NGE - "The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still" - On Simple Machines

(NOTE: The events and elements of Episodes 08 to 10 of NGE - "Asuka Strikes," "Unite the Minds" and "Magma Diver" - will not be discussed in the WLIA blog. I have deemed that there is not enough content in those episodes to be expanded upon, therefore they will be skipped.)

In the eleventh episode of "Neon Genesis Evangelion," the entire city of Tokyo-3 is plagued by a sudden blackout due to sabotage not by the Angels, but by a human-based entity. When an Angel really does attack the city, the three Eva pilots (Shinji, Asuka and Rei) must travel the subterranean tunnels leading to the GeoFront, in order to undergo a manual launch. To explore the underground layouts in more detail, refer to this article on Platform Architecture.

In order to perform a manual launch, the NERV personnel (including Commander Gendo apparently) must use pulley system to move the Evangelion units into place. As there was no electricity, the personnel had to use massive pulleys to counter the massive weight. It's actually a very simplistic concept from a technological standpoint, but you cannot really overshadow its effectiveness in certain situations.

And that's the thing with all simple machines. There are six universally labelled devices - lever, wheel/axle, inclined plane, pulley, wedge, screw - and despite their archaism we still rely heavily on them to this day. One might consider it odd that the overall mechanisms have stood the test of time, but on the other hand, why fix what isn't broken?


That said, there have been some rather interesting attempts to reinvent the simple machines as of recently. The first is a modification of the original screw design in which the drive is shaped like stacked hexagons, eliminating the risk of stripping and ensuring that the screw can be rotated. And the second is a shovel with adjustable fulcrums to maximize lever-based efficiency. Both of these items are things one wouldn't normally designate their thoughts to, but they have the potential to change industry in a phenomenal way.

Furthermore, it gives us incentive to revisit other simplistic devices and reinvent them, or to reapply them in the place of more complex machines. Changing the way something is connected to other objects, how it's held, or what materials make up its composition are all valuable ideas to consider.

If you ask me, the composition is probably the most important facet. I have noticed how more and more objects are being made of carbon fiber, from wallets to longboards. The material is remarkable for its high strength and low weight; however, it is also marked by a huge production cost. That said, the means of producing it has dropped in price significantly in the year 2013, so hopefully we will see it applied to more objects in the future.

Again, it goes back to how objects are held and connected. If objects are lighter, then they need less support to be held in place, and that will translate to smaller mounting devices. But I'd rather not give away where I'm going with that line of logic, so I'll end this article on that note.