Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 3x01 - "That Hope Is You, Part 1"

[DaveyNY]

The purpose of dilithium in warp engines is to contain antimatter. Antimatter is the fuel.

No that's partially incorrect.

Dilithium doesn't "contain" the Antimatter, it is used to focus the flow of the the Plasma Stream within the warp core to vastly improve how the warp engines work.

That's why Dilithium has to be "reconstituted" after awhile, the plasma degrades the dilithium crystals.

The Antimatter is collected separately and held in "Antimatter Containment Vessels" which are connected to the system and are combined with a Matter stream to create the combined "Plasma Stream" which then passes through the dilithium crystals before going to the Warp Engines to "energize" the WARP Coils.

Dilithium is actually needed to achieve the higher warp speeds, beyond warp 2.

That's also why the Phoenix didn't need it, Cochranes initial Warp engine was designed to only be able to reach about Warp 1.5.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

No that's partially incorrect.

Dilithium doesn't "contain" the Antimatter, it is used to focus the flow of the the plasma stream within the warp core to vastly improve how the warp engines work.

That's why Dilithium has to be "reconstituted" after awhile, the plasma degrades the dilithium crystals.

The Antimatter is collected separately and held in "Antimatter Containment Vessels" which are connected to the system and are combined with a Matter stream to create the combined "Plasma Stream" which then passes through the dilithium crystals before going to the Warp Engines to "energize" the WARP Coils.

Dilithium is actually needed to achieve the higher warp speeds, beyond warp 2.

That's also why the Phoenix didn't need it, Cochranes Warp engine was designed to only be able to reach about Warp 1.5.

I thought the reason it could only be dilithium is it doesn’t react with antimatter.

 

[DaveyNY]

I thought the reason it could only be dilithium is it doesn’t react with antimatter.

Well, the Plasma Stream contains antimatter, so that's true.
But the real purpose of Dilithium is to focus and concentrate that Plasma to obtain higher Warp Speeds.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

You hit the nail on the head to my core issue with this story (and the show overall), even if it has nothing to do with your point.

Your example perfectly demonstrates what this show could be - beyond the high-concept lite dressing that it will inevitably be.

What if instead, they use this to show that the Federation ideal isn't all that it's craked up to be - with the 'true believers' hawking loaded language similar to what one might have heard in Victorian-era Parlement or the more insidious dog-whistling of modern America? And that, despite all the zinger nacelle sticker slogans to the contrary, the galaxy has gotten [mostly] along fine without the Federation?

But nothing about what I saw looks like that is what's going to happen and they just lazily stroll down the obvious, easy route once again.

Of course the galaxy could get along fine without the Federation, and the episode reflected that, but you’d get back the kind of inequality and every day suffering we see in modern day. If they stated in Star Trek that the Federation was meaningless it really would be the betrayal of the show’s core values the detractors claim it to be.

I think it is going to be shown like you said, a handful of die hard believers against a cynical majority who sees the past as mythological by this point.

But I expect figuring out The Burn to steal the focus from the idealistic Federation building later in the season.

And even though they said time travel was destroyed there’s a lot of built in time travel options that would never be destroyed. The Prophets, for one, and you think they let them destroy the Orb of Time?

 

[rhllot]

Huh? There will not be a continuous evolution of energy sources in real life and there doesn't need to be one in fiction. Dilithium is just some fake substance that sounds cooler than fusion. To suggest that there needs to be new faker substances in order to make this fictional universe make sense is silly. And parts of China basically run on coal heat in the winter. There are probably a few places literally using it today as we move into colder weather.

not just china! India uses a lot of coal!

 

[Amasov]

Need to watch it again, but, so far mixed.

 

[Kevman7987]

So because the Federation couldn't explain why the Burn happened or say it wouldn't happen again the Federation collapsed? I need a more thorough explanation than that.

After the Temporal Wars time travel technology was dismantled and outlawed. Thank God. I hated the Temporal Cold War arc and don't want to deal with confusing timey-wimey stuff again.

I wonder if the Discovery will finally arrive in episode 2 or later. I hope it's next episode.

 

[Tuskin38]

I wonder if the Discovery will finally arrive in episode 2 or later. I hope it's next episode.

It is. They showed a clip during Ready Room.

I need a more thorough explanation than that.

You got 12 more episodes. It sounds like one of the things they will be investigating will be The Burn.

 

[DaveyNY]

The best example of how Dilithium works was in the TOS episode, "Elaan of Troyius".
When Scotty finally gets his hands on the rough dilithium crystals from Elaan's necklace, we see him fidgeting to place them carefully into the Dilithium Rack trying to get the best alignment so they can ideally focus the plasma stream to make the warp engines work.

 

[Tuskin38]

The best example of how Dilithium works was in the TOS episode, "Elaan of Troyius".
When Scotty finally gets his hands on the rough dilithium crystals from Elaan's necklace, we see him fidgeting to place them carefully into the Dilithium Rack trying to get the best alignment so they focus the plasma stream to make the warp engines work.

Obviously Memory-Alpha isn't a 100% accurate source, but they say:

It was used to control the power of the warp drive systems of many starships by regulating the matter-antimatter reaction in a ship's warp core because of its ability to be rendered porous to light-element antimatter when exposed to high temperatures and electromagnetic pressures. It controlled the amount of power generated in the reaction chamber, channeling the energy released by mutual annihilation into a stream of electro-plasma.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Of course the galaxy could get along fine without the Federation, and the episode reflected that, but you’d get back the kind of inequality and every day suffering we see in modern day. If they stated in Star Trek that the Federation was meaningless it really would be the betrayal of the show’s core values the detractors claim it to be.

