# ST: TOS "The Trouble With Tribbles" nitpick (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876 "2014-02-09T03:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/1 "2014-02-09T03:29:55Z")
Never seen this particular nitpick before: The Klingon agent has attempted to interfere with human colonization of Sherman’s Planet by poisoning the shipment of quadrotriticale on Station K-7. The poison kills the tribbles who eat it, and it is made clear it would kill any humans who ate it. SFW? Who’s **going** to eat it? Baris made clear they’re shipping it because it’s the only Earth crop that will **grow** on Sherman’s Planet. It’s seed corn. You can put poison on it, but the crop it grows into won’t be poisonous. So what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/2 "2014-02-09T03:32:01Z")
Well, while they’re waiting for the first harvest, they have to eat something. Maybe not all of it is meant for planting. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/3 "2014-02-09T03:33:12Z")
It wasn’t poisoned, it was impregnated with a virus. Wouldn’t the virus be transmitted to the seed grain’s offspring? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/4 "2014-02-09T03:36:03Z")
Or it just wouldn’t grow, in which case - crop failure. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/5 "2014-02-09T03:38:15Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Or it just wouldn’t grow, in which case - crop failure. Possible. But wasn’t the point to kill the colonists by having inert matter build up in their bloodstreams? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/6 "2014-02-09T04:00:21Z")
Quadrotriticale popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/7 "2014-02-09T04:05:52Z")
space grain has specific futuristic qualities to answer all your questions ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/8 "2014-02-09T04:08:40Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > space grain has specific futuristic qualities to answer all your questions Yes, but quadrotriticale was a perennial four-lobed hybrid of rye and wheat that could trace its origins back to 20th-century Canada. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/9 "2014-02-09T04:09:01Z")
They can travel faster than the speed of light. I’m pretty sure they can figure out how to poison seed grain so that it produces toxic wheat. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/10 "2014-02-09T04:12:54Z")
Ummm (raises hand) If they have replication technology (even in the original series), why would they need to transport so much grain? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/11 "2014-02-09T04:15:38Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Ummm (raises hand) If they have replication technology (even in the original series), why would they need to transport so much grain? As with transporters, molecular patterns can be stored in the replicator buffers only for limited periods of time? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/12 "2014-02-09T04:17:16Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Ummm (raises hand) If they have replication technology (even in the original series), why would they need to transport so much grain? Quiet you! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/13 "2014-02-09T04:18:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yes, but quadrotriticale was a perennial four-lobed hybrid of rye and wheat that could trace its origins back to 20th-century Canada. 🆒 Does everybody know about this wheat but me? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/14 "2014-02-09T04:19:16Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Ummm (raises hand) If they have replication technology (even in the original series), why would they need to transport so much grain? The original series didn’t have full-on replicator technology. That was a TNG-era invention. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/15 "2014-02-09T04:19:33Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Does everybody know about this wheat but me? Not everyone, sir. It was a Russian invention! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/16 "2014-02-09T04:20:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The original series didn’t have full-on replicator technology. That was a TNG-era invention. Beg to disagree: In “Private Little War,” Kirk specifically asks Scott how long it would take to replicate 100 flintlocks. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/17 "2014-02-09T04:25:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Beg to disagree: In “Private Little War,” Kirk specifically asks Scott how long it would take to replicate 100 flintlocks. We can replicate flintlocks today, but we sure can’t replicate wheat bread. TOS Star Trek had much more limited replication than TNG did. Also… We have other TOS references to colonization. Colonies are primitive. Much like Oregon Trail colonists: they start with damn near nothing. They have to pass through a period of subsistence farming, before they get big enough to have anti-matter energy plants and replicators. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/18 "2014-02-09T04:28:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Beg to disagree: In “Private Little War,” Kirk specifically asks Scott how long it would take to replicate 100 flintlocks. At the time of the original broadcast, and in the reruns until STNG, I took that to mean how long would it take their machine shop to produce convincing replicas. The obvious application of transporter technology to produce copies of anything was not mentioned in TOS. Well, except for Good Kirk/Evil Kirk and a few other transporter accidents. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/19 "2014-02-09T04:29:59Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > We can replicate flintlocks today, but we sure can’t replicate wheat bread. TOS Star Trek had much more limited replication than TNG did. > > Also… We have other TOS references to colonization. Colonies are primitive. Much like Oregon Trail colonists: they start with damn near nothing. They have to pass through a period of subsistence farming, before they get big enough to have anti-matter energy plants and replicators. You don’t have to replicate bread; just grain seeds. And you would only need a small amount of actual grain to replicate a larger amount assuming that you actually need the matter that you are replicating as a “template.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876/20 "2014-02-09T04:30:05Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Colonies are primitive. Much like Oregon Trail colonists: they start with damn near nothing. They have to pass through a period of subsistence farming, before they get big enough to have anti-matter energy plants and replicators. Yes, but they wouldn’t need to if spaceships (“transports”) could simply beam down replicated seeds. Since Kirk’s crew was living on reconstituted food, you’re probably right that their replicator abilities were more limited than on _ **TNG** _, but that could have been just a matter of the energy available for replication. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-tos-the-trouble-with-tribbles-nitpick-open-spoilers/680876.md?page=2)