Star Trek Lingo

[Tony]

I hear a lot of scientific sounding terms in Star Trek. Barion Particles, Theda Radiation, Takion Feilds ect..

Are any of these things real?

[Wrath of the Swarm]

Baryons are quite real. They're the class of massive particles that include protons and neutrons. (A procedure that removed all of the baryons from the Enterprise wouldn't leave much left, I'm afraid.)

[Dragon]

Tachyons are theoretical FTL particles.

Try this link (http://www.cakes.mcmail.com/StarTrek/).
There is also a book called "The Physics of Star Trek" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060977108/qid=1082147276/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1381021-5693747?v=glance&s=books#product-details) which looks fun.

[epepke]

Originally posted by Tony
I hear a lot of scientific sounding terms in Star Trek. Barion Particles, Theda Radiation, Takion Feilds ect..

Are any of these things real?

Baryons are quite real. That episode ticked me off, because 99.9% of the mass of the Enterprise consists of baryons.

Tachions are a weird, theoretical idea. They're particles with imaginary energy that go faster than light. See, if you take the equations of relativity, at the speed of light you get infinite gamma, but faster than the speed of light, you get imaginary gamma.

[c0rbin]

There is a term for it: "Technobabble."

Akin to "phychobabble" it is tech/science-sounding stuff that it fits into the dialog and passes as meaningful if not really delved-into.

Really, anyone can do it. Just take particle terms, beam terms, and through in some standard Trek sci-fi jargon.

Observe:

"Captain, if I can arrange the iso-linear chips in the anti-matter containment module, maybe I can create a reverse tachyon field using a phased-photon particle emitter to focus it. That just might give us enough of a boost to escape the barium-phase shift cloud the Borklions have us captured in."

"Do it, number three!"

:D

[pgwenthold]

Originally posted by c0rbin
There is a term for it: "Technobabble."

Akin to "phychobabble" it is tech/science-sounding stuff that it fits into the dialog and passes as meaningful if not really delved-into.

Really, anyone can do it. Just take particle terms, beam terms, and through in some standard Trek sci-fi jargon.

Observe:

"Captain, if I can arrange the iso-linear chips in the anti-matter containment module, maybe I can create a reverse tachyon field using a polarized-photon particle emitter to focus it. That just might give us enough of a boost to escape the barium-phase shift cloud the Borklions have us captured in."



(change indicated in italics)

And Jordy LaForge was a big fan of tachyon _pulses_ (being particles, they don't make good fields)

[epepke]

Originally posted by c0rbin
Captain, if I can arrange the iso-linear chips in the anti-matter containment module, maybe I can create a reverse tachyon field using a phased-photon particle emitter to focus it. That just might give us enough of a boost to escape the barium-phase shift cloud the Borklions have us captured in."

I'd like to see an episode of the Borklions. I bet they all talk like "Skeezy skorvie sku," and their starships hurl meatballs.

[Checkmite]

Trek Technobabble Generator (http://www.geocities.com/lcarsworld/humor_technobabble.html)

:D

[gnome]

There's good and bad technobabble in Star Trek.

Sometimes they help to establish the technology available, repeat some concepts to show consistency, and if done really well, provoke legitimate scientific discussions and intricate technical manuals for fans to enjoy.

Bad technobabble is exactly as described, a seemingly random stream of terms with no basis other than to "sound" scientific and provide a Deus Ex Machina solution to a crisis.

This is a quality of Star Trek that has degraded over time. The modern fan must pack supposition upon supposition in order to have a detailed discussion of the imagined technology. Why did we ever? Because it used to be possible without a whole lot of quibbling.

[Silicon]

You forgot about the tunneling nutrino beam.

[Bikewer]

I remember an interview with an actress who had just got hired for NG. Her friends told her not to let them put her in engineering, as she'd have to memorize pages of the above sort of technobabble.
She was made an engineer.....

