Daystrom Institute

I am aware that ENT retcons the change in Klingon physiology as augments Klingons. Is there an accepted theory as to why legacy characters who return after TOS, are shown to have changes? Do people simply retroactively apply the events of “The Augments”?

As said in LD 2x07 Where Pleasant Fountains Lie, Billups is from Hysperia and there is still the technicality that can force him on the throne.

This kind of condition makes me wonder what Hysperia's political status with the Federation is. What stops Billups from e.g claiming asylum with the Federation, especially considering the Hysperians are not a powerful force?

I have three theories:

• Hysperia is a Federation colony, so they are able to apply their throne law on Billups and Billups is unable to claim asylum with a political entity he was already born into.
• Hysperia is not a Federation member, but has a scare resource (like dilithium) that makes Starfleet want to maintain good relations with Hysperia.
• Alternatively, it could be some sort of weird prime directive thing.

In LD 1x08 Veritas, Rutherford is rotating some "EPS Capacitors" (These seem to have little mention outside this episode) to prevent them from overheating.

Before I ask my questions, I first want to establish what makes sense to me here. Although not previously mentioned, like electrical capacitors, EPS Capacitors probably help to "smooth out" plasma flow. As these are high-power systems, I am sure there is risk of overheating in these capacitors that is not as present in current electrical capacitors, which usually don't have a rotating mechanism.

Now, for the questions:

• Why do the capacitors rotate, and what does this do to prevent overheating?
• Why do they have to do this in the 24th century in a post-scarcity society?

For the first: My first theory is these are variable capacitors. Assuming the mechanics work similarly to electrical capacitors, Rutherford could be changing the capacitance of each capacitor to rotate the load. This doesn't feel completely right, though (for instance, how to keep the array within specification).

A better theory is that although its function is analogous to an electrical capacitor, the physical mechanics used behind it are different, and somehow wear in the internal materials is uneven unless rotated, somewhat like tires.

For the second: We practically mastered rotating crap with electricity in THE 20TH CENTURY and have only gotten better since. I don't understand why Starfleet couldn't just give each capacitor a servo motor running off an EPS tap that does the randomization automatically, or at the very least mount them all on a belt. Heck, if heat is the problem, why not a liquid cooling loop? The worst that can happen is an ensign has to go get a mop.

It could be possible that maybe it was kept there as a task to bully ensigns/make officers feel useful, but I feel that kind of thinking wouldn't necessarily exist at the Cali class drawing board. It could be possible that somehow the magnets in the motor interfere with the EPS containment field, but I feel like that would mean a lot more crap would have to be banned on board if the EPS conduits were that vulnerable.

Ultimately, I really can't make full sense of this second point, and would love insights on this and my first question.

In LD 4x06 Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place, Ransom mentions that there are no married officers on board. However, way back in LD 1x02 Envoys, when trying command in the simulation, Rutherford accidentally kills all the ship’s children via destruction of the pre-K and Kindergarten decks. I am thus wondering, are there actually any children on the Cerritos? I do have several theories (some of which could co-exist together), none of which I am certain of:

For No:

• Due to their longer-term mission, Starfleet legally requires schools on the California class in case officers with kids transfer on. These sit empty on the Cerritos.
• Perhaps during Envoys there were some kids, but they transferred off the ship before the Ferenginar visit.
• Alternatively, the training simulation (which seems to represent the Cerritos due to the bridge, LCARS colors, and addition of officers like Ensign Casey) drew upon a generic ops division Cali class configuration for the rest of the ship, thus falsely assuming there were children.

For Yes:

• Birth out of wedlock is common in some Federation cultures, including United Earth.
• It could be possible there are married officers that serve on different ships, with the kid(s) of that couple living on the Cerritos.
• There could be married couples on the Cerritos, but only ONE is an officer (a la O’Brien and Keiko); for instance, Lt. Holly has a husband who is a botanist. The Cerritos cannot allow her husband to do travel guide duty and must assign someone else.
• Similarly, maybe non-commissioned couples exist on the Cerritos, but an officer is required to do the duty.
• Maybe Ransom wasn’t totally literal. Officer couples may just be very rare aboard the Cerritos, and the only ones that are aboard include officers doing a duty so vital they can’t do travel guide duty. Ransom didn’t feel the need to fully explain this and went with the simple version when giving the job to the Beta shifters.

Update (8/23/2024): I was rewatching Lower Decks 2x10 First Contact and the mentions of Captain Freeman probably thinking the Captain Freeman Day decorations were for children implies that at least during season 2, there were children on the ship. I feel that the Archimedes incidents could be impetus for the ship being declared too uncomfortable for a family. I'll see in my rewatch if I come across any other implied children on the Cerritos in later seasons.

