Exploding Consoles, Convulted Technobabble

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2002-07-20 02:18am

Hi guys i am new here, I am RegulaOne, Can anyone guess what regulaone is.

I wanna correct Wong on one subject, the Exploding consoles in TNG, i have only seen 3 instances where Exploding consoles killed a person. One episode called Yesterday's Enterprise, Disaster and Timescape.

I have a theory on the exploding Bridge consoles, Starfleet is so complaciant about human lives that the actually install explosive capacitance into their consoles. It is connected using a 50,000 Volt Step up converter to the main power.

How bout the convulted technobabble...

here is one of my favorites....

Captain, they are setting up an Interferometric Field. That was from voyager. Interferometric or has harry kim been reading "Save by the bell" Scripts. It called Jamming you...

Or heres another "Mucilaginous" Whats that a new laxative...We call it Goo

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-07-20 02:28am

Dennis Toy wrote:Hi guys i am new here, I am RegulaOne, Can anyone guess what regulaone is.

Space station run by Carol Marcus, where the Genesis Device was designed and built. Ordinarily I'm not that good with Trek trivia, but the Nick Meyer films are penultimate Trek, and I know them like the back of my hand.

I wanna correct Wong on one subject, the Exploding consoles in TNG, i have only seen 3 instances where Exploding consoles killed a person. One episode called Yesterday's Enterprise, Disaster and Timescape.

Yes, but TNG has very little battle. In fact, "Yesterday's Enterprise" is the only pitched battle in the entire series. If you watch DS9, the "exploding console" problem is much more serious, because there's so much space combat once the Dominion war gets going.

I have a theory on the exploding Bridge consoles, Starfleet is so complaciant about human lives that the actually install explosive capacitance into their consoles. It is connected using a 50,000 Volt Step up converter to the main power.

Of course, the big question is why instrumentation should require such high voltage or energy storage. We still end up with mind-boggling stupidity, no matter how you slice it.

The whole "shaking bridge" thing is a brain bug. I vastly prefer the Imperial warship paradigm, where officers calmly walk about on the bridge during battle (unless the bridge shields fail, of course, in which case they get all panicky

).

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2002-07-20 02:36am

The real question is why are the consoles made of rocks - watch yesterdays enterprise and a few cubic meters of rock appear from nowhere when a console explodes - it isnt badly burnt console remains its a few Kilos of rock.

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2002-07-20 03:39am

I wish Nick Meyer would come back and take Star trek from B and B and give it like a 5 year rest and bring it back with new life.

LMSx · Post by **LMSx** » 2002-07-20 03:40am

0_o

I gotta see a screen cap of that....

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2002-07-20 03:53am

Another piece of star-crapnology. The Warp Core Ejection System (WCES). Why is this thing not connected to a manual lever or an automated initiator. The ships computer could detect the warp core is going to breach and eject the core automatically. It should also be connected to the lever system. Any officer can pull a lever and with the warp core connected to explosive bolts( Like in 2001 where the door that HAL had sealed was connected to them) and the bolts could connect the door also and when he pulls the lever, both explode and eject the door and the core and no one gets hurt.

Another thing about the core is that it's exposed. Instead of putting it behind heavy sheilding. Its exposed. Osama Bin Laden would have fun blowing up federation ships.

That brings me to another thing...Security on Starships. They are so lax when they appear at a situation with their hand phasers, It reminds me of the time before swat teams came about where 10 officers stood around a bank with a robber and pointed their pistols, the person had a machine gun and could outgun them. Same on starships where about 40 aliens could be hiding and they pull out their hand phasers and say commands and they have rifles. Where are the SWAT TEAMS or the specialized SEAL or Special Forces teams for things like these.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-07-20 01:48pm

If such an incident occured on a real ship, it would be evaluated immediately. In Star Trek, it never changes. Were all the intellegent engineers killed?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-07-20 02:16pm

Were all the intellegent engineers killed?

Intellegents?
In ST?

