General Trek Questions and Observations

[Tim Thomason]

Is there anything in canon other than the 4th Trek movie that refers to T'Plana-Hoth the matron of Vulcan philosophy that tells us who this was. I believe I read that the Vulcan ship in First Contact was named that.

T'Plana-Hath has been used as the name of two ships in canon: the Vulcan ship in First Contact and a starship in Discovery. Other than that, she's only referenced by her quote in Star Trek IV. In RPG material, she was touted as Surak's teacher, and therefore a precursor to his philosophy.

 

[DaveyNY]

I finally saw reunification for the first and oh my god! Before i thought just the Romulan navy and the Tal shiar had the stupid shoulder pads but no even the civilians, juts regular people walking around have them!

Perhaps, just perhaps, in a Society where the civilian population is constantly under Military Rule, the choice of clothing ISN'T Optional.
(see North Korea for examples)

 

[SPCTRE]

I love this

 

[Discofan]

Why would the captain need a passenger seat in case of an emergency?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

It's not the seat but the window - the one with the best view of a possibly damaged wing/engine.

 

[Discofan]

It's not the seat but the window - the one with the best view of a possibly damaged wing/engine.

Ok.

What's that got to do with William Shatner? Except maybe because he was a Captain? That seems flimsy to me.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

What's that got to do with William Shatner?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmare_at_20,000_Feet

 

[Discofan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmare_at_20,000_Feet

I see. I've seen this but with John Lithgow playing the part of Shatner? Are there two versions of this?

 

[frankieteardrop]

I see. I've seen this but with John Lithgow playing the part of Shatner? Are there two versions of this?

Yes, actually. You're thinking of the 1983 Twilight Zone anthology film, which included an updated "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" segment starring Lithgow.

 

[Tim Thomason]

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[Discofan]

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Great reference.

I remember that he was the Big Giant Head in this episode.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I've been wondering for ages... How exactly do the universal translators work and where exatly are they? In "Little Green Men", we learn that Ferengi have it implanted in their ears. (Because of course they would.) Is that the case with everyone? If so, how come that they often make first contact on a planet, where people don't have a UI, and still they understand each other?

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

^ Archer simply kissed the aliens when something went wrong with the translator...

Archer - "Someone was walking this way but he turned and went around the corner. I thought if we pretended to be…"
Alien - "I understand."

 

[Tim Thomason]

^ Archer simply kissed the aliens when something went wrong with the translator...

Archer - "Someone was walking this way but he turned and went around the corner. I thought if we pretended to be…"
Alien - "I understand."

That's from Rogue Planet, right? The really awkward scene between Scott Bakula and Keith Szarabajka?

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

That's from Rogue Planet, right? The really awkward scene between Scott Bakula and Keith Szarabajka?

no, my quote is from another kissing... "Civilization" Season 1

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

I've always wondered, is "Terek Nor" code for "Trek Noir"? It would be fitting, as "Necessary Evil" is pretty much a film noir episode.

 

[Tenacity]

If it had been in black and white ... and raining

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I've always wondered, is "Terek Nor" code for "Trek Noir"?

DS9 was conceived from the beginning to be darker than TNG, both thematically and visually. So, it would fit. It's an interesting idea, and plausible, but nothing is jumping out at Memory Alpha about how the name "Terek Nor" was conceived.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I've been wondering for ages... How exactly do the universal translators work and where exatly are they? In "Little Green Men", we learn that Ferengi have it implanted in their ears. (Because of course they would.) Is that the case with everyone? If so, how come that they often make first contact on a planet, where people don't have a UI, and still they understand each other?

Two TOS episodes contain brief technobabble indicating that there are at least two kinds.

From "Journey to Babel" [http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/44.htm]:

UHURA: I've tried all frequencies and hooked in the universal translator. No response, sir.
KIRK; Maintain translator broadcast. Check records for authorised ships.​

The use of "translator broadcast" suggests the broadcast of a mathematical code from which vocabulary and grammar forms can be derived by some algorithmic process. For example, the Arecibo message [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message] might be a kind of (primitive) prototype. Lincos was developed in 1960, so it was already a known quantity by the time of TOS [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincos_(artificial_language)].

The other TOS episode is "Metamorphosis" [http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/31.htm]:

COCHRANE: What's the theory behind this device?
KIRK: There are certain universal ideas and concepts common to all intelligent life. This device instantaneously compares the frequency of brainwave patterns, selects those ideas and concepts it recognises, and then provides the necessary grammar.
SPOCK: Then it translates its findings into English.​

There are ENT episode(s) when Hoshi develops the language matrices for the UT, but I don't know those episodes off the top of my head (ENT isn't my thing).

 

[at Quark's]

In Mirror, Mirror, Alt-Archer reads her file : " In her late thirties, she created the linguacode translation matrix." Tin Man (TNG) suggests they are two diffferent things, since there they are mentioned as attempts to communicate with the entity. A device that that was referred to as the universal translator already existed during ENT's time (even though it was still primitive and more prone to failure than UT's in series set in later centuries), and sometimes there are mentions of "updates", sometimes from an unspecified source (starfleet presumably), sometimes from Hoshi herself.