During LD 3x10, as much as I enjoy the comaraderie (and Boimler voice-cracking through the ship names), I was little confused as to how the entire class could have made it to the Cerritos so fast. Wouldn't they be relatively evenly spread across the safer part of Federation space, with some in the middle of missions?

After some thought, my theory is that the class decommissioning was more immediate than I first thought; Starfleet had ordered every ship of the class to a central location for crew reassignment not too far from Douglass station, so they were already gathered nearby (having travelled from whatever corners of Federation space the class may have operated in) and been waiting a few days or so when Mariner informed them of the situation.

I've often wondered how with the advanced medical science of the Federation how they can, for instance, revive practically dead people, but not create a communication device for Pike (or any of a number of people in the background of Lower Decks) more advanced than a blinking light.

One theory I had recently is that somehow, Pike (and people with similar conditions) received most of the brain damage in Broca's Area, leaving them able to understand speach through Wernicke's Area but unable to produce speech. The chair thus might be a replacement for Broca's Area, but primitive in comparison to the original, biological one. (And further, perhaps the Talosians are able to simulate a human Broca's Area when Pike is left in the illusion on Talos.)

Could any of the main characters of Prodigy have been affected by the Borg assimilation in Picard S3?

Season 1 of Prodigy takes place in 2383. This means the main characters would be about 18 years older at the time of Season 3 of Picard.

When the Borg assimilate the younger members of Starfleet, using "recievers" added to their genetic code through the transporter system, it's said to only affect individuals prior to a certain point in their brain development - around 25 for humans.

The characters' ages in 2383 are:

• Dal: 17
• Gwyn: 17
• Jankom: 16
• Rok: 8

No age is listed on Memory Alpha for Zero, but they're also Medusan, have already broken free from the Borg once, and I don't know if Medusans even have genetic material that the transporter could detect. (Also, Murf's age is explicitly said to be unknown.)

In 2401, Rok would be about 26 (not including the time spent in the slowdown in "Time Amok"). For her to be affected by the Borg assimilation, I think we'd have to make a few assumptions:

1. She's still in Starfleet
2. Either her brain development takes slightly longer than in humans, or the estimates are off and she's a bit younger than 26
3. The algorithms in Starfleet transporters that recognize common species DNA (which is what the Borg code hijacked to install the receiver) specifically recognizes Brikar like it does for other, more commonly seen species

Number 1 seems likely. Number 3 seems plausible - Rok wore an appropriately-sized environmental suit in (I believe) "Crossroads", although that was likely created by a replicator - perhaps the vehicle replicator, if the ordinary ones weren't large enough.

To me, number 2 seems the most unlikely; Prodigy a show aimed (in part) at teenagers, and - in the absence of any reference to these species differences in the show - it seems logical to me to assume these characters are intended to be at similar state in development as humans of the same age. And the estimate for Rok's age seems to put her just over the age where she would be affected. Part of me wonders if the writers for "Võx" were thinking about this.

Anything I missed (at least prior to Prodigy season 2)? Or any other characters we've seen who might be young enough to be assimilated in 2401?

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I was rewatching LD 4x07 “A Few Badgeys More” when Badgey’s ramble about seeing past, present, and future as he ascended gave me a question: if Badgey has become a non-linear, omnipotent being, what is the impact on the timeline? My thought is that delta insignia seen in Starfleet and past human organizations may actually be part of a bootstrap paradox; the delta insignia inspires Badgey, and then eventually, Badgey, after becoming non-linear and being part of all time and space, causes the the delta insignia that inspired his form in the first place.

The title refers to points of gravitational equilibrium in space between two gravitationally massive objects, named Lagrange points after Italian scientist Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813). Five Lagrange points can be defined for two bodies. Lagrange points are well known in science fiction as locations where orbital colonies like O’Neill cylinders can be anchored with minimal need for thrusters to keep them from drifting.

Tahal was the Breen Primarch that made Kellerun into a forward base in the past, as stated by Rayner in DIS: “Erigah”.

Rillak is informed that Moll’s dreadnought has exited a transwarp tunnel. Transwarp conduits were first seen being used by the Borg to achieve speeds at least twenty times more than a Galaxy-class ship’s maximum warp (TNG: “Descent”). After the Borg were decimated in VOY: “Endgame”, the conduits remained and were utilized by others (PIC: “Broken Pieces”). In the 32nd Century, Osyraa used a transwarp tunnel to chase down Discovery (DIS: “Su’Kal”.). The use of transwarp networks might explain how the Breen dealt with the deactivation of dilithium during the Burn.