Lol thats pretty funny Lt tell me another one

Patrick Ogaard · Post by **Patrick Ogaard** » 2002-07-20 02:25pm

TheDarkling wrote:The real question is why are the consoles made of rocks - watch yesterdays enterprise and a few cubic meters of rock appear from nowhere when a console explodes - it isnt badly burnt console remains its a few Kilos of rock.

Maybe they were using solid crystal processor blocks, kind of like old-fashioned, bulky versions of TNG isolinear optical chips? The energy discharge of the exploding consoles could then have darkened the crystal. It's reaching, but it's an idea.

Patrick Ogaard · Post by **Patrick Ogaard** » 2002-07-20 02:55pm

Why should a control console or instrument panel explode like a plasma grenade? Why channel insanely dangerous plasma conduits through instrument panels?

Obvious answer: it's just a stupid idea that someone had and that then became entrenched as a way to allow the viewer to fret about the fate of the entire ship when the camera is stuck only on the bridge due to the fact that all the stars of the show are there. Obviously, an ensemble show covering more of the crew would not need that, since a disruptor bolt slashing through a corridor or work station somewhere in the ship would serve as well.

Justification answer: Yes, the engineers are stupid, but they are actually doing something intentionally, something that has a point (matching the one on the heads of the designers of the consoles). If the consoles are using compact subspace fields and magnetic fields, to accelerate processing speeds in the first case and to act as parts of the manual control systems in the second case, then plasma systems are necessary. To get a decent subspace field you really need a hefty plasma coil to generate the field. The wimpy subspace field effects of personal communicators and such don't count and don't need the coils (or use microscopically small coils).

It is still a thoroughly silly idea, but it can be justified.

Just don't hope for OSHA approval.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2002-07-20 03:05pm

Perhaps there is some realism to exploding consoles. Here's my theory:

Say for instance you're in your car and you rear end somebody. What happens, an air bag pops out the steering wheel and passenger console to protect you. Perhaps Trek writers thought that in the future, in place of air bags, we'd develop explosive hot plasma gas. I know it sounds stupid, but come on, I'm trying.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-07-20 03:10pm

Perhaps there is some realism to exploding consoles. Here's my theory:

Say for instance you're in your car and you rear end somebody. What happens, an air bag pops out the steering wheel and passenger console to protect you. Perhaps Trek writers thought that in the future, in place of air bags, we'd develop explosive hot plasma gas. I know it sounds stupid, but come on, I'm trying.

Yes Prehaps there trying to reduce head-count

Or maybe its an insentive plan

If you do good work La Forge we will replace the dangrous hot plasma conduits in your consle with fresh clean Alpine Spring Air so at the very least in the event of an attack you won't choke to death

As opposed to the hot ooh the burning plasma

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2002-07-20 03:16pm

At least they were smart enough to get rid of seatbelts. It's bad enough that your console will blow up if the ship more or less twitches, but imagine being strapped in your seat when the damn thing goes off.

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2002-07-20 03:59pm

USAF Ace wrote:At least they were smart enough to get rid of seatbelts. It's bad enough that your console will blow up if the ship more or less twitches, but imagine being strapped in your seat when the damn thing goes off.

So that'w shy they got rid of those... Almost makes sense.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-07-20 04:19pm

I'm afriad, We are starting to understand ST, Not just the normal things, But the idiotic boneheaded things are starting to make sense
Be afraid...

Mr. B · Post by **Mr. B** » 2002-07-20 05:33pm

They put the exploding console accident in the show because it was too expensive to have real accidents.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2002-07-20 06:04pm

Actually, it's a brain bug dating back to TOS, in which the cheesy 60's SFX require to massive sparks to shoot out of the electrical systems. B&B take it, and make the sparks full explosions.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-07-20 06:09pm

Thats the March of Tecnology for you Yoshi

Well what does this upgrade offer?
Well we've replaced the Plasma Conditis with twenty pounds of C4 in a shaped charge
And?
It will blow the Target back an aditional twenty feet and smell minity fresh on those hot days when the cooling is broken

We'll take one for every consle!

