# Star Trek tech features that logically should exist but didn't seem to **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [March 18, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193 "2021-03-18T16:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/202 "2021-04-14T23:17:26Z")
> [@eburacum\_45](#): > > I’d want a 3D phased-array surface covering every wall, so I could just say ‘Alexa, Computer, show me the view outside the ship’ or ‘show me Jupiter as seen from Io’ or ‘Show me the view from Mt Blanc’ or ‘Show me Blackpool Beach on a sunny day’. The interior of the ship could be covered in the same stuff that forms the viewscreen in on the bridge, so you could just call up any view you want. This could help to reduce the inevitable feelings of claustrophobia in a tin can, many light-years from any other habitable location. > > Short of making the entire ship just one big holodeck, that is Yeah, but you just know that at any given moment, two-thirds of those screens would be porn. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/203 "2021-04-14T23:55:41Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > That’s one of the biggest issues with Trek IMO, that all these separately-evolved intelligences are so evenly matched. > _There should be_ a couple badass species that humans just have to learn to get out of the way of. > > The Borg were this for a short time, but the writers couldn’t help overusing them, and inevitably watering down their threat. Well, there were the Organians, the Metrons, the Tholians, the Gorns, the Talosians, Trelayne and his parents… All of whom could easily have whipped the Federation’s ass, if they had been so inclined. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/204 "2021-04-15T00:15:55Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Yeah, but you just know that at any given moment, two-thirds of those screens would be porn. Only two-thirds? > [@terentii](#): > > the Gorns Really? Nothing in canon says they could do that. All we know is that the Gorn Hegemony is on an equal level as the Federation. We have no idea how big the Hegemony is, for example. If it’s only a handful of systems, the Feds will curb-stomp them. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/205 "2021-04-15T00:23:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Really? Nothing in canon says they could do that. How about the massacre of Cestus III? We know the Federation is encroaching on their territory, and that they can easily outrun a top-of-the-line starship. If it weren’t for the Metrons, I think they would have been back in force to finish the humans off with absolutely no mercy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/206 "2021-04-15T00:27:51Z")
They attacked an unaware outpost that had limited defensive capability. Especially when the Bad Guys drop the reptilian equivalent of Mobile Infantry on them. _An **outpost** or **outpost station** was one of several types of remote or [frontier](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Frontier)-based sites, typically defined as a [base](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Starbase) or [settlement](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Settlement) that was usually minimally equipped that was designed for research and [defense](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Defense), or to monitor the sovereignty of a territory’s political [border](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Border)._ ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/207 "2021-04-15T00:56:28Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How about the massacre of Cestus III? We know the Federation is encroaching on their territory, and that they can easily outrun a top-of-the-line starship. If it weren’t for the Metrons, I think they would have been back in force to finish the humans off with absolutely no mercy. 😕 I thought Gorns were merciful. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/208 "2021-04-15T00:57:49Z")
In their own special way, they are. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/209 "2021-04-15T00:59:23Z")
Merciful like Cthulhu. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/210 "2021-04-15T02:02:25Z")
Even on a ship with internal transporting you’d still want to have turbolifts in case the transporters went down. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/211 "2021-04-15T03:50:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Well, there were the Organians, the Metrons, the Tholians, the Gorns, the Talosians, Trelayne and his parents… All of whom could easily have whipped the Federation’s ass, if they had been so inclined. Obviously when I say a species that “humans just have to learn to get out of the way of” I’m not including the monster of the week, or a wizard species that shows up very rarely for the lulz with one starfleet captain but doesn’t represent an enduring threat to humans. The Gorn…might fit. From their appearance in TOS it seems they were merely a powerful adversary, still essentially well matched. From their video game and comic appearances they are apparently more formidable and a whole sector has essentially been fenced off as theirs. I’m not enough of a trekkie though to comment on what’s canon and/or how much of this got alluded to in the TV series. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/212 "2021-05-17T03:34:17Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Even on a ship with internal transporting you’d still want to have turbolifts in case the transporters went down. IIRC in one episode of TNG during a mass evacuation of the Enterprise while it was docked at a starbase the original plan was to show the ship having emergency staircases, but that was scrapped because it’d cost too much for the new set. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/213 "2021-05-18T23:04:56Z")
Then it exploded. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/214 "2021-05-18T23:32:01Z")
Are you stoned? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/215 "2021-05-19T04:38:25Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Yeah, but you just know that at any given moment, two-thirds of those screens would be porn. After The Orville openly acknowledged that the primary purpose of their holodeck was largely sexual, Star Trek took it a step further. Lower Decks showed us that any… output that is left behind by crewmembers is gathered up into tanks that have to be emptied manually by whichever crewmember is most out of favor with the Captain at the time. Discovery also had an Admiral who wasn’t paying attention in diplomacy class tell a guest that the apple she was eating was literally made out of shit. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/216 "2021-05-19T13:41:03Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Discovery also had an Admiral who wasn’t paying attention in diplomacy class tell a guest that the apple she was eating was literally made out of shit. That’s what all apples are made out of. Whether it is a plant using solar power to recombine organic material into a fruit or a replicator using mcguffin power to do the same, it all started out as the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/217 "2021-05-19T15:46:53Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > > [@DWMarch](#): > > > > Discovery also had an Admiral who wasn’t paying attention in diplomacy class tell a guest that the apple she was eating was literally made out of shit. > > That’s what all apples are made out of. > > Whether it is a plant using solar power to recombine organic material into a fruit or a replicator using mcguffin power to do the same, it all started out as the same thing. - It’s the circle of poo! [https://youtu.be/g2cxMPLxUN8](https://youtu.be/g2cxMPLxUN8) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/218 "2021-05-23T15:36:07Z")
1. In Star Trek, why should anyone die if not some sort of immediate death? If injured, teleport them with their previous buffer pattern. If old, recombinate their DNA in the transporter to eliminate the teleomere clipping issue. If infested by bacteria or viruses, run the bio-scrubber through the Heisenberg resonator while they are in the transporter. 2. And you’re telling me that no one could hack the transporter so that you enter looking like Rick Astly and come out looking like Jason Momoa? Or go in male/female and come out the other side female/male? Or use patterns from other people to create perfect imposters? 3. I’m sorry sir but to rematerialize your friend you need to send me 100,000 quatloos in Google Play cards. Do you have a Space Wal-Mart near you? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193/219 "2021-06-10T07:41:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > When TNG was on the air we didn’t have that - though I’m not sure why they couldn’t have foreseen that. TOS did anticipate some things - flip phones, for example, although those have been superseded - and although they referred to computer “tapes” the props used in the show were more like 3.5" “floppy” disks. TNG struck me as not as good in the predicting tech department, and in some ways TNG tech was even more stupid and illogical than what was in TOS. TNG came on the air in 1987, after the home computer revolution, and ended in 1994, just as the internet was about to become a big thing. They did not have to predict, it was already happening. I was born in 1984, and I have no memory of not having a computer at home, my parents had one when I was born, so the audience at home would be familiar with computers). Plus TNG did predict Alexa/Google Home etc in how they spoke to the Computer. The multiple PADDs trope came from DS9. Sisko was often seen at his desk working on a pile of PADDs. This is in contrast to Picard whose work was all on a desktop. DS9 was on air during the start of the first internet revolution and even then they had to explain Sisko using multiple PADDs as being a security measure rather than a technical issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-tech-features-that-logically-should-exist-but-didnt-seem-to/938193.md?page=10)