[Yahweh]

From Startrek Technobabble (http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/trek/techno.html):
anomaly
This is a catch-all word for something that shouldn't exist, but does. In space, these things seem to happen quite a bit and usually involve blue and red glowing stuff and a highly predictable twist in the plot line. Temporal anomalies are invisible, but even more predictable, especially if there's a pretty guest star someone falls in love with.

dilithium crystal
A crystalline solid that has many properties useful in starship power and propulsion systems. In many starships, particularly those of the mid-23rd century, dilithium crystals played a role in a starship's power systems. In many starships, particularly those of the 24th century, dilithium crystals are used to more safely contain matter/antimatter reactions. And they are really shiny.

emergency ehatever
Many things that shouldn't really work or even exist in a world pretending it's real are explained away by having the word "emergency" in front of them. For example, emergency maneuvers are maneuvers that ships can't do because of their design, but pull off just once because the writers are backed into a corner.

escape pod
lifeboat
A small, autonomous spacecraft that can be ejected from a starship, delivering its occupants away from a catastrophe aboard the starship towards certain death on some unnamed hell hole of a planet.

extendible docking port
Docking port that is normally retracted behind the hull of many later-model starships, and must be extended before use. Similar to the seldom used
un-extendible docking port.

fantail
Structure extending from and level with the base of the landing bay doors of a Constitution-class starship. Serves no purpose but looks cool.

final stage intercooler
One of two fin-like structures near the aft end of older Constitution-class starships' warp engine nacelles. Serves no purpose but looks cool.

final stage magnatomic flux chiller
A rectangular component located on the aft, outer surface of older Constitution-class starships' warp engine nacelles. Serves no purpose but looks cool.

formation light
navigation light
running light
Small lights on the exterior of a starship that visibly indicate the vessel's physical extents and orientation. Serves no purpose but looks cool.

fusion reactor
auxiliary fusion generator
Power generator that operates by the nuclear fusion of deuterium and tritium into heavier atoms, typically helium. Many starship's impulse engines are fed power from fusion reactors. Galaxy-class starships have several fusion reactors that are used as auxiliary power generators. Serves no purpose but looks cool.

gamma radiation
Electromagnetic radiation consisting of photons that are emitted by radioactive decay or in a nuclear reaction. This is particularly prone to flooding ships, but doesn't kill you as long as you get a hypo in the neck before the end of the episode.

holodeck
A large chamber that can simulate any real or imagined environment using holographic and replicator-based technology. Yea baby!
See link for much more Star Trek humor...

[bignickel]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
Trek Technobabble Generator (http://www.geocities.com/lcarsworld/humor_technobabble.html)


"Emergency Photon Device"


Isn't that a flashlight?

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by bignickel


"Emergency Photon Device"


Isn't that a flashlight?

Yes...but you wouldn't expect them to say "flashlight" on Star Trek, would you? :D

[TillEulenspiegel]

I like the "Heisenberg compensator". They are used in the transporters.

[WinterMute]

If you missed this top then list then go read. Lots of good laughs:

Top ten things I hate about Star Trek (http://www.happyfunpundit.com/hfp/archives/000514.html)

From the site:

For cripes sake Giordi, stop reversing the polarity of everything! It might work once in a while, but usually it just screws things up. I have it on good authority that the technicians at Starbase 12 HATE that. Every time the Enterprise comes in for its 10,000 hour checkup, they've gotta go through the whole damned ship fixing stuff. "What happened to the toilet in Stateroom 3?" "Well, the plumbing backed up, and Giordi thought he could fix it by reversing the polarity."

[Oleron]

I like the holodecks best. Although if these holodecks really did exist, no-one would ever leave them.

Why have real-life when you can live any kind of life you wish ?

[alfaniner]

My favorite bit of technobabble was when they were involved with an element or some such called "selgnineam", which was simply a variation of "meaningless" spelled backwards (admitted by the authors of the episode).

[hgc]

My favorite all time occurence of Star Trek technobabble was in a TOS episode where Spock is recites some mathematical formulation which he calculates will save the day, and it ends with "times one squared."

[Checkmite]

In the real (I mean, "original series", sorry) Star Trek, in the Engine room, every once in a while you'd get a shot of an important looking pipe, and close examination reveals that the pipe is labelled with a directional arrow and the letters "NWIP". I have it on good authority that "NWIP" stood for "No Where In Particular".

