Introduction
In issue 3 we continue
to look at the various gadgets and gizmos from the individual episodes of
Torchwood, be they alien or otherwise.
And to be as in-depth as possible and continue to find gadgets that we
may use in everyday life, outside of science fiction, that are similar.
In the last issue we had
three obvious gadgets, if the resurrection glove can be deemed as a gadget;
alien artefact maybe a closer definition.
In ‘Day One’ we have
fewer that stand out, one to be exact; which is the ‘inflatable cell.’ So in
this edition we shall look at a couple of other items that appear in the
episode, along with the cell.
The Capsule Cell
The Capsule Cell or
inflatable cell, so named by Dr Owen Harper, is a small pebble like alien
gadget that, on impact with the ground, puts up a force field around the
“prisoner” creating a temporary prison cell. Although it’s an incredibly useful
gadget, its battery-life is very short, lasting approximately one hour. And after reading about 'Day One' in the book
'The Torchwood Archives it seems the team have no clue how to re-charge
it.
‘Day One’ is the only
episode this gadget is seen in and was initially used by Owen to stop Carys
Fletcher (whose body had been inhabited by an alien, in the form of a gas) from
leaving her home. Jack then uses it again later to trap the gas life form, once
it had left Carys’ body, at the Conway fertility Clinic, after which it soon
dies.
It's a shame that nobody
wrote it into a later episode that Toshiko had worked out a way to recharge the
portable cell as it proved to be a very useful piece of technology.
What Do We Have On
Earth?
If you’re looking for
anything vaguely close to what we see in Torchwood, then you would be out of
luck. Though that is not to say portable cells don’t exist, they do. But it
depends on what your definition of portable is.
If you see it as
something you could maybe put in the boot of your car, then you are out of
luck. But if you are thinking closer to something you’d put in the back of a
truck, then you’d be hitting it bang on the nail. It must be said, if you threw
one of these portable cells at Carys Fletcher, then the Gas Alien would be the
least of her problems - but it would sort the immediate problem of said Gas
Alien.
The smallest of these so
called portable cells I have found are about the size of a Portaloo, though
some can be twice the size of that. So they’re not THAT portable.
Element/Air Hand Scanner
This yellow scanner is
small and fits comfortably in the hand and its function is never made
completely clear. Is it multi-functional, like so many other scanners we see in
the Whoniverse, or is it purely to scan the air. So much of this part of the
article is guess work from observing the episode on how it has been used by the
team.
So going by what I
observed in the episode it is used on a number of occasions; at the crash site,
nightclub and alleyway by Jack and at Carys’ home by Toshiko.
When Jack was scanning
in the Alley he mentioned that it was showing the same ‘elements’ as at the
crash site and club, only more concentrated and so he was able to isolate where
the incident with Carys had taken place. And finally at Carys’ home Tosh
scanned and then informed the team the air quality was good. This says to me
that that is its primary function to scan the air and inform its user what
elements, etc are present, as well as how breathable the surrounding air might
be.
Like the Capsule Cell,
this gadget is only seen in the ‘Day One’ episode and not again. I do wonder
why haven’t we seen it since? Surely
there could be numerous occasions when the air/airborne elements need to be
tested or monitored.
Normally speaking the
only mobile hand scanner (which we will look at in a future issue) we see is a
much larger one used, mostly, by Toshiko, and that also resembles one seen
used, in Doctor Who in some episodes, by River Song.
So is this alien tech?
The one thing we do know is that Tosh very often would take alien tech parts
and cobble them into something else or upgrade already existing earth
technology, such as weapons and computers. So it’s very possible, given its
very ‘EARTHLY’ look and feel, that Tosh upgraded the tech of some scanners.
What I also find strange
about this tech is its colour and distinct lack of Torchwood livery. The tech
used by the Torchwood team tends to be either black or dark steel grey. It’s
also, more often than not, blazoned either with the Torchwood honeycombed
symbol or the words ‘TORCHWOOD’ itself. This has neither and is bright yellow!! Stolen Earth Tech?
