to the sounds of movement in the yard, since it was a guard dog.
|
|
|
Post by potomac79 on Dec 30, 2008 16:15:50 GMT -5
Yeah. One of the things I think the Sound FX guys have fun with is the dogs barking. Sometimes a bark is just a bark, no terminatory meaning. Other times...
|
|