[Checkmite]

I'm very bored, and need to waste time. So while we're on the topic of Trek quibbles, I've got a couple of my own. Here's one: the bridge controls! I'm not complaining in a "techie" way; the control layouts are kind of insulting to the intelligence.

In the very first episode of the real (sorry, original) Trek, entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before", we get...what is it? Sorry guys, that dweeb in the back who thinks he knows everything is trying to correct me again. "The Cage"? Well, maybe "The Cage" was supposed to be the first episode, but none of it was ever aired until "The Managerie". So yes, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is officially the first episode - now sit down and shut up...little twerp. Anyway, in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", we get our first (and only) really good look at the interesting side of the bridge's "forward control module" - that's where Nav and Helm sit, of course. Take a look at the Helm control panel - it's got like 16 buttons on it! In two or three neat little rows! How in the hell are you going to fly a starship with 16 buttons? What are their functions? Right, Left, Very Right, Very Left? What about the speed? Does the ship accelerate one warp factor every time you press the Forward button? "Warp Five, aye sir!" Click-click-click-click-click! It has to be more complicated than that, since whenever the captain issues the simplest of commands, the helmsman has to press nearly half of his suite of little buttons. The Navigator has around ten little buttons, and a big analog needle display that looks like a really big version of the meter on my car battery charger. I suppose the needle swings this way and that, to tell the Navigator how off-course the Helmsman is, like an ADF seeker in an airplane. But how is the Navigator supposed to enter a course with only ten little buttons? It's even worse when we find out that the Navigator is also the Shooter, and some of those ten buttons fire phasers and torpedoes. Now, between the two stations is a big radar screen-looking thing. I can't help but wonder who decided to put that thing there, considering that the Helm and Nav officers actually would have to lean back to see it right. Come to think of it, I never see them looking at it anyway. What the hell is it even for? Why do I need to spend $25 dollars on a frickin book that wouldn't fit on any of my bookshelves because it's so ridiculously oversized to find this stuff out?

Next there are all the stations around the edge of the bridge. They are all exactly the same - exactly! The only thing different about any of them is the uniform of the crew sitting in front of them. No, I take that back - Spock has a neat little viewer thingy that looks like the fishfinder glare shield on my friend's boat. Spock looks into it and learns all kinds of things that for some reason can't just be displayed on one of the three 13-inch monitors sitting in front of him, or one of the 56-inch frameless abstract art-deco pictures hanging on the wall all around the bridge. And what about the Captain's Chair? There's about six buttons on there, that perform twenty different functions.

Then there's the noise. First, the ambient sound. There's this constant BIP-BIP-BIP-BIPing, intermingled with an annoying, nonsensical undulating whistle sound. It would drive me up the wall. Then there's the controls, and subsequent actions. Buttons that beep or cheep or queep when you press them are fine and even make sense in a way. But four-tone talkbacks? And what is that god-awful mechanical whining sound - a circular saw underneath the panel? And the "listen, we're accelerating!" sound...do the Enterprise's engines need to wind up like turbojets?

Okay, that's it for now. :D

[Seismosaurus]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
In the real (I mean, "original series", sorry) Star Trek, in the Engine room, every once in a while you'd get a shot of an important looking pipe, and close examination reveals that the pipe is labelled with a directional arrow and the letters "NWIP". I have it on good authority that "NWIP" stood for "No Where In Particular".

You'll also see a lot of pipes labelled GNDN - "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing".

gnome : The modern fan must pack supposition upon supposition in order to have a detailed discussion of the imagined technology. Why did we ever? Because it used to be possible without a whole lot of quibbling.

Of course, some of us like the quibbling.

[VicDaring]

In college, for a holiday-themed column in the campus paper, I wrote a brief parody script that had Geordi reconfiguring the main deflector so they could pick up the FOX broadcast of the Thanksgiving day football game.

Picard told him to, "Make it so." :D

[RSLancastr]

I once took a class in writing scripts for Star Trek, run by the Trek folks themselves.

