Red Matter=24th Century WMD?

[Silversmok3]

While in the newest Trek movie you do get the idea that the Vulcan Science Institute did try to keep their knowledge of Red Matter more or less secret from the outside world,IMO such technology should be under WAAAY more security.

As depicted in said movie, the abuse of the Red Matter did more damage than even the abuse of Genesis,which itself is nothing to laugh at.Wouldnt that make Red Matter something like Thalaron Radiation,subspace warheads, or Genesis, technology that should be outlawed/banned for risk of causing severe destruction to life and society?

 

[nx1701g]

I would say yes. It looks like, to an extent, they're going that route with Star Trek Online as part of the fallout.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Actually, I think "red matter" is probably just a Vulcan colloquialism for what Starfleet calls "protomatter." It's probably something similar to antimatter today: expensive, exotic, and EXTREMELY difficult to get in large quantities. A half miligram of protomatter is enough to destroy a star or trigger energy-rich chain reactions that can drive the Genesis Effect; Spock was able to get half a ton of the stuff in the Jellyfish.

Which makes me wonder (Countdown notwithstanding; ignore it for a moment) if maybe Spock actually time-travelled from FURTHER in the future and offered to help save Romulus from its own star going supernova. I don't have a problem with Ambassador "I memorized the slingshot manuever and never shared it with anyone" Spock becoming a sort of Doctor Who-type character in his latter years.

 

[Ronald Held]

I believe protomatter and red matter are completely separate entities.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

You never know. We know next to nothing about either of them.

 

[Timo]

Well, we know that protomatter was great for making stars and stuff very active ("By Inferno's Light" in addition to ST3), while stopping the supernova would probably require something more like trilithium, a known passivator of stars... But then again, red matter never demonstrated particularly passivating traits.

Timo Saloniemi