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The whole premise of the Matrix is based upon the fact that the humans "scorched the sky" making it impossible for the machines to use solar power. Wouldn't this subside after a few years, making solar power available again? And what about launching solar collectors above the earth's atmosphere?


I've thought of some reasons why they might keep using the Matrix but they still don't convince me.

1) Once the infrastructure is in place, humans provide a greater energy return on the investment than solar power.

2) Machines don't have the raw materials to build a solar collection infrastructure on the scale required by their energy consumption. Thus they are tied to the human matrix they developed.

Any thoughts?

It is a basic set-up of the plot that the sky is buggered and there is no light. Therefore one must accept that whatever the humans did is irreversible.

But its places like these that we can sit back and try to find holes in the plot.

What could the humans have done to prevent the sunlight from returning for, at the very least, 100 + years?

The only thing I could think of is nuclear winter. But eventually the rain would remove the impurities from the air. Unless....

Insert reply here.


Any scientists/geologists in the room?

Who cares? The whole idea of turning humans into batteries makes no scientific sense either. It is just part of the set-up.

well if the machines all adapted to human power then why would they want to have to go through the whole thing again to adapt back to solar power. why mess with a working system i guess is what i am trying to say.

Because with solar power the machines wouldn't have to deal with the instability of the Matrix.

The machines keep using the matrix because it makes for an interesting movie. Who would make a movie about machines that send solar collectors in the sky for energy?

On a more imaginative note, the humans could very well have detonated a bunch of nukes in the atmosphere, depleting the ozone layer and creating a thick shroud of dust and other small particles that would blot out the sun.

Think back to the dinosaurs:
Big Speeding Comet + TARGET: Earth = Big explosion + thick shroud of dust that lasted millions of years. Replace comet with nukes and the answer works fine.

I'll have to check my strategy guide for Enter the Matrix, I'm pretty sure they give an explanation on how the humans blotted out the sun.

As for why the machines just didn't kill off the humans and send out solar collectors or other stuff like that, it could be that since they were planning to exterminate the humans, they might as well use them for something. Who knows, maybe machines recycle.

Latsed millions of years? Don;t be silly.

In a nuclear winter the dust particles in the air would be naturally removed by rain over no longer a time than maybe a decade. If you disrupt the cycle of water somehow - like lowering the atmospheric temp to point where all the surface water is encased in ice - then you might eliminate the mechanism for removing dust from the air.

I'd like to hear the official Matrix explanation for it.

Maybe the water doesnt work. Maybe is toxic rain.

well there isnt any instability in the matrix that hadnt been accounted for and dealt with. the Flaw in the equation, "the one", had controls put on it to dictate what it did. sounds pretty controled, the only problem is that the architect always accounted for the variable in the equation, until the one true one went against the controls. i hope it dont sound like i am rambling.

The premise is flawed in an even more fundamental way. If the sun no longer shines, it will kill all the plants, which will eventually kill every animal that feeds on plants or other animals. Feeding the liquified remains of dead humans to the live ones will only sustain the "eco-system" for a limited time.

ok here: maybe the machines are keeping it "scorched" b/c it seems humans would need the sun more than machines. this is just another form of defense for the machines

Possibly. My chief philosphy for movies is: Don't think too much, it makes the whole experience less fun

Rain would remove dust particles (basic earth science), but if there is no water, then no rain. So far, I haven't seen any signs of waters. Plus, the clouds give off a large amount of electricy. It would scramble any machines' chips if they tried to launch anything up there, like solar collectors. Therefore, they would ahve to continue with the Matrix.

i go with with Lord Soth on this one it makes the movie experience less fun when try to figure every single itty bitty tiny minute small microscopic detail!

The idea of getting power from humans is proposterous on it's own. The energy that humans create that is useful to the machines comes from a chemical reaction in the body of food(glucose) + oxygen + water. The machines, being so advanced, could easily replicate this process if indeed they had the food (which they wouldn't in the first place) they would need to be feeding the humans, and replicate it much more efficiently (with much less loss of energy.)
There are so many plotholes and inconsistencies in the Matrix it's not even funny. Don't bother trying to think too hard about it, otherwise the movie(s) would suck. Enjoy it (them) for what it (they) are, philosophy + action. The Matrix 2 & 3 were far lacking in the pilosophy department, however, in any meaningful way at least.

Reloaded? Lacking in philosophy? You serious? Ehh. Anyway.

Again, it's all about the dictatorship factor.

AI.

iut's inefficent to have go back to solar power.
1 their enemies are imprisioned
2. hey while we have tem not trying to destroy us anymore let's use them for power.

er.. i explained this better in another thread that asked this same question..

meh been a long day at work.. i don't fill like looking for it..
or thinking

From taht chemical reaction, the body gives off heat. The machine gather that energy and use it to power their city. As I said before, it si impossible for the machines to gahter solar energy. Their circuts would be fried by the lightning.

I thought that they used the fusion in order to use the heat from the human body...?

The directors of the 2nd Rennisance tell us specifically they ARE nanomachines. (Special Feature Director Talk thing)

it said in the movie that "combined with a kindof fusion, it has turned the human body...into this *holds up a copper-top*"

The way it is in the movie is perfect for the movie. In real life, not that any of it is possible, I'm sure the machines would find a way to harness the power of the lightning bolts. I mean the city is nothing but metal, they could just set a few billion compastators down at any random place. The machines would be set to live forever or atleast until the world ends.

This is thinking way past the point of the movies, which there's nothing wrong with, but it's irrelavent anyways.

actually the idea of harnessing humans for energy is an ingenious idea...enslaving your enemies and using them as a renewable energy source. cause not always is lightning as predictable and constant. but copacitors need a jolt of electricity, and that jolt can only be HELD for a few seconds...holding that electricity will do nothing for the machines because they need it at that exact moment