# Forgotten/Ignored Star Trek Technology **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604 "2004-02-28T08:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/41 "2004-02-29T06:48:00Z")
> [@Red Matrix](#): > > In TNG, one episode had part of the crew use an armband that allowed them to be out of TIME from the other TIME they were transporting into… why not use that to some advantage elsewhere? IIRC, what the armband did was let them carry a bubble of their own time along with them. So to do what you suggest, you’d need to have time sped up to begin with, so I don’t think it can be used that way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/42 "2004-02-29T13:09:43Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > That cloak-homing photon torpedo in _Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country_ sure looked like it scored a direct hit to me. Ah. I was thinking of TAS. That Romulan border incident. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/43 "2004-02-29T17:10:37Z")
Silly Bosda, TAS is for kids! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But seriously, folks, even among fans, ST:TAS is considered less than canonical. Except for “Yesteryear,” which is considered canon because the fans like it.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/44 "2004-02-29T17:24:22Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Site-to-site transporter ability was used once or twice. If they can transport some several hundred miles to the surface of a planet, why can’t they precisely transport someone a few down feet within a starship? “Once or twice,” my patootie! The phrase “beam him directly to sickbay” was practically a mantra on _Voyager_ and the later seasons of _TNG_. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/45 "2004-02-29T17:27:57Z")
Personally, I’ve always considered _Slaver Weapon_ to be canon. I’ve even lobied, nay BADGERED! certain bastards about it. Imagine the amazing storylines possible if StarFleet was involved in the Man v. Kzin wars! To say nothing of of certain insights like having Miramani’s world set up by Pak Protectors, or Q influencing the Puppeteers to but a Star Seed Lure on a DY-100 sleeper ship! BTW, we haven’t had Decon Goo™ in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/46 "2004-02-29T17:29:33Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > “Once or twice,” my patootie! The phrase “beam him directly to sickbay” was practically a mantra on _Voyager_ and the later seasons of _TNG_. I’d forgotten that! I was referring to the TNG ep “The Game” in which Wesley was trying to outwit the rest of the crew (which, apparently, was never much of a challenge). ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/47 "2004-02-29T17:51:13Z")
Wesley’s ability to out-think the rest of the crew is just like that of [Marrissa Amber Flores Picard Gordon](http://home.netcom.com/%7Emblackwl/mst.html). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/48 "2004-02-29T19:34:51Z")
Oh yes, the phaser-transporters used by the artifact smugglers who kidnapped Picard. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/49 "2004-02-29T19:42:48Z")
In the ST:TOS episode “Tomorrow is Yesterday,” the Enterprise accidentally travels back to 1960s Earth. At one point, Spock says: “We have achieved stable orbit outside Earth’s atmosphere. Our deflectors are operative, enough to **prevent us from being picked up again as a UFO**.” So, never mind the cloaking device. The **ordinary deflectors** of the NCC-1701 _Enterprise_ were enough to foil 20th-century radar! Did we ever hear about the anti-radar capabilities of the deflector system again? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/50 "2004-02-29T19:44:37Z")
What I’ve always wondered, is if they can create holograms whose algorimths allow them to function mentally and emoitionally just like humans, why can’t they simply make an android body with a simple hard drive and put the hologram’s algorithm inside it? Viola! Hundreds of cheap, effective, Data-like androids. Hell, even better, they can feel simulated emotion (well, eventually so could Data, but it took a while.) There was also an ep. of _Voyager_ where 7 of 9 had Janeway modify her borg implants (with nothing more than pieces of a communicator badge, no less) so that she could walk through the protective shield seperating the passenger compartment from the pilot compartment of the Delta Flyer, I think. Hello? Keep that function on all the time! Walk through shields! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/51 "2004-02-29T19:59:58Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Silly Bosda, TAS is for kids! > > (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But seriously, folks, even among fans, ST:TAS is considered less than canonical. Except for “Yesteryear,” which is considered canon because the fans like it.) OUCH! Meant TOS. Dammit, being sick screws up my brains! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/52 "2004-02-29T20:15:04Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Meant TOS. You meant the Romulan border incident in TOS? You mean the one portrayed in “Balance of Terror”? In that case, what you said before: > [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > As for the torpedoes, they are merely set to detonate after a given # of seconds after launch. So, they fire near the Romulans, & hope they hit. Like hunting subs. … I gotta call you out on. The _Enterprise_ only fired **phasers** at the Romulan ship during that episode, not torpedoes. Sure, the things they were firing **looked** and **sounded** like photon torpedoes, but the makers of that episode have admitted that this was a special-effects gaffe. Kirk and the crew only mention firing phasers throughout the episode. (If you want to retcon it, you can always say that they were firing their phasers in some kind of a “pulsed” mode, like the phasers on the _Defiant_ in DS9.) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/53 "2004-02-29T21:57:51Z")
In TOS episode “Wink of an Eye”, as I recall it was shown that you could enormously accelerate yourself, to the point of moving invisibly fast, with an injection or ingestion of a certain drug. Sounds potentially useful. ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/54 "2004-02-29T22:15:24Z")
one time I was watching a normal 2004 family live their life… and many days they would use a microwave to make food in like… 60 seconds. then thanksgiveing comes and they take like… 14 hours cooking!! hello! plot hole! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/55 "2004-02-29T22:18:48Z")
That’s because a Thanksgiving turkey has too much quantum subspace interference for the microwave cooking device to operate. So they have to send a shuttle down to the planet’s surface instead. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/56 "2004-02-29T22:43:46Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > That’s because a Thanksgiving turkey has too much quantum subspace interference for the microwave cooking device to operate. So they have to send a shuttle down to the planet’s surface instead. Too much trouble. Better to reverse the polarity of the microwave oven. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/57 "2004-03-01T00:13:04Z")
Hmmm … it **does** have a polarized plug… ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/58 "2004-03-01T00:35:00Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Silly Bosda, TAS is for kids! > > (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But seriously, folks, even among fans, ST:TAS is considered less than canonical. Except for “Yesteryear,” which is considered canon because the fans like it.) What the fuck? Sorry, Charlie, but it’s Enterprise that’s not canonical. ( assuming Bergman is still merrily riping continuity to threads, raping the bones of a once great franchise-I haven’t watched Quantum Trek since season one) TOS is the basis for the whole enchelada. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/59 "2004-03-01T00:40:22Z")
TAS, which \*\*tracer \*\* was talking about, is the abbreviation for The \*\*\*Animated \*\* \* Series, not Star Trek, the \*\*\*Original \*\* \* Series, or TOS. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604/60 "2004-03-01T00:48:07Z")
TAS is officially known as TAA [The Animated Adventures](http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ANI/index.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-ignored-star-trek-technology/231604.md?page=4)