Star Trek's core value is 'be better by doing better'.

One needn't soft-booted red shirts standing over them for that.

 

[DaveyNY]

Obviously Memory-Alpha isn't a 100% accurate source, but they say:
"It was used to control the power of the warp drive systems of many starships by regulating the matter-antimatter reaction in a ship's warp core because of its ability to be rendered porous to light-element antimatter when exposed to high temperatures and electromagnetic pressures. It controlled the amount of power generated in the reaction chamber, channeling the energy released by mutual annihilation into a stream of electro-plasma".

Heh ... that's what I said, but simpler.


BTW: DILITHIUM is not a "Fictional Substance" ...

"In reality, dilithium (Li2) is a molecule composed of two covalently bonded lithium atoms which exists naturally in gaseous lithium."

It's just that in Trek they've apparently found sources of those molecules in Crystalline Form, which as far as we know, is fictional.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd have found it more believable if the dude had been all about the spore drive -- Where's it at? We need that tech! -- but even then, they have time-travel technology that they're *choosing not to use.* To twiddle your thumbs for 40 years in the vague hope that someone in the distant past will use the same technology you have and show up at your doorstep seems pretty pathetic.

He wasn't waiting for anyone specific. Just someone from the Federation/Starfleet.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Star Trek's core value is 'be better by doing better'.

One needn't soft-booted red shirts standing over them for that.

True, but without a stable body providing and defending people, mitigating diplomacy, and teaching those values, how do you expect hundreds of planets to go along?

 

[XCV330]

solid 8. great opener. it's going to be fun essentially having a new galaxy to explore.
random thoughts:

the ENT Temporal Cold War reference was good. I wasn't expecting it. I didn't think they'd go there. I don't think they'll go there again, but it was a useful way to tidy up the time travel stuff. Then again, if it's illegal, who the hell is left to enforce the rules?

SMG's best acting so far. I love that triumph when she knows she helped save everything, even though she's alone now. I want to see her, Saru, and Tilly high on truth dust, together.

I need more Tilly in my life. Bring her back quickly. I don't like a Tillyless episode.

Book's a cool character. His techno babble did mention some interesting things about his ship, like the quantum slipstream drive, and the fact it also powered to some degree by tachyon solar cells. It seems like the've adapted ways to get around.

I like the term David AJala uses in Ready Room for the console interface "Programmable matter". that's excellent.

I loved the lonely true believer. It's interesting there are still some federation ships out there. It will be fascinating to see who is operating them. I'd love to see the J. I see we're getting a Hiawatha type.

 

[Kevman7987]

I also would like to know the status of all the other interstellar powers. Did they collapse too?

So because Book needed some dilithium crystals, does that mean standard warp drive can still be used?

 

[eschaton]

Of course the galaxy could get along fine without the Federation, and the episode reflected that, but you’d get back the kind of inequality and every day suffering we see in modern day. If they stated in Star Trek that the Federation was meaningless it really would be the betrayal of the show’s core values the detractors claim it to be.

I think it is going to be shown like you said, a handful of die hard believers against a cynical majority who sees the past as mythological by this point.

But this gets back to the point I made upthread. We were led to believe that life in the Federation is good because "humanity had evolved" or some such thing. Basically, that we (and other species) decided to put on our big boy pants and let go of shallow things like bigotry, materialism, etc.

I have no problem believing that without much FTL travel, it would become logistically impossible to actually keep the Federation going. But if things are actually crapsack, it means the Pax Romana provided for by the Federation wasn't due to moral advancement, it was the order and stability provided for by the government. And that's a really Hobbesian, reactionary, authoritarian statement.

 

[CorporalClegg]

He wasn't waiting for anyone specific. Just someone from the Federation/Starfleet.

Waiting for Georgiou.

 

[XCV330]

But there should be multiple new FTL drives by the 32nd century. Dilithium would be like using coal in today’s standards

technologies reach a maturity stage where development slows to very small incremental changes. This does not mean we do not use those pieces of technology anymore.

I am currently wearing my everyday go-to Seiko automatic watch. It's a mechanical movement that has not had any significant changes (enthusiasts notwithstanding) since the late 1960s, and in fact the basic components that regulate the movement have not had many more changes in over a century. In fact much of it would make sense to the earliest mechanical clock makers. But the watch works, does exactly what I and others need them to do, and hundreds of thousands of them are still made and sold.

Or a more recent development: rocket engines. The most powerful rocket motor was build in the 1960's, and in terms of practical ISP, the rocket with the highest specific impulse was made in the 70's. And it is not likely that anything will be done to increase that.

The only new widely used fuel sources on Earth in this century has been fissile elements. Coal, petroleum, hydrogen, gravity (hydro power and hydroelectric power is gravity power), peat, biochemical (including beasts of burden and human slavery), cellulose, fusion (solar power has been used on earth for billions of years, and this includes wind power, the reactor is 93,000,000 km away). So no, it's not a given that societies should be coming up with new power sources every few decades.

 

[Bollie74]

Lets be real. Star Trek fucking sucks when it comes to mental health, has rarely depicted it accurately and never will.

You mean to say Counselor Troi wasn't an excellent mental health provider? I am shocked, sir.