Obsession. Picking One Scene To Pieces.

[Timo]

One might speculate that an ounce of antimatter going kaboom could result in a "spread out" explosion: if the annihilation starts from the inside of the lump (thanks to the design of the detonation mechanism), the rest of the annihilation will take place several miles away from the detonation point because that's where the outer layers of antimatter will be flung. Perhaps that helps with sending some of the atmosphere to escape velocity?

We could also pick to pieces the concept of "ripping away" an atmosphere. Does this "away" thing mean the explosion tears the atmosphere away from its original position and moves it to some other position? Or does the phrase mean that the atmosphere will stay in place but will be "ripped away" there? The latter could easily be true - a majority of the air molecules could be ionized across a hemisphere if the explosion were powerful enough and the nature of the atmosphere suitable for the phenomenon.

The "shock waves" Spock warns about might in turn be unrelated to the atmosphere or its ripping, and directly related to the explosion itself. We know that photon torpedo detonations create shock waves through empty space, even if we don't know the mechanism of that. Radiation wavefronts, surges of thinly spread antimatter, subspace weirdness? No matter, the shock waves are there in the usual case, and don't require an atmosphere.

So, the poor planetoid at Tycho gets a rough handling but doesn't really lose any significant part of its atmosphere to outer space. And Spock is still literally correct about everything, including using 28 grams of antimatter.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Wingsley]

By "rip away half the planet's atmostphere", Spock may have been referring to the anti-matter explosion as if it were like a large meteor impact. Not only would the air itself be violently displaced across the surface of Tycho IV, but also the planet's "ground zero" landscape who be re-arranged pretty handily. Quite a bit of that was probably blown sky-high in the process.

On top of the violent atmospheric displacement and the airborne debris, we should consider that this explosion may have left at least a significant part of Tycho IV uninhabitable. What's the product of matter / anti-matter fusion? Gamma radiation. So "ground zero" is probably a large crater, contaminated with gamma radiation and a "dust bowl" of airborne debris. Depending on the planet's geography and wind patterns, this could potentially ruin this planet as far as future colonization and cultivation possibilities.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Gotta say, the title of the thread is classic.

 

[Gary7]

This episode was riddled with problems, both in story and in plausibility. So, it's no wonder there are so many questions about even just a particular scene.

What does a non-organic gaseous cloud of a creature need with the red corpuscles from human blood? It simply vanishes from bodies and containers when attacked by this creature... which doesn't make any sense, because these molecules must pass through other matter to be removed. Unless it meant the creature could easily penetrate any matter... and then if that's the case, the Enterprise would have no defense against it penetrating the hull, making the whole "open vent" scene having no merit.

If this creature feeds on red corpuscles, then what's it doing on this planet? There were no reports of animal life, nor any discovery of mammals having suffered the same fate as the Enterprise landing party. I can understand Kirk wanting to deal with this menace, rather than leaving to rendezvous with the Yorktown and then come back, only to find the creature has left without a trace.

Why not leave a probe behind specialized to scan for dikironium that would follow the cloud if it left the planet? But then there's the matter of the cloud being able to travel at warp speed... which brings about another huge stretch of plausibility.

Then there was this whole issue about Garrovick missing the cloud because he fired while it was moving, not when it was hovering. Well, it descended upon the two crewmen and would have to hover while it attacked them. Why didn't he fire then? Certainly he could fire in between them, so he wouldn't risk hitting the men. This was never brought up. And of course, why did the creature not attack Garrovick? Perhaps the phaser "frightened" it, as what happened when Spock used his phaser on the outcropping of tritanium.

Anyway, the other big problem with a "cloud" creature is... well, it could easily separate into multiple smaller clouds and become more difficult to attack. Plus, a cloud can condense and make for a much smaller target. Then there's the matter of reproduction. If there's one cloud discovered, wouldn't there be more? Not knowing where it came from or its "life cycle" leaves a lot unresolved.

So, in the end, I find it an episode that is simply not very well put together and balanced with reasonable plausibility. It's unfortunate, because I think the base story idea had a lot of potential.

 

[Timo]

What does a non-organic gaseous cloud of a creature need with the red corpuscles from human blood?

That I guess is the big question. But nowhere is it suggested that this would be the creature's sole dietary requirement. It's probably as organic as it wants to be - it certainly isn't aphysical. And it probably needs all sorts of substances to keep on going. It may suck calcium or lithium from rocks, say, but when it meets a warm body, it takes iron from that body's blood. It's just that our heroes (and the audience) come to know the creature through that nasty habit.

Probably the thing can get iron from elsewhere, too. And probably there's nothing more worth taking in the human body, nothing the creature couldn't get more easily from elsewhere. But blood for some reason is convenient for it. And/or it has evolved the habit of taking blood from animals, so that they die and stop pestering it.

Unless it meant the creature could easily penetrate any matter...

Probably not quite "any". Just certain things, apparently including the glasslike material of the blood container, and the human body. Nothing wrong with that.

Why not leave a probe behind specialized to scan for dikironium that would follow the cloud if it left the planet?

Even Spock had great difficulty following through all the creature's transmutations. It would probably easily shake off an automaton - and may have evolved to do exactly that. Hunters with sensitive long range sensing devices would be its main enemy, after all.

Certainly he could fire in between them, so he wouldn't risk hitting the men.

To be sure, when one fires a phaser between a man's eyes, it doesn't avoid hitting those eyes: it vaporizes the entire man, eyes and all.

Hitting even one corner of the cloud might well mean spreading the famous "vaporization" or "disintegration" effect of the phaser across the entire cloud, and perhaps doing harm to everybody inside as well.

Anyway, the other big problem with a "cloud" creature is... well, it could easily separate into multiple smaller clouds and become more difficult to attack.

So could a swarm of wasps. But it would become much dumber, then: wasps would lose coherence of attack if they didn't sense what the next bee a few centimeters away was doing. The cloud could well have an even more relevant "group intellect" that did not allow for too wide dispersal or subdividing into multiple units.

Or, since it appears somewhat "transdimensional", perhaps it isn't really all that similar to a cloud after all. Perhaps there's a creature with a very definite shape behind the veil of realms, and the "cloud" is the shadow of that creature in our realm, mapping from 3D to 3D without provision for radical "shapeshifting"?

Then there's the matter of reproduction. If there's one cloud discovered, wouldn't there be more? Not knowing where it came from or its "life cycle" leaves a lot unresolved.

Sure. And with the Space Amoeba, our heroes spoke of reproduction and speculated that more of the species might eventually be encountered. But that episode, "Doomsday Machine" and "Obsession" put together establish that it's rather fruitless to hunt for such things: in the vastness of space, they won't be found until they make themselves known. This one incarnation of the dikironium cloud, perhaps an exhibitionist of the species, perhaps what counts for a rabies case with little self-control, might be a uniquely huntable individual. It sort of goes without saying, now that it has been said in "Immunity Syndrome" already.

Timo Saloniemi