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2002-07-20 06:47pm

I have no idea why the consoles are made of rock. Nor do I have any idea why such high voltages are necessary. My keyboard is much safer than SF's interfaces.

I DO know that the problem with exploding consoles is LESS severe in DS9 and Voyager (the blasts in TNG were far more exaggerated, for no reason). Anyway, they never seem to affect bridge officers from the main cast, except in Yesterday's Enterprise when one killed Riker, but he was back for the next episode because the Enterprise C made it back in time.

Dennis Toy · Post by **Dennis Toy** » 2002-07-21 01:28am

Oviously you havent seen any of the shows. In DS9 your more likely to die of a console explosion than a Jem'Hadar Attack. The Episode from DS9 called the Valiant had a shitload of console explosions that were like c-4 explosions. People died from them.

Voyager which is notorious for the flawed tech it uses with the holodeck as a prime example has console explosions when it hits the supposed amount of anomanlies that perferate the Delta Quadrant.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2002-07-21 01:43am

Dennis Toy wrote:Oviously you havent seen any of the shows. In DS9 your more likely to die of a console explosion than a Jem'Hadar Attack. The Episode from DS9 called the Valiant had a shitload of console explosions that were like c-4 explosions. People died from them.

Voyager which is notorious for the flawed tech it uses with the holodeck as a prime example has console explosions when it hits the supposed amount of anomanlies that perferate the Delta Quadrant.

True, but the explosions from TNG were still more ridiculous. The number of exploding consoles in DS9 and VOY were greater (particularly per episode), but the ones that DID explode in TNG did more damage. The console explosion that killed Riker in Yesterday's Enterprise was RIDICULOUS.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2002-07-21 01:50am

Darth Wong wrote:
Dennis Toy wrote:I wanna correct Wong on one subject, the Exploding consoles in TNG, i have only seen 3 instances where Exploding consoles killed a person. One episode called Yesterday's Enterprise, Disaster and Timescape.
Yes, but TNG has very little battle. In fact, "Yesterday's Enterprise" is the only pitched battle in the entire series. If you watch DS9, the "exploding console" problem is much more serious, because there's so much space combat once the Dominion war gets going.

One more episode comes to mind where someone got killed by a console: VOY "Before and After," in which, during one of Kes' backward time-hops, both Janeway and B'Elanna step over to the sensor station while under attack by the Krenim. A nice gout of plasma appears and knocks both over, killing them. (Oddly enough, without the burns that you'd expect from getting hit by plasma. Hmm...)

Enlightenment · Post by **Enlightenment** » 2002-07-21 01:53am

Darth Wong wrote: The whole "shaking bridge" thing is a brain bug. I vastly prefer the Imperial warship paradigm, where officers calmly walk about on the bridge during battle (unless the bridge shields fail, of course, in which case they get all panicky ).

Of course Star Wars has its own bridge brain bug, namely that starship bridges must have windows and has to be on the top of a tall tower somewhere near the back of the ship...

But I digress. As far as the Trek bridge brain bug goes, it'd be interesting to do some calcs on how much power would be needed to shake around something the size of the E-D or E-E to the point that the crew get knocked off their chairs. I have a hunch that the figures might work out to be somewhat higher than the Enterprise's estimated shield strength...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-07-21 01:55am

USAF Ace wrote:At least they were smart enough to get rid of seatbelts. It's bad enough that your console will blow up if the ship more or less twitches, but imagine being strapped in your seat when the damn thing goes off.

That brings to mind another question: why must they be thrown around the bridge at every weapon impact? If you look at the ships from outside, the ships aren't knocked around like toys with every phaser or torpedo hit, so why does it appear that way from inside the bridge?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-07-21 02:46am

The most powerful weapon on an ST ship is the bridge console. Will there ever be an episode where they use the "exploding bridge console" against another ship?

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Exploding Consoles, Convulted Technobabble

Exploding Consoles, Convulted Technobabble

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my theory

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