It was advice on how to write and submit scripts (at the time, they accepted non-represented scripts, if submitted in a specific way).

One of the pieces of advice they gave was something like "when you come to some dialogue where a character describes some technical reason behind something, simply write '(Tech, tech, tech)', and our technical soncultants will come up with something consistent to the Trek universe."

So, something like:

Picard: Why can't we contact the away team?

Data: Apparently, Captain (tech, tech, tech).

This was to free up the writers from having to understand all the ST physics, and to help keep some sort of consistency within the series. Didn't work totally, but helped.

[LizardPeople]

[ Stolen from somewhere on the web ]

20 Things that never happen in Star Trek

The Enterprise runs into a mysterious energy field of a type it has encountered several times before.

The Enterprise goes to visit a remote outpost of scientists, who are all perfectly all right.

Some of the crew visits the holodeck, and it works properly.

The crew of the Enterprise discovers a totally new life form, which later turns out to be a rather well-known old life form wearing a funny hat.

The crew of the Enterprise is struck by a mysterious plague, for which the only cure can be found in the well-stocked Enterprise sick-bay.

The Captain has to make a difficult decision about a less advanced people which is made a great deal easier by the Starfleet Prime Directive.

The Enterprise successfully ferries an alien VIP from one place to another without a serious incident.

An enigmatic being composed of pure energy attempts to interface with the Enterprise's computer, only to find out that it has forgotten to bring the right leads.

A power surge on the bridge is rapidly and correctly diagnosed as a faulty capacitor by the highly-trained and competent engineering staff.

The Enterprise is captured by a vastly superior alien intelligence which does not put them on trial.

The Enterprise is captured by a vastly inferior alien intelligence which they easily pacify by offering it some candy.

The Enterprise visits an earth-type planet called "Paradise" where everyone is happy all of the time.

A major Starfleet emergency breaks out near the Enterprise, but fortunately some other ships in the area are able to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction.

The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp experience which is in some way unconnected with the Late 20th Century.

Kirk (or Riker) falls in love with a woman on a planet he visits, and isn't tragically separated from her at the end of the episode.

Counsellor Troi states something other than the blindingly obvious.

The warp engines start playing up a bit, but seem to sort themselves out after a while without any intervention from boy genius Wesley Crusher.

Wesley Crusher gets beaten up by his classmates for being a smarmy git, and consequently has a go at making some friends of his own age for a change.

Spock (or Data) is fired from his high-ranking position for not being able to understand the most basic nuances of about one in three sentences that anyone says to him.

Most things that are new or in some way unexpected.

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by LizardPeople
[ Stolen from somewhere on the web ]

20 Things that never happen in Star Trek

The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp experience which is in some way unconnected with the Late 20th Century.


In a Next Gen episode (entitled "Yesterday's Enterprise" I think - I'm actually really fuzzy on Next Gen), the Enterprise-D is surprised when the Enterprise-C warps forward in time to the Enterprise-D's time period. Aside from the first and only appearance of my favorite of all the Enterprises, the episode isn't all that good. See, the Enterprise-C warped forward in time just before it was about to be destroyed at some battle at some outpost. For some reason, the Enterprise-C's destruction at this battle was very important at making peace between the Klingons and Feds, so when the Enterprise-C fails to make it to the battle (because it warps forward in time), the future is changed and Klingons and the Feds are at war...well, the entire future except for the crew of the Enterprise-D is changed. See, the crew of the Enterprise-D somehow still remember that the Enterprise-C is supposed to have been destroyed, and that they're supposed to be friendly with Klingons now, so they work it out that the Enterprise-C has to go back in time and get blown up.