Discovery has a cloaking device, fitted when it was installed with 32nd Century technology (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”). As per last week’s annotations, the 24th Century prohibition against the Federation using cloaking technology due to the Treaty of Algeron no longer appears to apply.

Primordial black holes are black holes that are believed to have formed very soon after the Big Bang. In Season 4, it was hypothesized that the Dark Matter Anomaly might have been a primordial wormhole, but this turned out to be incorrect (DIS: “Anomaly”).

From the viewscreen, the Progenitor technology is anchored at Lagrange Point 1, or L1, between the two bodies where their gravitational forces and centrifugal force balance out. The problem, however, is that L1, L2 and L3 are not great positions because they are still dynamically unstable, meaning objects there will still fall out of orbit without regular course and attitude corrections (every three weeks or so). Also, L4 and L5 are stable but only if the mass ratio between the two masses exceeds 24.96, which means the second black hole has to be much smaller than the first one for that to work. Not that real-world physics ever got in the way of the Rule of Cool in Star Trek, but still, if you're going to call an episode "Lagrange Point"…

Duranium alloys are commonly used in starship and starbase hulls across the galaxy. According to the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, duranium occurs naturally in planetary crusts.

The EDF refers to the Earth Defence Force, which was the primary military arm of Earth prior to them rejoining the Federation (DIS: “People of Earth”). Despite being host to a Trill symbiont, Adira is human and was a member of the EDF at the time they took on the symbiont.

An unshielded exhaust port is, of course, the critical vulnerability of the first Death Star from Star Wars. As stated in DIS: “Labyrinths”, Breen code is in base-20, or duodeca.

Kira and Dukat also took advantage of Breen full-body suits, using them as a disguise in DS9: “Indiscretion” when they infiltrated a Breen labor camp.

The use of a transporter pattern buffer to preserve bodies was first seen in TNG: “Relics”, and subsequently used in DS9: “Our Man Bashir” and VOY: “Counterpoint”. We’ve also seen it used for medical reasons in SNW Season 1 (M’Benga’s daughter and during the Klingon War in SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”) and in DIS: “Stormy Weather”. As a security precaution, enemies can also be held in mid-transport as seen in TOS: “Day of the Dove”.

Primarch Ruhn also called the Federation “spineless, insignificant achworms” in DIS: “Erigah”.

The Pathway drive is a prototype stardrive of which little has been revealed. The prototype was installed on the Voyager-J for testing (DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”) the previous year. This is the first time that it’s been stated that the Mitchell also has one, perhaps indicating that it is out of the testing phase.

We are reminded again that Burnham’s primary training is in xenoanthropology (DIS: “The Vulcan Hello”).

“A grum of osikod” is a quotation from the Kellerun Ballad of Krul (DIS: “Mirrors”). From context it seems to mean the equivalent of “a pinch of salt”. But referencing Kellerun gives Rayner the cue to pay attention when Burnham says “flying out there all alone, out in space… I always knew my crew would come for me.”

“Failure is not an option,” is a saying famously associated with NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz during the Apollo 13 rescue mission, although he never actually said it. It was coined for the 1995 movie and became the tagline for it.

The title refers to Labyrinths of the Mind, a book written by Dr Marina Derex, a Betazoid and one of the group that hid the Progenitor technology 800 years prior. A labyrinth is also a term for a maze, the original designed by the inventor Daedelus of Greek myth to house the Minotaur.

As mentioned in DIS: “Erigah”, L’ak was the Scion, a direct descendant of the Breen emperor, and held the genetic code of the Yod-Thot, “they who rule”, without whom his uncle, Primarch Ruhn, could not claim the throne. In DIS: “Jinaal”, Stamets discovered the the Progenitor techonlogy could potentially bring someone back to life.

Discovery jumps to just outside the Badlands, first appearing in DS9: “The Maquis” as an area of violent plasma storms in proximity to Bajor and Cardassia.

The shape of Hy’Rell’s head bumps resemble those of Xindi-Primates, first appearing in ENT: “The Xindi”, one of six intelligent Xindi species that were native to Xindus. The other possibility, taking into account her long white hair and blue eyes, is that she’s an Efrosian (ST VI).

Cerenkov radiation is created when particles exceed the speed of light in a given medium, creating a shockwave with a characteristic blue glow. In real life, it is most often seen around nuclear reactors submerged in water (the speed of light in water is 75% of that in vacuum, allowing emissions from the reactor to exceed that).

Discovery was given the ability to cloak when it was refitted (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”). During the 24th Century, the Treaty of Algeron forbade the Federation from using or developing cloaking devices (TNG: "The Pegasus"), with a notable exception being the Defiant during the Dominion War (DS9: “The Search”). Apparently that prohibition no longer applies in the 32nd Century. Cerenkovn, Book’s world, was destroyed in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”, making him one of the last of his species.

