Amazing Trek Tech
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:13 pm
So in the Immortality thread I suggested talking about what the Trekverse would be like if they kept and used everything they found. So here's the chance to do that...
1) Functional immortality.
In Unnatural Selection, they use a sample of Pulaski's DNA as a pattern to transport her, repairing her own DNA and undoing the de-ageing. The changes required for this were quite simple - a few modifications to the transporter that took very little time.
This grants immortality. Federation citizens can now sample their DNA at age 20, put it in stasis, and whenever they feel they're getting on a bit they just perform this process and have a 20 year old body again.
One possible downside - does the process reset the person's memory and personality to the way it was when the sample was taken? The episode does not seem to make this completely clear.
Even assuming it did, the possibilities are quite startling. People would be able to "back themselves up" by taking a quick DNA sample before away missions, battles, or other dangerous events. If they are injured or killed, simply beam up another version of yourself.
2) Personnel replication.
In Second Chances we find that atmospheric on a planet can cause the transporter to duplicate a person. Assuming this effect became reproducible, Federation personnel could simply beam up copies of themselves when required. Egotistical persons might do this all the time, with hundreds of copies of themselves wandering around.
The above method also implies this - if you can beam a copy of a person up from their DNA, then why not beam up multiple copies of them?
3) Ultra-transwarp.
Federation ships are capable of travelling at infinite speed. The downside is that your turn into that most evolved of all creatures, the giant newt. But that happens slowly, and the process is easily reversed. Federation ships can now reach any point in the entire universe instantly.
4) Beaming through shields.
Both Section 31, the Dominion, and even normal Starships have been able to do this on occasion (Relics). Shields are thus really obsolete in Star Trek. Combat should largely be a matter of who has the longest ranged transporters, because as soon as you're in transporter range you beam a photon torpedo in the enemy's engineering section and they die.
5) Transwarp beaming.
But then ships are pretty much obsolete anyway, since the technology to beam across multi-lightyear distances is commonly available.
6) Telekinetics.
In Plato's Stepchildren, we find that injections of a certain substance cause ordinary Humans to gain extremely powerful telekinetic abilities. This should be routinely available within the Federation.
7) Time Travel.
Time travel is a commonplace technology in Trek, any warp capable ship can do it. Therefore never mind the "temporal cold war". The Federation should be more akin to the Time Lords.
8) The Psychotricorder.
It is impossible to lie or withhold information in the Federation. Even if you don't remember the info yourself, the psychotricorder can tell. All inquests, court proceedings, etc are obsolete. All criminal investigations should simply be a matter of interviewing all the suspects until you find the guilty one. Politics as we know it should be impossible - no politician would ever be able to make any statement that isn't objectively true, even if they believe that statement to be true.
9) Gender reversal.
Bashir was able to flip Quark's gender quite easily. Although they don't go into the details of just how 'complete' the change is, the Federation is a society in which anybody who dislikes their gender can simply change it. There would people who choose to do this much as we choose to change hair colour or fashions.
Anybody with any more implications of these, or any more examples of forgotten technology?
1) Functional immortality.
In Unnatural Selection, they use a sample of Pulaski's DNA as a pattern to transport her, repairing her own DNA and undoing the de-ageing. The changes required for this were quite simple - a few modifications to the transporter that took very little time.
This grants immortality. Federation citizens can now sample their DNA at age 20, put it in stasis, and whenever they feel they're getting on a bit they just perform this process and have a 20 year old body again.
One possible downside - does the process reset the person's memory and personality to the way it was when the sample was taken? The episode does not seem to make this completely clear.
Even assuming it did, the possibilities are quite startling. People would be able to "back themselves up" by taking a quick DNA sample before away missions, battles, or other dangerous events. If they are injured or killed, simply beam up another version of yourself.
2) Personnel replication.
In Second Chances we find that atmospheric on a planet can cause the transporter to duplicate a person. Assuming this effect became reproducible, Federation personnel could simply beam up copies of themselves when required. Egotistical persons might do this all the time, with hundreds of copies of themselves wandering around.
The above method also implies this - if you can beam a copy of a person up from their DNA, then why not beam up multiple copies of them?
3) Ultra-transwarp.
Federation ships are capable of travelling at infinite speed. The downside is that your turn into that most evolved of all creatures, the giant newt. But that happens slowly, and the process is easily reversed. Federation ships can now reach any point in the entire universe instantly.
4) Beaming through shields.
Both Section 31, the Dominion, and even normal Starships have been able to do this on occasion (Relics). Shields are thus really obsolete in Star Trek. Combat should largely be a matter of who has the longest ranged transporters, because as soon as you're in transporter range you beam a photon torpedo in the enemy's engineering section and they die.
5) Transwarp beaming.
But then ships are pretty much obsolete anyway, since the technology to beam across multi-lightyear distances is commonly available.
6) Telekinetics.
In Plato's Stepchildren, we find that injections of a certain substance cause ordinary Humans to gain extremely powerful telekinetic abilities. This should be routinely available within the Federation.
7) Time Travel.
Time travel is a commonplace technology in Trek, any warp capable ship can do it. Therefore never mind the "temporal cold war". The Federation should be more akin to the Time Lords.
8) The Psychotricorder.
It is impossible to lie or withhold information in the Federation. Even if you don't remember the info yourself, the psychotricorder can tell. All inquests, court proceedings, etc are obsolete. All criminal investigations should simply be a matter of interviewing all the suspects until you find the guilty one. Politics as we know it should be impossible - no politician would ever be able to make any statement that isn't objectively true, even if they believe that statement to be true.
9) Gender reversal.
Bashir was able to flip Quark's gender quite easily. Although they don't go into the details of just how 'complete' the change is, the Federation is a society in which anybody who dislikes their gender can simply change it. There would people who choose to do this much as we choose to change hair colour or fashions.
Anybody with any more implications of these, or any more examples of forgotten technology?