[slimshady2357]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi


In a Next Gen episode (entitled "Yesterday's Enterprise" I think - I'm actually really fuzzy on Next Gen), the Enterprise-D is surprised when the Enterprise-C warps forward in time to the Enterprise-D's time period. Aside from the first and only appearance of my favorite of all the Enterprises, the episode isn't all that good. See, the Enterprise-C warped forward in time just before it was about to be destroyed at some battle at some outpost. For some reason, the Enterprise-C's destruction at this battle was very important at making peace between the Klingons and Feds, so when the Enterprise-C fails to make it to the battle (because it warps forward in time), the future is changed and Klingons and the Feds are at war...well, the entire future except for the crew of the Enterprise-D is changed. See, the crew of the Enterprise-D somehow still remember that the Enterprise-C is supposed to have been destroyed, and that they're supposed to be friendly with Klingons now, so they work it out that the Enterprise-C has to go back in time and get blown up.

Not quite right. Only Whoopi has any idea they shouldn't be there. She uses her vague feelings to convince the captain that nothing is right. He convinces the other captain and they go back.

No one from E-D remembers the 'other past', not even Whoopi. She just gets vague feelings (vague feelings from a vague character... useful when history has changed!)

Adam

[Darat]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
...snip...

Take a look at the Helm control panel - it's got like 16 buttons on it! In two or three neat little rows! How in the hell are you going to fly a starship with 16 buttons? What are their functions? Right, Left, Very Right, Very Left? What about the speed? Does the ship accelerate one warp factor every time you press the Forward button? "Warp Five, aye sir!" Click-click-click-click-click! It has to be more complicated than that, since whenever the captain issues the simplest of commands, the helmsman has to press nearly half of his suite of little buttons. ...snip...

Do you really believe that a human would be capable of controlling and piloting something like the Enterprise?

No way, it's all done by the computer.

The only reason for those controls is to make the humans think they've got something to do. In NG and beyond they've even removed the switches and replaced them with solid state flashing lights because Starfleet realised they could save a fortune by doing away with engineering staff since all they had to do was fix the switches broken by the ham fisted idiots “piloting” the ship..

The crew are obviously just a bunch of dorks that Starfleet recruited for PR purposes.

[Darat]

Originally posted by slimshady2357


Not quite right. Only Whoopi has any idea they shouldn't be there. She uses her vague feelings to convince the captain that nothing is right. He convinces the other captain and they go back.

No one from E-D remembers the 'other past', not even Whoopi. She just gets vague feelings (vague feelings from a vague character... useful when history has changed!)

Adam

Gunning for the title of "saddest geek on the board" :) ?

[slimshady2357]

Originally posted by Darat


Gunning for the title of "saddest geek on the board" :) ?

Come on, you've been here a while.... you know I don't stand a chance :D

I might have seen just about every STNG three or four times since they've been showing it 10 times a day for a few years now, but that's all. Really. Seriously.

I've never even been to a Trek convention, surely someone here has been to one! :p

Adam

[c0rbin]

I have been to one. I enjoy Star Trek and have the geek mind for details (read: trivial knowledge). But I turned out to be a 2-percenter compared to the 30-year old man dressed, made-up, and acting like Data in line behind me and the couple dressed in full Klingon regalia in front of me.

Beyond that, the cast member who headlined (Brent Spiner, ie Data) was an entertaining speaker, and the convention itself was like a Comic Book flea market. Lots of cool and enthusiastic artists and collectors hawking their wares.

[Matabiri]

Originally posted by Dragon
There is also a book called "The Physics of Star Trek" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060977108/qid=1082147276/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1381021-5693747?v=glance&s=books#product-details) which looks fun.

Nah; it's not that good. Particularly compared with similar articles about space warps in things like Scientific American.

The Science Of Christmas (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0753813661/qid=1082562859/sr=12-2/104-9437500-0542333?v=glance&s=books) is excellent, though.

[Ipecac]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
In a Next Gen episode (entitled "Yesterday's Enterprise" I think - I'm actually really fuzzy on Next Gen), the Enterprise-D is surprised when the Enterprise-C warps forward in time to the Enterprise-D's time period. Aside from the first and only appearance of my favorite of all the Enterprises, the episode isn't all that good. See, the Enterprise-C warped forward in time just before it was about to be destroyed at some battle at some outpost. For some reason, the Enterprise-C's destruction at this battle was very important at making peace between the Klingons and Feds, so when the Enterprise-C fails to make it to the battle (because it warps forward in time), the future is changed and Klingons and the Feds are at war...well, the entire future except for the crew of the Enterprise-D is changed. See, the crew of the Enterprise-D somehow still remember that the Enterprise-C is supposed to have been destroyed, and that they're supposed to be friendly with Klingons now, so they work it out that the Enterprise-C has to go back in time and get blown up.

