In TOS, it was stated (in what now seems as a throw away line) that the transtator (not translator) was a tech that many of the most important StarFleet systems was based on. Transportors, communications, phasers…
It refused to be a throw away line, tho, because it has been referenced in several different Treks, DS9, ENT, and VOY.
Leave it alone or explain it, Trek! Don’t state how vital it is, reference it years later, and give not even a HINT of explanation!
Somewhere I read that dilithium had a 4 dimensional structure that enabled it to power the warp drive and control the matter/anti-matter interactions. (Or something like that)
I always figured the transtator was a 4D version of of a micro-chip or just general circuitry.
I would agree with running coach and add the transtator accesses unlimited power (at the quantum level?).
First we had the resistor, then the transistor (somehow increased power times 1.4), then the micro-chip, now the transtator (obviously several additional steps in between.).
The preceding is barely a thought, let alone theory. I will rescind at the drop of a hat.
I’ve always felt that the transtator is the futuristic equivalent of a quantum CPU. In other words, a tricorder (based on the transtator) is to today’s quantum computer what today’s tablet computer is to an early Univac.
This is essentially my take on it. Based on it’s usage and the name, I think the most logical guess is that it is some sort of quantum processor. From it’s name, it seems clearly intended to be an upgraded version of a transistor, and as that is used to manipulate electrical signals, running off of the “stator” part, I’d assume that a transtator is able to manipulate quantum states in some fashion.
It’s made from Applied Phlebotinum. And the problem is, because it is even more fungible and capable than Ginsu knives, it can resolve any plot complication imaginable, except those that it can’t, for reasons of arbitrary conflict and stretching the story through 43 minutes. This isn’t a stab at Trek specifically; it is true of science fiction (and other technical fiction, like the proliferation of forensic science dramas) in general.
In re “Piece of the Action,” I find it really hard to believe that scientists operating at a 1920s level of technology would find it possible to understand, let alone duplicate, how a transtator would function, regardless of how “bright” and “imitative” they might be.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I’d be a lot more worried about the phasers left at the Ekosian SS weapons lab.
This matches my view on it pretty well. It’s a future component analogous to the transistor. Fairly simple in itself (by the standards of their tech), but fundamental to a huge array of technologies.
However, there is also the question of scale. They’re in practically every device in some form or other, so at least some of them must be pretty small. The objects we’ve actually seen have been fairly large objects, however. Clearly there are different types of transtators which are, for some reason, different sizes. Now, one reason transistors are different sizes is energy dissipation. Transistors that handle lots of power are larger than the ones that switch tiny currents. So, proceeding from the transistor->transtator reasoning, maybe transtators also scale based on energy requirements. What do they do that requires such different levels of power? Well, the transistor is a device that manipulates transfer resistance, so perhaps the transtator manipulates transfer states.
My conclusion is that the transtator is a device that manifests quantum-scale manipulations on a macro scale. The different sizes are driven by the need to handle power input and energy dissipation related to the specific energy changes between the manipulated states.
How does this figure into various devices?
General use: Transtators are used as switches in Trek computers. Their manifestation of quantum properties at macro levels makes stable quantum computing feasible under field conditions (i.e. room temperature or higher, EM disturbances, etc.) No doubt most of these are tiny transtators packaged in large arrays, analogous to our microprocessors and used similarly.
Communicators: It’s possible that, in addition to using transtator arrays for computing purposes (encryption, frequency-hopping, etc.), communicators can use a transtator for secure point-to-point quantum communication. The small size of communicators may restrict the power capacity available to support this mode, however.
Phasers: Auto-aim circuits having been abandoned due to ECM issues during the Federation-Klingon war, phasers have very little in the way of internal computers. Transtators don’t play much role in the basic phaser beam, beyond modulating the output; it’s just a tight stream of highly energetic particles. The stun and kill settings are another matter: the stun setting uses transtator effects to disrupt electrical function in the target’s nervous system, effectively causing a seizure of sorts, and the kill (disintegrate) setting actually causes the particles in the target to tunnel away–essentially teleporting bits of the target away in random directions. At these settings, the beam is used only to “paint” the target, using the particle stream to apply a fingerprinted charge for the transtator to lock in on.
Transporters: Transporters use transtator arrays to handle the enormous amount of data manipulation required for the process and power transtators to achieve the energy conversion step.
Very good! Now write an “on spec” script incorporating the above and submit it to Paramount. It just might launch a whole new Trek series. (Star Trek: The Techno Revolution.)
