Zeonprime
IreneScience? We don’t need that in science fiction!
May 29th 2009 03:35
This is the third and last part of my ruminations on the Star Trek movie.
Part of what always attracted me and many other fans to Star Trek is the science portrayed in the shows had come to pass in reality, either in practical technology or in the theoretical realm. Light speed is no longer an impossible barrier, thanks to many hard working physicists; it's just another barrier to be crossed much like the sound barrier was in the 1950s. The nascent technology of teleportation is even moving forward, when only 20 years ago it was deemed improbable if not impossible. But in the Star Trek movie, the science is placed squarely in the background in order to not confuse the moviegoers with techobabble. As I mentioned previously in my thoughts on Nero, a supernova threatening a entire galaxy seems improbable to say the least, not to mention the super-dense “red matter”, and the mechanics of the ships themselves (for example, 25th-century Spock’s Jellyfish starship with its spinning nacelle(s).
Warped
To have paired warp nacelles or not? It was established in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) era by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda that for warp-driven ships to operate, their warp nacelles must be in pairs. From that point on, starships with warp engines were always represented with at least two warp nacelles. However, in the original series (TOS) technical manual which was never officially adopted into canon, it was established that a ship could have from 1 to 4 warp nacelles. I won’t go into the argument itself since it is a rather silly thing to bicker about. In the case of the new Star Trek movie the first ship we see is the USS Kelvin and it has only one warp nacelle. I have read nitpicks on this matter and will give the production designer the benefit of the doubt for trying to represent TOS technology; perhaps they used the non-canon technical manual as a reference in the designs.
Scary squid ship
The Nerada is a mining vessel. While this explains the drilling platform (more on that below) that this ship is able to deploy and its departure from standard Romulan starship design aesthetic--such as the addition of multiple forward swept wings/claws/arms and the gaping maw at the centre of these appendages. I have a difficult time believing that this (likely) civilian vessel, designed for the purpose of drilling and storing massive amounts of ore and other material, could be such a formidable fighting craft. Some could argue heavy shielding, thicker hulls and a complement of high-yield explosives as reasonable items on a ship tasked with mining small moons and asteroids. I agree with those points, however, taking into account the established late 24th-century (TNG-era) technology, most of what a mining vessel would be carrying would not stand up against a vessel with directed energy weapons and shields intended for combat--especially not a fleet of 40 Klingon warships!
I found the use of the drilling platform as a weapon to be an interesting choice; however, the production designers again threw the concept of practical technology and science in the trash bin in order to make something appear “appealing”. Watching the platform being deployed on its tether from the vessel in orbit above Vulcan, I found myself wincing as I could not fathom how something that long (deployed from geosynchronous orbit into the upper atmosphere of a planet, you can begin to imagine just how long this tether attached to the drill was) could possibly be stored in a ship even the size of the Nerada.
Physics, transporters, and “red matter”
Remembering good ol’ high school physics, one of the first things I was taught about the laws of the universe was that there are rules governing everything. Most of which are completely ignored, fudged with or just plain forgotten in this movie. Sure it’s science fiction and there's certain leeway given to it, but glaring issues without at least a plausible explanation to circumvent the natural laws just annoy me.
Consider transporting Kirk and Sulu, who are falling from a high altitude from tens of metres from the surface of a planet with a similar gravitational pull as Earth. The only indication of any problem with transporting them mentioned on screen is the fact that they are moving, which 17-year-old prodigy Chekov solves. Upon the successful transport during free fall, both men dropped to the deck with an audible “Oof!” upon being rematerialized. Since they were already at a terminal velocity they should have gone SPLAT instead, covering the whole room in blood and guts which of course would have ended the movie incredibly early.
Within moments of this scene, Chekov instructs Spock and the Vulcan elders to stay still so that he can transport them from an imploding Vulcan. Unfortunately, the ground gives way under Amanda and she starts to fall. For some unexplained reason, our eager young prodigy is unable to reacquire a transporter lock (actually making no attempt to do so upon successfully beaming up the remaining group with Spock) on Amanda and beam her to safety. Considering the radius of a planet is much greater than the comparable thin veil of an atmosphere that surrounds a planet, Chekov should have had ample time to acquire a transporter lock and beam Spock’s mum to safety. No wonder McCoy doesn’t like using the blasted things.
This whole tale of planetary cores leads us to the infamous and grossly under-explained “red matter” (insert scary music). Its defined properties include high instability, high density, and possessing the capability to become a singularity once outside of what I suppose is a containment field. 25th-century Spock, while unsuccessful in stopping the destruction of Romulus, is able to stop the supernova from destroying the galaxy after successfully deploying the “red matter” into the star. Spock eventually gets captured and his ship confiscated by Nero, and we discover that Spock did not just have enough matter to implode the supernova, but hundreds if not thousands of supernovae. We’re talking a ball of this material approximately 3 ft in radius. But the size of the ball of “red matter” needed to do the job of collapsing and imploding the star was roughly 8-10mm in diameter. So since we are dealing with a Vulcan whose mind is ruled by logic, what is the logic in carrying that much highly unstable and dangerous material?!