HUH!?! "Yesterday's Enterprise" is one of the best TNG episodes, one of the best Trek episodes, of all time.

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by Ipecac


HUH!?! "Yesterday's Enterprise" is one of the best TNG episodes, one of the best Trek episodes, of all time.

The episode is plagued by the above-mentioned inconsistency. A truly great episode has no such inconsistencies - though I suppose if you compare it to episodes like "Data's Day" it comes out looking very good.

Anyways, I don't care - plotwise, it was nothing that hadn't been done before (though I suppose I could concede that this is the "best" of the countless time-warp episodes). I'll even go all-out and say that the episode's only saving grace is that it features the Enterprise-C (which looks cool), and that the crew of the Enterprise-C still wears the cool uniforms. And that Rachel Garrett isn't too bad looking. :cool:

[c0rbin]

Season 5: "Darmok" and "The Inner Light"

[Ipecac]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
The episode is plagued by the above-mentioned inconsistency. A truly great episode has no such inconsistencies - though I suppose if you compare it to episodes like "Data's Day" it comes out looking very good.

Anyways, I don't care - plotwise, it was nothing that hadn't been done before (though I suppose I could concede that this is the "best" of the countless time-warp episodes). I'll even go all-out and say that the episode's only saving grace is that it features the Enterprise-C (which looks cool), and that the crew of the Enterprise-C still wears the cool uniforms. And that Rachel Garrett isn't too bad looking. :cool:

I don't have a problem with Guinan "remembering" that the timeline had changed. They actually established in a couple of episodes that she has a "time sense" that made her sensitive to such things. And they explained her "time sense" reasonably well in the first TNG movie, Generations.

Had it been any other character but Guinan, I'd agree with you.

[garys_2k]

But it wouldn't have changed, for her. The version of her that sensed something was "wrong" would have not had anything shifted, her entire reality would have taken place in a version of the universe...

Oh oh. Sorry... I geeked-out for a second there.

[Ipecac]

Originally posted by garys_2k
But it wouldn't have changed, for her. The version of her that sensed something was "wrong" would have not had anything shifted, her entire reality would have taken place in a version of the universe...

Oh oh. Sorry... I geeked-out for a second there.

I understand that, but they established that she exists simultaneously in both reality and in "the Nexus", a kind of para-reality. This connection gave her some kind of time sense and a grounding that enabled her to detect shifts in the timeline, even when she was part of them.

It may not be a good explanation or make a lot of sense, but at least they explained it. Within a sci fi context, it works for me.

[tracer]

Originally posted by Tony
I hear a lot of scientific sounding terms in Star Trek. Barion Particles, Theda Radiation, Takion Feilds ect..

Are any of these things real?
The Particles of Star Trek (http://www.midwinter.com/~koreth/particles/)

More information as to which Trek particles are real, and which are made up, than you can shake a Klingon pain stick at.

[davidhorman]

The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp experience which is in some way unconnected with the Late 20th Century.

As well as Yesterday's Enterprise, there was Times Squared (which I think was the first, and worst, time travel episode in TNG), A Matter of Time, Cause and Effect, Timescape, and All Good Things.... You might also include Tapestry.

:D

David

[tracer]

And, of course, Time's Arrow, which wasn't at all related to late 20th century Earth. No no no no. It was related to late 19th centrury Earth, which is a completely different plot idea.

[Darat]

Originally posted by slimshady2357


Come on, you've been here a while.... you know I don't stand a chance :D

I might have seen just about every STNG three or four times since they've been showing it 10 times a day for a few years now, but that's all. Really. Seriously.

I've never even been to a Trek convention, surely someone here has been to one! :p

Adam

Well you were certainly right about this one.

