Scientific weirdness in Star Trek

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Neopeius, Jan 7, 2022.

  1. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2008
    Location:
    A type 13 planet in it's final stage
    Gotta be the Romulan supernova. Threatened to destroy the galaxy, had it's fiery wrath sucked up by a black hole and then gets retconned by ST Picard to Romulus' own star which means Spock's plan to save Romulus would certainly have doomed them to a freezing death:lol:
     
    Ronald Held and Pauln6 like this.
  2. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    i think the Star Trek Online team did a plot surrounding this. Mind you, given where Discovery season 3 went, and given that, to be travelling faster than light, the supernova must have been a subspace phenomenon, I suppose it's arguable that there could be a link. It would have been nice if they could have acknowledged some basic science in the movie, instead of urinating on it. TOS inspired people to train for STEM positions. I'm not sure what NuTrek might have inspired? Unsanctioned experiments on animals?

    Or as my friend's 8 year old son said upon watching Star Trek 2009: "That's not how black holes work."
     
    Neopeius likes this.
  3. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2008
    Location:
    A type 13 planet in it's final stage
    While I cannot defend the shitty science of Star Trek (going back to TOS), I will point out that TOS explictly killed a dog in a transporter experient, whereas Scotty's dog may yet re-appear (and did in at least 2 official tie-ins)

    Also "Magicks of Megas-Tu" starts with an amazingly awful misunderstanding of the Big Bang. But then goes on to be the second best TAS episode ever, so all is forgoven.
     
  4. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    That was a sanctioned experiment to check a safety concern on living matter (or possibly an accident... I can't recall now). NuScotty's experiment did not require living matter - it was an experiment on increasing distance.

    More troubling is why they would remove a specimen to the ship. The transporter filters out pathogens. The poor thing's natural biome was probably devastated.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2022
  5. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    Me and my wife.
     
    F. King Daniel and Pauln6 like this.
  6. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Location:
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    In my case it was involuntary bowel movement.
     
    Pauln6 and Neopeius like this.
  7. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Location:
    ssosmcin
    This is a really solid explanation of the differences between the pacing and story beats. Both pilots had lots of chatter and high minded ideas, both had a few minutes of screen time taken up by action/adventure.

    The Cage: the kidnapping, the Kaylar illusion, the laser cannon sequence, Pike choking the keeper

    Where No Man: the energy barrier, Kirk and Spock slugging Mitchell in sickbay, Mitchell force choking Kelso, the end fight

    Pretty much the same amount of action but after the laser cannon bit, The Cage is all drama for the back half other than the keeper illusion. Okay, maybe you can count the keeper raiding the computer. But the true climax is a threat of suicide and a an illusion twist. WNMHGB had the action well spaced and gave us the "fight in the ditch" westerns loved to include. Now imagine if Pike and the Keeper had a brawl with bad stunt men and everything. Think it would have sold the series?
     
  8. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    Spirk is a much hotter couple in NuTrek, that much is true.
     
  9. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    :rolleyes:

    I shouldn't have posted at all. The opinions about Kelvin Trek are set in stone. My bad. Apologies.
     
  10. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    Well, they are enjoyable rollercoaster movies but the application of science, even Trek science, was very poor on many levels.
     
  11. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    Mileage will vary. Felt pretty much like Trek science to me. And it inspired my wife to watch more Star Trek and explore some things she had not before largely because she hates science fiction. Inspiration means different things to different people, not just in hard sciences but psychology and sociology as well. That to me is what drives Star Trek 2009 is more psychological than physics.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2022
    Noname Given and F. King Daniel like this.
  12. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Location:
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    I always thought what drove JJtrek was bad drugs and excessive alcohol.
     
  13. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Location:
    ssosmcin
    I've heard that a number of times and I feel that is worth its weight in box office gold.
     
    PT109 and fireproof78 like this.
  14. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    I think that makes a big difference is when it can open up the door to a bigger universe. You had a wonderful branching from the old to the new in Spock and it worked excessively well.

    Now, I know that the science behind the film is largely BS. But, it's Star Trek BS at least to me. It feels in line with weird anomalies and Star Trek's versions of black holes, from TOS to TMP to TNG. The laugh I get is how much Star Trek impacted my view of space travel and how learning about actual space travel proved Star Trek to be largely BS. That's why my BS sensitivity in Star Trek is so high. Discovering that TOS lied to me was probably the harshest lesson in exploring fiction in space travel.

    It would depend on how that impacted the characterizations. I recall reading in either Shatner's or Nimoy's Star Trek books that the term "too cerebral" was used to describe a lack of connection with the characters in the Cage. In other words, no one emotionally engaged with Pike and crew initially. So, unless the fight helped reframe Pike's character I'm not sure adding a fight with the Keeper would have sold it.
     
  15. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2008
    Location:
    A type 13 planet in it's final stage
    Sound in space. Starships turning like sailing ships. Aliens being human, with similar language and comparable values but with silly ears or whatnot.

    Let's start at the top. Star Trek is very silly when you think about it.
     
    JonnyQuest037 likes this.
  16. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Location:
    ssosmcin
    Well, if you look at it with those eyes, ALL sci-fi television is silly.
     
  17. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    It is.
     
  18. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Location:
    ssosmcin
    I tend to "see with better eyes than that" - apologies to Jim Cameron. Truly realistic Science Fiction on television, especially in the 1960's, was really not possible. So I don't think about the "silliness" unless it's truly ridiculous (mostly over in the Irwin Allen Productions).
     
  19. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    I don't think about the silliness either but it is part of the overall package for me. That's why my threshold for scientific oddities is quite high with most speculative fiction. It's all one piece for me now. I took Star Trek far more seriously than many of my peers in school and then studying about space travel in college proved that Star Trek wasn't quite what I thought it was. So, my thinking shifted in to a far more accepting mode of the silliness, unless completely and totally ridiculous (which Star Trek has crossed multiple times).

    In other words, my eyes see it as close enough to work. Mileage will vary.
     
    Ssosmcin likes this.
  20. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2001
    Location:
    AI Generated Madness
    I've feeling that more drugs and alcohol passed through Roddenberry's body than the entire production team of Star Trek '09. :lol:
     
    JonnyQuest037 and Ronald Held like this.