# Trekkies: How can Data eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762 "2015-02-03T21:04:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/1 "2015-02-03T21:04:40Z")
Since I can now stream all the Star Trek TNGs, I have been studying my favourite character, Data. But my question is this: I have on more than one occasion seen him eat and drink things. Where does it go? Since he is a machine he obviously does not have a digestive system like ours. I take it he has no ability to process nutrients like we would, and probably no rectum and anus to excrete them. So what happens to the stuff? Does he open a little door in his belly and clean out the stuff before it rots? Any theories? ---
**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 3, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/2 "2015-02-03T21:06:07Z")
Internal transporter ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/3 "2015-02-03T21:09:56Z")
He is, and I quote, “fully functional”. Probably there’s an internal passage that connects his mouth to his butt hole, via a little compactor that makes a passable representation of feces. Liquid “waste” can be handled similarly, without the additional processor. Soong wanted Data to be human. But apparently not _too_ human,what with the yellow skin and eyes. As long as he handles it better than David did in _AI_, he’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/4 "2015-02-03T21:13:02Z")
As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I can stream all the STTNG episodes, and my favourite character is Data. Some of my favourite episodes are “Data’s Day” where he mistakenly learns to tap dance when told he will have to dance at a wedding, and “In Theory” in which a human woman on the Enterprise tries to become his girl friend. I also love “Royale” in which Data, Worf and Riker explore a 1950s hotel populated by holograph people in a casino. But there is one episode I cannot find. It is the one where Data thinks he has learned how to have a human sense of humour because his holodeck audience laugh at his jokes, only to find that they have been programmed to laugh at anything he says. Does anyone remember the name of that episode? ---
**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 3, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/5 "2015-02-03T21:16:57Z")
Don’t forget the abdominal phone. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/6 "2015-02-03T21:19:36Z")
In one episode he said he occasionally ingests a liquid suspension to “lubricate [his] biofunctions”. What exactly that means is anyone’s guess but otherwise he doesn’t eat. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/7 "2015-02-03T21:20:36Z")
“The Outrageous Okona” Season 2, Episode 4. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/8 "2015-02-03T21:22:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Soong wanted Data to be human. But apparently not _too_ human,what with the yellow skin and eyes. No, he just took the Simpsons as his model. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/9 "2015-02-03T21:24:42Z")
Which brings me to wonder something else. I assume “fully functional” data can have sex? In the episode “In Theory” he seems to imply that he would be able to have sex with the young woman who likes him. But I am not clear as to whether the two of them got around the hitting the sheets before they broke up. It occurs to me that someone as strong as resilient as Data would be capable of giving that young woman a night to remember. BTW, is there a sadder line in all of TNG than when Data and his would-be girl friend break up and Data simply says: “I will delete the appropriate program.” It is so sad I feel like crying. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/10 "2015-02-03T21:26:38Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > But there is one episode I cannot find. It is the one where Data thinks he has learned how to have a human sense of humour because his holodeck audience laugh at his jokes, only to find that they have been programmed to laugh at anything he says. Does anyone remember the name of that episode? [The Outrageous Okona](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Outrageous_Okona_%28episode%29) Widely considered one of the worst episodes in all of Star Trek. It has Teri Hatcher in it though and, yes, those are real. I generally dislike the Data tries to learn about humanity or something B-plots, they often feel forced. I like the more subtle ones where Data learns something organically through the plot like in [The Most Toys](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Most_Toys_%28episode%29). The change Data goes through in that episode is subtle but it feels significant. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/11 "2015-02-03T21:29:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “The Outrageous Okona” Season 2, Episode 4. Notable (if that’s the word) for using Joe Piscopo as an example of a hilarious comedian. :smack: And yes, Data can have sex. That’s the context from which the line “fully functional” comes. When he and Tasha Yar hook up in “The Naked Now.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/12 "2015-02-03T21:29:36Z")
> [@](#): > > So what happens to the stuff? Does he open a little door in his belly and clean out the stuff before it rots? That’s how R. Daneel Olivaw did it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/13 "2015-02-03T21:48:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s how R. Daneel Olivaw did it. I came here to mention that - Daneel was equipped with an artificial stomach so that he could imitate eating in order to put human observers at ease, but wasn’t capable of digestion, and had to manually discharge it later. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/14 "2015-02-03T21:52:01Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > BTW, is there a sadder line in all of TNG than when Data and his would-be girl friend break up and Data simply says: “I will delete the appropriate program.” It is so sad I feel like crying. Word. Why not just delete the file(s) pertaining to the relationship with that particular girl? It really doesn’t seem fair that he can never have another girlfriend… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/15 "2015-02-03T21:59:27Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > I generally dislike the Data tries to learn about humanity or something B-plots, they often feel forced. I like the more subtle ones where Data learns something organically through the plot like in [The Most Toys](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Most_Toys_%28episode%29). The change Data goes through in that episode is subtle but it feels significant. I just don’t like D8A as a character (well, in truth, I don’t like the fact that _ST:TNG_ actually happened, instead of bringing back Shatner, Nimoy & co., which is what I had my heart set on; but I digress). I disagree with the premise that the artifact known as “Data” is a _person_, and the part about how it “wants” to be a Real Boy is just annoying to me. Maybe the show should have had a cricket and a Blue Fairy. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/16 "2015-02-03T22:15:40Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Word. Why not just delete the file(s) pertaining to the relationship with that particular girl? It really doesn’t seem fair that he can never have another girlfriend… As I understood it, the program was specific to her - he’d been developing it as the relationship went on, and should he ever have another girlfriend then he would start over. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/17 "2015-02-03T22:31:02Z")
That seems like . . . a _really_ inefficient approach to writing an operating system. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/18 "2015-02-03T22:46:10Z")
PEEEE-----YEEEEW! That was really a bad episode, although the part about Data trying to be funny is good. But the part about the roguish captain Orkana and the attempt at a shotgun wedding is just crap on a stick. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/19 "2015-02-03T22:50:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I just don’t like D8A as a character (well, in truth, I don’t like the fact that _ST:TNG_ actually happened, instead of bringing back Shatner, Nimoy & co., which is what I had my heart set on; but I digress). I guess there’s no discussing taste. I have access to all the ST original series and I can’t be bothered watching them. I find the bee’s nest hairdos on the women so dated. And how do you explain that these people several hundred years into the future are still using miles, pounds, feet and inches? And the role of women on the Enterprise is strictly neanderthal. I almost expect Shatner to call one of the women in and ask her if she takes dictation:D ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762/20 "2015-02-03T22:53:15Z")
Way back in the time of the great kings of France – Louis XV? XVI? – someone built a toy robot duck. It could paddle, and quack, and flap its wings. And it could eat and poop. (Okay, the chemical reactions had to be prepared ahead of time, and were limited.) So, if we had the technology to do this in 1700’s…what promise does the future offer? ETA: look up “bomb calorimeter.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trekkies-how-can-data-eat/711762.md?page=2)