What Do We Have On
Earth?
We have ‘sniffer’ dogs
that are used for tracking or searching for people and objects, such as guns
and bombs. We also have dogs used for sniffing out drugs.
But we also now have
teamed technical equipment to do similar things as our piece of Torchwood tech,
though somewhat larger in size.
These are known as
‘Puffer Machines’ and are used much in the same way as the sniffer dogs at
airports etc. This device looks for trace elements in the air to seek out drugs
and bombs.
For more information
take a look at the Wikipedia entry below:
Tracking Scanner/Map
Plotter
In this episode we see
Jack use a device that doesn’t look dissimilar to the Doctor's Sonic
Screwdriver, although it is not. I have read the odd thing stating that it is
just that. But there are two things against that conclusion. The Doctor left
Jack on the Game Station/Satellite 5. Once Jack had gone to fight the Daleks he
didn’t see the Doctor again until the episode ‘Utopia.’ So at what point would
he have got the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver? And WHY would the Doctor give it to
Jack? If he had, we’d have seen it. And it would have been to use for repairing
or opening something. Not to keep and we never saw any such thing. It also, on
closer inspection, looks nothing like it. Its only resemblance is the fact it’s
pen-like and has a pretty light at the front that is green, not blue!
So let’s get back to the
scanner. For the third time in this article we have a gadget that is only seen
the once and only briefly. And again no real explanation as to what this gadget
is and so we have to draw our own conclusions when watching the scene.
In the scene we see
Jack, standing in front of the round window that is covered in some kind of
map, though it’s not an earth map. We have to assume that this map is possibly
of the universe. When Gwen asks what he is
doing he says he is using the satellite tracking data to determine the inward
trajectory of the meteorite though there is no explanation as to how it is
actually done.
So we have to look at
things as logically as we can and try and draw our own conclusions as to how it
works.
• One possible way is it reads the data and transfers it to
one of the computers or PDAs, where Jack can look over it later.
• Maybe it transfers the information straight to a printer
where it plots and prints out the trajectory directly to paper.
• It may have some kind of read-out screen Jack can read
once he’s done the tracking? Though, going by the only screen grab I managed to
get, I would say not. It would have to be a very small screen as the ‘pen
scanner’ is maybe only a fraction wider than the aforementioned Sonic
Screwdriver.
• Maybe Jack has a chip in his brain and all information
from the pen is uploaded directly to that? Ok I confess to going somewhat off
the beaten track there. But it’s as good a conclusion as anything else. And who
knows, maybe he does have a chip in his head. Let’s face it, we know so little
about him, anything is possible.
Of course it may even be
something Jack grabbed before leaving the Games Station. We have no clue as to
what happened after the TARDIS took off and when Jack left the station. Did he
linger a few days and grab bits and bobs before leaving himself? Or did he just
go?
I wouldn’t be surprised
if Jack had actually cobbled this together himself, much like Tosh does with
present equipment. I have always suspected that Jack knows more about Alien
technology than he often lets on and that it’s out of respect for Toshiko and
knowing how much she thrives on such things that he leaves it all to her. We
only need to remember what Jack was like during his time with the Doctor and just
how much he knew. But I am now going off at a tangent.
What Do We Have On
Earth?
If you are hoping I am
about to tell you all about a fabulous pen like laser that plots the trajectory
of incoming meteorites, you’d be out of luck....again!! Earth technology hasn’t
got as far as that yet.
What we do have is
trajectory analysis and optimization software that does a similar thing and
often uses 3D computer simulations to show the trajectory of spacecraft,
planes, meteors etc. This kind of software is also used when designing
spacecrafts and planes.
Bibliography
Torchwood: The
Encyclopedia by Gary Russell
The Torchwood Archives
by Warren Martyn
Wikipedia
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