Space Opera Fans discussion

In this post, I would like to discuss Zero-g, or Nullified gravity, and how it affects writing, storytelling, and our suspension of disbelief.
Imagine, if you will, a science fiction story that takes place in space with no artificial gravity. We can picture our hero in a hand-to-hand battle with the villain, throwing punches and eventually knocking the villain out. Although we must consider Newton's laws of motion, what should happen when the hero punches the villain in the jaw?
Another example would be a fine dining experience in space. The Princess of the galactic empire is dressed in her finest and drinking from straws and eating from a bag. How odd does that feel?

What about centrifugal forces, spinning the ship or station to simulate gravity?
With this artificial gravity, we would almost assume everything would work like usual. Picturing the hero slugging the villain, knocking him to the ground, and the day is won. The Princess of the galactic empire is now drinking from crystal glasses and eating her exotic stake with a fork and knife.
However, the environment is moving, and what about the frame of reference? Now things get a little more complicated. The villain does not necessarily fall down; they could float back into the wall or appear to 'curve' away from the hero. When the Princess takes a sip of her wine, the liquid would not 'pour' straight and could spill over her cheek instead.

I want to discuss these types of intricacies and our misconceptions because we, as readers and writers, do not experience zero-g. Our minds are biased to how things work under 1g. What are some examples you can think of or have read? Situations where no gravity was cleverly described.

Have you read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir? It's been a while since I read it, but I seem to remember several discussions of moving around his ship in null or micro gravity.

You really should read Larry Niven’s books about the Smoke Ring. He has exactly this set-up. Basically it’s the Ringworld without the world. Robert L. Forward helped him figure out the mechanism by which it works, and Isaac Asimov suggested the means of propulsion the humans use.

A gas giant orbits a neutron star in a stable orbit, but its atmosphere has been funneled off into a stable gas torus around the star. Various asteroids or moons (I forget) have broken up and some of those bits are floating around the ring, along with plants, animals, water and air. Humans crashed there a few hundred years earlier and their descendants now live in zero gee.

There is no up or down, of course, so other directions are used. Primarily in and out, sunward or planetward. The people say, “East takes you Out, Out takes you West, West takes you In, In takes you East. Port and Starboard bring you back.” Once you wrap your head around it, you realize it’s basic orbital mechanics.

Of course, the atmosphere attenuates on the exterior of the torus, and therefore moves at different speeds. Plus warming/cooling affects it. So in the extreme edges of the habitable zone there exists hurricane-force winds and temperatures vacillate.

It is a fascinating construct and one of the most unusual settings in Science Fiction.

The first one is The Integral Trees (so named because the gargantuan plants look like kilometers-long integral signs), and the sequel is The Smoke Ring.

The covers feature amazing art by Michael Whelan. I mean, just look at this; stunning. (Click pics to embiggen.)
https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleri...
https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleri...

In the April series by Mackey Chandler there are a number of items you might find interesting. The habitat that April lives on is a large rotating one, with a non rotating center for ships to dock. There are several scenes describing how a person goes from a rotating part of the station to the non rotating part and vice versa, and how rings closer to the center are lighter gravity, how to bank off a wall or ceiling to get to a friend floating some distance away in a crowd, etc. I particularly like the tidbit about how the system moves water around the station in an attempt to keep it sort of balanced particularly when large groups gather or heavy deliveries are being made. Multiple characters explain that moving heavy things in zero gee needs to be done slowly because the inertia is still there.

Oh, I just remembered Karl Schroeder’s Virga series, which takes place inside a small Dyson Sphere. They have a range of gravity, from zero to micro to somewhat more, as they spin their towns and cities to create centripetal force. The first one is Sun of Suns.

He has an explanation of how it works on his website: https://www.kschroeder.com/my-books/s...

And for the spinning ship/space station thing, Mary Robinette Kowal’s recent novel The Spare Man features a cruise ship that has different size spinning rings, each simulating different gravities, such as Earth, Mars and the Moon. This comes into play as they investigate the mystery, as does the Coriolis force during certain action scenes.

The Expanse TV show does a fine job of depicting life in zero-g. It used acceleration and declaration to simulate gravitational forces. I also enjoyed how they kept the female character's hair short or confined to avoid having to work with it in every scene.

I am interested in small details like this and how they affect worldbuilding, character interaction, ship and station layout, and day-to-day lives.

Here are some examples I faced while writing that I never expected. Challenges that zero-g created, which I had to find the solution for.

Martial arts and physical conflict: No longer could I have the characters fight with typical punches and kicks, exchanging blow for blow. Instead, I had to picture them like two parachuters, a pair of combatants constantly falling. This led me to assume the characters of this universe would likely rely on jiu-jitsu more than any other type of martial arts. Using their hands and legs like anchor points kept the two combatants entangled when they fought.

Station layout: A diner on a station without gravity would look and operate differently. Up and down are relative, and it seemed plausible they would maximize the use of space by having tables on both the 'floor' and 'ceiling.' This also led to another problem: how food would be served and contained. Ultimately I settled on flexible trays that would adhere to the tables with pouches of food inside.

Weightless: I once described a room as having crates, machinery, and lab equipment but then remembered those objects I imagined as having weight would float. I had to go back and describe everything as being tethered or strapped down. Like securing a ship at sea, I had to constantly keep a mental tally of where tools and objects were and ensure the character put them back correctly, so they don't become a hazard later.

Worldbuilding with zero gravity introduced some oddly unique problems that required a bit of thought to 'write' myself out of a corner. I enjoyed these mental exercises and wondered what zero-g situations you have come across that you found intriguing—or clever solution for.