Part of what always attracted me and many other fans to Star Trek is the science portrayed in the shows had come to pass in reality, either in practical technology or in the theoretical realm. Light speed is no longer an impossible barrier, thanks to many hard working physicists; it's just another barrier to be crossed much like the sound barrier was in the 1950s. The nascent technology of teleportation is even moving forward, when only 20 years ago it was deemed improbable if not impossible. But in the Star Trek movie, the science is placed squarely in the background in order to not confuse the moviegoers with techobabble. As I mentioned previously in my thoughts on Nero, a supernova threatening a entire galaxy seems improbable to say the least, not to mention the super-dense “red matter”, and the mechanics of the ships themselves (for example, 25th-century Spock’s Jellyfish starship with its spinning nacelle(s).
Warped
The USS Kelvin with its one nacelle just visible.
To have paired warp nacelles or not? It was established in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) era by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda that for warp-driven ships to operate, their warp nacelles must be in pairs. From that point on, starships with warp engines were always represented with at least two warp nacelles. However, in the original series (TOS) technical manual which was never officially adopted into canon, it was established that a ship could have from 1 to 4 warp nacelles. I won’t go into the argument itself since it is a rather silly thing to bicker about. In the case of the new Star Trek movie the first ship we see is the USS Kelvin and it has only one warp nacelle. I have read nitpicks on this matter and will give the production designer the benefit of the doubt for trying to represent TOS technology; perhaps they used the non-canon technical manual as a reference in the designs.
Scary squid ship
The Nerada is a mining vessel. While this explains the drilling platform (more on that below) that this ship is able to deploy and its departure from standard Romulan starship design aesthetic--such as the addition of multiple forward swept wings/claws/arms and the gaping maw at the centre of these appendages. I have a difficult time believing that this (likely) civilian vessel, designed for the purpose of drilling and storing massive amounts of ore and other material, could be such a formidable fighting craft. Some could argue heavy shielding, thicker hulls and a complement of high-yield explosives as reasonable items on a ship tasked with mining small moons and asteroids. I agree with those points, however, taking into account the established late 24th-century (TNG-era) technology, most of what a mining vessel would be carrying would not stand up against a vessel with directed energy weapons and shields intended for combat--especially not a fleet of 40 Klingon warships!
Is that a big drill, or are you just happy to see me?
I found the use of the drilling platform as a weapon to be an interesting choice; however, the production designers again threw the concept of practical technology and science in the trash bin in order to make something appear “appealing”. Watching the platform being deployed on its tether from the vessel in orbit above Vulcan, I found myself wincing as I could not fathom how something that long (deployed from geosynchronous orbit into the upper atmosphere of a planet, you can begin to imagine just how long this tether attached to the drill was) could possibly be stored in a ship even the size of the Nerada.
Physics, transporters, and “red matter”
Remembering good ol’ high school physics, one of the first things I was taught about the laws of the universe was that there are rules governing everything. Most of which are completely ignored, fudged with or just plain forgotten in this movie. Sure it’s science fiction and there's certain leeway given to it, but glaring issues without at least a plausible explanation to circumvent the natural laws just annoy me.
Consider transporting Kirk and Sulu, who are falling from a high altitude from tens of metres from the surface of a planet with a similar gravitational pull as Earth. The only indication of any problem with transporting them mentioned on screen is the fact that they are moving, which 17-year-old prodigy Chekov solves. Upon the successful transport during free fall, both men dropped to the deck with an audible “Oof!” upon being rematerialized. Since they were already at a terminal velocity they should have gone SPLAT instead, covering the whole room in blood and guts which of course would have ended the movie incredibly early.
It's a manly embrace.
Within moments of this scene, Chekov instructs Spock and the Vulcan elders to stay still so that he can transport them from an imploding Vulcan. Unfortunately, the ground gives way under Amanda and she starts to fall. For some unexplained reason, our eager young prodigy is unable to reacquire a transporter lock (actually making no attempt to do so upon successfully beaming up the remaining group with Spock) on Amanda and beam her to safety. Considering the radius of a planet is much greater than the comparable thin veil of an atmosphere that surrounds a planet, Chekov should have had ample time to acquire a transporter lock and beam Spock’s mum to safety. No wonder McCoy doesn’t like using the blasted things.
This whole tale of planetary cores leads us to the infamous and grossly under-explained “red matter” (insert scary music). Its defined properties include high instability, high density, and possessing the capability to become a singularity once outside of what I suppose is a containment field. 25th-century Spock, while unsuccessful in stopping the destruction of Romulus, is able to stop the supernova from destroying the galaxy after successfully deploying the “red matter” into the star. Spock eventually gets captured and his ship confiscated by Nero, and we discover that Spock did not just have enough matter to implode the supernova, but hundreds if not thousands of supernovae. We’re talking a ball of this material approximately 3 ft in radius. But the size of the ball of “red matter” needed to do the job of collapsing and imploding the star was roughly 8-10mm in diameter. So since we are dealing with a Vulcan whose mind is ruled by logic, what is the logic in carrying that much highly unstable and dangerous material?!
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Comment by Irene
Grammar Matters
Cooking Monkey
Also, the jellyfish made me think of something but I don't remember what. A thumb drive? A Bluetooth earbud? I don't know. Something like that.
Comment by Anonymous
i woudnt call the nerada giganamous but hugemungus.
as for losing the lock on amanda, i'd say that considering transport was already initiated, chekov just didnt have enough time to re-establish a new lock and re-initiate actual tranport before she went splat. remember that it takes time for the transport cycle to finish. i'd suspect that amount of time is enough to go splat
quack.