[AtheistArchon]

I understand that, but they established that she exists simultaneously in both reality and in "the Nexus", a kind of para-reality. This connection gave her some kind of time sense and a grounding that enabled her to detect shifts in the timeline, even when she was part of them.

It may not be a good explanation or make a lot of sense, but at least they explained it. Within a sci fi context, it works for me.

- There were a few other episodes where they pointed towards Guinan being a "Q-like" character in that she exists in all possible times [that she has ever existed in]. The Nexus, early 19th century America (a-la Data's being stranded there with Mark Twain... I always did hate time-warp plots), and so on. She and Q were on unfriendly terms, and Q was respectful enough of her abilities (however vague they may have been) that he made a show of defending himself. *shrug*

- One thing that wonked me out on that episode were the oh-so-stylish phaser holsters the crew wore: a strip of plain white cloth. Meh. And yes, the older uniforms were much cooler.

- Anyhow, like I said, I always disliked timewarp episodes. Give me modern space battles and combat plots. The thing that most interested me in Star Trek (every generation) was the love affair the captain had with his ship; the ship was the main character for me. There is no "trek" without the Enterprise. That's one reason DS9 sucked out loud. Voyager was so-so, but horribly trite, even for a Trek spinoff... that alien cook guy was just SO over the top corny, they could have made a whole episode out of the crew taking turns beating the aliensnot out of him and then ejecting him into space. Heh.

[Tony]

I have another question:


Last night I watched the episode where the Enterprise undergoes the "Baryon sweep". While the sweep is occuring, terrorst attempt to steal "trylithium resin" from the enterprise to use as a weapon. Is trylithium real?

[Darat]

Well Tri Lithium compounds are real.

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/hydro/3licoh.htm

Perhaps the terrorists were going to make everyone drink some very bad cola?

[tracer]

Originally posted by Tony
Is trylithium real?
*sigh*

I post a perfectly good link to a webpage describing just about every particle and oddball substance mentioned in Star Trek, earlier in this thread, and you kids just ignore it.

Go here: http://www.midwinter.com/~koreth/particles/. Look for "trilithium." It's really not that hard.

[Tony]

Originally posted by tracer

*sigh*

I post a perfectly good link to a webpage describing just about every particle and oddball substance mentioned in Star Trek, earlier in this thread, and you kids just ignore it.

Go here: http://www.midwinter.com/~koreth/particles/. Look for "trilithium." It's really not that hard.

It's not really what I was looking for:


trilithium
Artificially generated by aliens. An advanced form of dilithium?
Movie: ST:Generations - Used to collapse a star by dampening the energies in its core.
TNG: Starship Mine - Terrorists attempted to steal a canister of trilithium resin to make a weapon.
Voyager: The Chute - Paris and Kim are accused of planting a trilithium bomb in a crowded market. In fact, the bomb was placed by a brother and sister duo belonging to the Open Sky terrorist group.

I know trilithium is real in the Star Trek universe.

[pgwenthold]

Originally posted by Tony


It's not really what I was looking for:



I know trilithium is real in the Star Trek universe.

Try this:

http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C12596473&Units=CAL&Mask=400#Electronic-Spec

Dilithium is also known. It is a popular substrate for spectroscopy studies because it has an unusual "shelf" state.

[Ipecac]

One chapter of John M. Ford's bizarre Trek novel, "How Much for Just the Planet?" comprises the text of a filmstrip on Dilithium. I love this. (Below is a partial text).

" (From Dilithium and You, an educational filmstrip produced by the
Dilithium Information Institute, a subsidiary of the Deneva Mining
Consortium, a division of Deneva-Universal Enterprises Limited.)

Dilithium!

This amazing mineral, as beautiful as any jewel, harder than any
diamond, is vital to civilization as we know it today. It is no exaggeration to say that the Federation in which we live could not
exist if not for dilithium, the wonder mineral.

But just what is it that makes dilithium so amazing? Scientists
here, in the laboratories of the Deneva Mining Consortium, the
Federation's largest private producer of dilithium crystals for
government and industry, have spent many years and huge amounts of resources unlocking the secrets of this unique substance.

