Gravity plating is a near constant. It’s virtually failsafe. As far as I can recall, TUD was the only ep or movie to explore what happens when GP fails. Again, one of the non canon books had a neat side story on its developement.
Humph. For once I come up with a really good cross-reference, and no one even notices it.
At least I thought it was good.
I don’t know what it refers to.
Didn’t it fail in Shuttlepod One or whatever it was called? I thought I remembered reading about it in a synopsis since I’ve not actually seen it.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
That’s the funniest cross-reference I ever read!
There, does that make you feel better?
Season I
I wasn’t Trek Doping yet and i really don’t remember. I’ll search the archives…
Yes, thank you!
I only saw Nemesis in the theater, and I clearly remember, at the end, the scene with Riker showing Picard the new seat belt for the captain’s chair.
So why no air bags?
And does the Enterprise have a crumple zone? (Other than Bones’ face.)
After a bit of further reading, it looks like my memory’s faulty and it was indeed in the extras on the DVD as Odin said but it was not in the movie proper, nor could Riker be the one showing him the seatbelt – he had already departed for the *Titan *by that point.
Discrimination against multi-lingual persons, I presume? 
I suppose if starships had seatbelts (and a seatbelt law), they would also have to hire Starship Cops to pull over ships for such infractions. Not to mention handing out WUIs (Warping Under the Influence) for captains who’ve had too much Romulan Ale.
Then I must be going crazy. I’ve never even so much been in the same room as a Nemesis DVD, but I clearly remember seeing that scene.
Furthur research on my part reveals that you’re right that it wasn’t Riker that showed it to him. It was Worf and, uh, a guy who vaguely looks like Riker.
[quote]
7 deleted scenes appear on the DVD edition with introduction by producer Rick Berman. In the intro, Rick Berman confirms that roughly 50 minutes of footage was trimmed from the original version. The 7 deleted scenes make up about 17 minutes of this original footage and includes:
[ul][li] A private conversation between Picard and Data over a glass of wine.[/li][li]Early introduction of Shinzon in the film (right after the wedding reception). This is the scene that includes the dialogue from the theatrical trailers, “But in darkness there is strength…(Viceroy)” and “The time we have dreamed of is at hand… the mighty federation will fall before us…(Shinzon).”[/li][li]The second rape scene of Counselor Troi in a Turbolift.[/li][li]A scene of Picard walking with Troi down a corridor and Troi explaining to him that he and Shinzon are two different people. This scene includes the line from the trailer, "it was like a part of me had been stolen…(Picard).[/li][li]Sick-bay getting ready for battle, a short dialogue between Dr. Crusher and Picard is shown.[/li][li]Worf warning Picard about the Romulans just before they leave for Romulus. This scene includes the dialogue from the trailer, “I recommend extreme caution…(Worf).”[/li][li]Original extended ending - A new First Officer is introduced on board the Enterprise and two funny moments are shown afterward. Instead of ending while the Enterprise is docked above Earth, this new ending shows the Enterprise flying away.[/ul][/li][/quote]
The First Officer – the guy who looks vaguely like Riker – is Martin Madden and played by Steven Culp, whose scenes were all cut from the movie.
He’s not even listed at IMDb as being in it.
I’m guessing most of the Enterprise’s missions aren’t as dangerous as the ones we see, and probably it’s designed to a certain extent along the same parameters as ordinary, non-flagship ships that probably rarely see battle. For the most part, the Federation seems pretty peaceful; I’m guessing the average ship doesn’t see much combat, and even the Enterprise probably doesn’t see as much as you’d think when you consider all the stellar plotting missions and such that they don’t bother to make episodes out of.
Besides, the ship is practically a city. What, is everyone gonna be belted down at all times? Or does the bridge crew get seatbelts while the kids touring the arboretum get to end up with their heads thrust through Antarean Thorn Trees?
That would be true according to known physics of known concepts but Star Trek with warping space and mass lightening and pockets of space that are separate from the space around it, AND shields - come on. You could only think ships are ‘effected’ in a way we truly understand, because we’ve never had it explained to us any differently.
The fact is shields ‘dampen’ the severity of collisions or explosions but they’re not going to physically repel it completely, nor could inertial dampeners prevent the ship from shaking completely. If the object emitting the shield can’t withstand a kinetic energy, the shield won’t either; It simply doesn’t make sense that a car with a shield of ANY power will stop a locomotive dead in its tracks. The shield may still function after having being impacted and moved out of the way of the train but the car being shielded will still take just a completely negligible amount less than the full brunt of it. This is extreme but the logic stands: lesser impact, lesser effect, but an effect, none the less.
This is why ‘shields’ aren’t the only thing protecting a ship in motion - the most powerful system is the deflector array to make sure the path ahead of a ship is clear and devoid of objects that would impact the ship. The shields are more for absorbing and deflecting other energy types, but not kinetic.
Scientifically - it could have something to do with the demonstration we saw in the movie ‘Contact’. If you are strapped tightly to an object that shakes violently, then ‘you’ will shake violently. And on a scale where it is violently enough to move or shake a galaxy class starship, it probably wouldn’t be pleasant. If your entire environment experiences a shift at a significant acceleration rate and you’re STUCK to that environment, it’d probably feel like you were hit by a truck, once in that → direction and another time in the opposite ← direction.
The reboot movies have seat belts. Full harnesses, even.
Sorry for the hijack, but here’s what I don’t understand about Star Trek: why do they always send the most valuable people down to a planet?
If the planet is hostile – which is usually the case – you don’t want to send down the captain and the first officer first. Send a security squad down first!
The purpose of seat belts, or any kind of restraint device, isn’t to keep you from being shaken bodily. It’s to keep you from slamming against all the solid, pointy objects inside your vehicle. There’s a reason why automobile accident deaths plummeted dramatically in the 70’s and 80’s once seat belts became mandatory. (Death statistics for spaceships, however, remain undetermined.)
Yeah, why didn’t the OP notice that…oh, wait.
Fun fact: The warp core was actually Johnson’s version of the George Foreman Grill