Liquids are a requirement in any application. Joints do not work otherwise, and hydraulic or pneumatic pressure is needed for any kind of movement. These same concepts apply in the human body as well. What do you think muscle tissue is? It functions on a microscopic level, but muscle fiber is essentially mechanical: electrical impulses fire through muscle fiber and the cells use hydraulic pressure to contract. Millions of muscle cells performing this same action simultaneously is what causes movement. The human body functions as a complex series of hydraulic pumps, activated through chemical reactions which produce electricity. The only difference between a human and a transformer is the make-up of the tissues: we're non-metal based organisms and they're metal-based organisms. Of course, they don't exist....but if they did I doubt they would function much differently than us...the materials would be about the only difference. I doubt that the liquids used in their bodies are saline-based like ours though. Sodium based liquids like blood would prove very corrosive to a metal based organism. Their "muscle" might be some kind of liquid with suspended nanoparticles of a high-conducting metal, like gold. We currently use that technology for automobiles...for example, the shock absorbers on a corvette suspension have miniature (REALLY miniature) ball bearings suspended in the oil inside of the shock absorber. A computer adjusts the stiffness of the shocks on-the-fly using tiny accelerometer sensors, 100+ times per second. The harder the initial impact on the shock absorber sensors, the more electricity the system sends into the liquid inside the shocks. This electricity alters the polarity of the tiny ball bearings, causing them to instantly change formation inside the liquid medium they're suspended within, which softens or hardens the strength of the shock, depending on each individual bump that it detects. The end result is a suspension which is able to soften itself for small bumps, filtering them out and improving the ride, while hardening itself for larger bumps, keeping the car flat and level and preventing the suspension from contracting too far and bouncing off the bump-stops, which jars the suspension and negatively affects the amount of contact the tire has with the road, reducing grip. A transformer's entire body could function similarly.
I hate that idea, it just makes 'em less alive and like a race overall, as I said, they end up not being much more than gundams with brains
I don't think it makes them less alive. It's just one way to reproduce, just one that is less organic and more what we humans associate with robots (granted, it's because of the fact the only robots we know are the ones WE build ). I'd say it isn't much different than a baby being constructed in the mother's womb, except since TFs are robotics and asexually (although they do have genders), I see no reason why they would have their offspring grow in organic looking sacks. But like I said, just personal preference, and I am totally cool with people liking other stuff. No wait, I want to bash your brains in!
The jelly-sacs are probably more comfortable and adapts to the hatchling's development, not to mention that make up for a far more cool looking scne,e
Better than I said it. Though there's likely plenty of internal functions & processes very dissimilar to us when we take into account their abilities with mimicry, physical reconfiguration & transformation. Well, I don't know about that one. Obviously there are plenty of fluids, liquids, gels, etc involved in the complex body of a Transformer, however Energon I wouldn't immediately view as such. I mean, we've seen through many medias the various forms different Energon substances can take, but in the case of Energon and the Bayformers, I see it more some unique form of dense electrical-like, or dense plasma-like energy, much like their life-retaining Sparks. It's probably what gives off those traceable/detectable electrical & low, non-lethal radioactive signatures. But that's my personal take on it. I think by now its clear there's some nano-molecular properties to the 'skin'/'flesh'/metal & armor of Transformers in general. It's what allows for aging as seen with many young 'childlike' Transformers or with A3 growing old into his Alpha Trion persona, for bonding with a Matrix to physically enhance the body of a new Prime drawing mass from its inner energy and putting the body into flux for restructuring, and certainly its in play heavily with the Bayformers and their blink-of-an-eye scanning & restructuring prowess. But, back to personal taste for a second, I hated the hatchling bit. Check Beast Wars & Animated and you've got a clear feel to how Protoforms are handled in Transformers. But in RotF it was just an alien-eggsack-rippoff-fest that I wasn't impressed with or cared for in the slightest. Lol, I almost expected them to show little Protoeggs being shit out the back of his throne by the Fallen. It certainly would've completed the nasty filch.
A liquid or lubricant would be needed in some level, in the same way we humans need them. Human nerves are covered by a gel-like substance that transports the electric impulses from the brain to the muscles, organs, etc. Without it, movement or organic reaction is impossible. Im sure this also applies to the Transformers...theyre organisms after all, as Optimus said.
Science fiction can be supported by logic if you think of it... Superman's superstrength has a real world explanation, u know... Same thing for most things in science fiction...If you think, you can find a reasonable explanation for most of them.
Except of course, how the hell can one gain superflight, speed and strength from rays of the SUN? (/difference in gravity). Face it, Superman's power make no sense ..but you are right..if there is an explanation within the material itself it helps to validate the science. Like how in most science fiction there is faster than light travel, which all seems very believable to us, but nobody has any clue how it would work in real life, and alot of scientists think it's not even possible. But we all believe that FTL travel can be accomplished if only we would seperate our ship from our known dimensions and enter a subspace..and that DOES sound sort of believable!
Precisely how I see it. "Lubricants" and such. Mechanical components require some form of liquid for certain functions, so I never really thought much of seeing goops or oils or whatever in ROTF. And yeah, I'm late. Still ^This, and such.
Superman's super strength can be explained by the fact of planet gravitation. Krypton's gravity was supposedly so tremendous that kryptonians needed super strength to move in it. Among Kryptonians, it would be normal, it wouldnt be super strength, but in a planet with lesser gravity, well, you could split it in half if you wanted to xD...This is the case for a human being in Jupiter. And about his heat vision...think of it...absorbed solar radiation channelized through his eyes....makes sense. Flight...i think, same thing would explain it...Think of it. Solar radiation is absorbed and then radiated through his body willingly, warming air particles around him thus making Supes lighter than air, allowing him to fly. My guess xD So...yeah, science fiction can be validated by science ....so we can try the same thing with the Transformers.
None of these abilities make sense in real life science, I'm sorry. But they are in-fiction explanations, so it works for me.
I have always leaned more to TFs being built. I know it depends on which origin mythos you follow. There is more to my reasoning, but, I will stop here. Never have been a fan of insect-like bots anyway. My thoughts on the matter.
The sad irony is that as much work as they did trying to make the transformers out to be life-forms and not "gundams with brains", the characters for the most part still came off being as flat as a piece of looseleaf paper. I would trade all the robot piss, crying, spit, and farting in the world for some decent dialog. yup, , so sue me.
I'm missing the connection between what the movie-robots precisely are in form (what is discussed in this topic) and the fact that the characters had minimal and sloppy dialogues. There's more than enough threads about that subject already. Shoo shoo.