. . .

Mountains fall, and dilithium is revealed!

Don't be afraid -- what you're seeing is not some alien war machine, but the Chariot of Progress! This is a Tagra-X Planetary Excavator. These mighty machines, capable of swallowing whole mountains at a gulp, unearth dilithium ore wherever it may hide. Itself powered by a dilithium-focused antimatter generator, the Tagra-X allows the mining of planets that before would have been left untouched and useless.

Fire one -- it didn't break!

Bullets just bounce off crystals of dilithium, the hardest known
substance in the universe. Dilithium is in fact so hard that it
exceeds the theoretical physical laws for materials. This paradox
baffled scientists for decades until researchers for the Deneva
Mining Consortium discovered the amazing truth: the crystal
structure of dilithium extends not just in the usual three
dimensions, but in four!

Did you say... four?

That's right! As illustrated in this computer animation, the
internal structure of dilithium extends both into the past and the
future. The Deneva Mining Consortium named this phenomenon
Goniochronicity(tm). The extreme difficulty of cutting dillithium
into usable shapes, requiring high-output lasers over a long period of time, became suddenly understandable. Here's Dr. Wallace Thaumazein, star of everyone's favorite popular science show, "Dr. Wally's Kitchen of Wonders," with the explanation.

"Scientists like me always thought it was net energy absorption by the crystals that made them finally give up under pressure, since as you probably know that's how most of the stuff we live with in our everyday lives acts. If I hit this pane of glass with a hammer, it's gonna break."

"It sure did, Dr. Wally!"

"Right. Are you guys all right down there, with the glass...?
Anyway, what we scientists figured out was that you don't just have to hit a dilithium crystal hard, you have to hit it hard last month, now, and a week from Tuesday, so to speak. Now, here's a dilithium crystal that we hit two days ago. And I've made a note in my appointment calendar -- you can see it here, on my wristwatch display -- to hit it again two days from now. Now, some of you are probably wondering, 'what if you don't hit it two days from now?' and that's an interesting question. What I always say to that is, 'I'm a scientist, not a philosopher.' Now, I'll hit it... well, now."

"That's amazing, Dr. Wally!"

"It sure is, and it also shows why you kids watching shouldn't try
this experiment at home with any dilithium you might have around the house. That man will recover, because he got prompt medical attention, which we always have on call here at the Kitchen of Wonders. You might not be so lucky."

That's an important safety tip, Dr. Wally. Yes, dilithium, the
wonder mineral, can be dangerous. But isn't a certain level of risk always present in our everyday lives? Think of thermonuclear
fusion, our mighty but mischievous friend. Or the dome over the
city where you live; think how easily it could crack and decompress your whole town. Even this ordinary wooden pencil is potentially explosive, if it should touch antimatter.

Is there an answer to these risks? Yes. The answer is in each one of us. We must all vote for continued tax deductions for dilithium research and fight to preserve the Dilithium Depletion Allowance. This, then, is the choice that faces each of us in a free society.

This is dilithium... and you!

(Tagra-X film courtesy of Tagra Geoforming Corporation. Gun
provided by Denevarms Division of Deneva-Universal Enterprises
Limited. Goniochronicity is a registered trademark of the Deneva
Mining Consortium, all rights reserved. Dr. Wallace Thaumazein
appears courtesy of Apocrine Pictures Video, an entertainment unit of Deneva Fizz Inc.)"


:D

[tracer]

Originally posted by Ipecac
" (From Dilithium and You, an educational filmstrip produced by the
Dilithium Information Institute, a subsidiary of the Deneva Mining
Consortium, a division of Deneva-Universal Enterprises Limited.)
It's the 23rd Century, and they're still using filmstrips?

[Ipecac]

Originally posted by tracer
It's the 23rd Century, and they're still using filmstrips?

That's why it's funny! :)

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by Ipecac
We must all vote for continued tax deductions for dilithium research and fight to preserve the Dilithium Depletion Allowance.

They also have no money, but must pay taxes anyway. What do they use, wampum? Damn that Interstellar Revenue Service!