The scenes in the Eternal Archive were filmed at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in Toronto, Canada.

An oubliette is a specific type of dungeon, of which the only access is a trap door installed in the ceiling of the dungeon, and usually extremely narrow, such that the prisoner was unable to sit down.

The Tuli tree was native to Kwejian and had a distinctive smell to its sap. The decor of Book’s ship was made to simulate Tuli wood (DIS: “Stormy Weather”). Inside the box are cuttings from the World Root, a tree root system that reached all the way around the planet (DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”) and was sacred to the Kwejian.

Culber identifies the device affecting Burnham as a nucleonic emitter. Nucleonic particles appear in a number of places in Star Trek lore, but most appropriately in TNG: “The Inner Light”, where a nucleonic beam from a Kataan probe was responsible for sending Picard into a mindscape where he lived out a simulated lifetime in a similar manner to what Burnham is experiencing. In that episode, an attempt to disrupt the beam nearly killed Picard, which is the risk Culber is alluding to.

The old school card index drawers Burnham looks at makes me nostalgic for the days when I was a student librarian (yes, I’m old). The mindscape Archives’ category number for history is 002818/5 - in our Dewey Decimal System, history (and geography) is 900.

Book says “Those who learn history aren’t doomed to repeat it.” The usual phrasing of that adage is “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The philosopher George Satayana is credited with the original “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Burnham refers to the itronok, a predatory species they encounted on Trill while searching for the clue there (DIS: “Jinaal”).

Trémaux’s algorithm is a maze-solving method devised by Charles Pierre Trémaux, which involves drawing lines on the floor marking a path. A version of it - called a depth first search - is used to search tree or graph data structures.

Derex’s reading list references Talaxians, Neelix’s species from VOY and Hupyrians, the species of the Ferengi Grand Nagus’ servants (DS9: “The Nagus”, et al.). Euclid was a Greek mathematician who devised an axiomatic system for geometry.

Rhys intends to use the plasma storms for cover, which is exactly what made the Badlands effective as a hiding place for the Bajoran Resistance and the Maquis back in their day.

Matching weapons to shield frequencies to get past them is a tried and true method, demonstrated most dramatically when the Enterprise-D was destroyed in ST: Generations. Duodeca is a base-20 system.

Hysperia is a planet where the inhabitants have a culture based on a medieval fantasy motif (LD: “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie”). In the 24th Century, Chief Engineer Billups of the USS Cerritos was a native of Hysperia and the ostensible Crown Prince, although he abdicated that position.

Commander Jemison shares a last name with former astronaut Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, who appeared in TNG: “Second Chances” as LT jg Palmer.

A tergun is a sacred Breen oath. Ruhn’s remark that the Federation to save the few would risk the many is reminiscent of Kirk’s inversion in ST III of Spock’s adage about the needs of the many and the few from ST II: “The needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many.”

“Never turn your back on a Breen” is a Romulan saying (DS9: “By Inferno’s Light”), cited by Rayner in DIS: “Erigah”.

As stated in DIS: “Mirrors”, an erigah is a Breen blood bounty.

The ship holding Moll and L’ak’s shuttle in a tractor beam is the USS Locherer (NCC-325062), a Merian-class starship first seen in DIS: “Jinaal” and named after the late J.P. Locherer, who was a cinematographer on the show.

Burnham identifies subspace frequency Epsilon 19 as a courier channel and that “special offer” is a courier distress code. With her is Commander Nhan, a Barzan who journeyed with Discovery from the 23rd Century but subsequently transferred to Federation Security in the 32nd. She was last seen in DIS: “Rubicon”.

Nhan refers to what happened between her and Book at their last encounter, when she argued for destroying his ship to prevent him using the isolytic weapon she mentioned. So there’s a bit of awkward history there.

A sa-te kru cat is a Vulcan species, a large predator similar to the le-matya. It was mentioned in the novel Vulcan’s Forge, but this is its first on-screen mention.

Given the Breen first appeared in DS9, there are plenty of back references to the series.

Culber says that there’s some evidence Breen are capable of “somatic cell” regeneration in extreme cold. This tracks with reports that the Breen homeworld had a freezing climate (DS9: “Til Death Do Us Part”) and that they wore refrigeration suits (DS9: “The Changing Face of Evil”). I’m not sure why Culber needs to distinguish “somatic cell”, since that is really any other cell in the body aside from sperm and egg cells, but I guess it sounds medically cool.

Breen Dreadnoughts (Rezeth Destroyers) are ships from Star Trek Online. As we see later, the 32nd Century version is much bigger.

The Breen used to be a Confederacy in the 24th Century (DS9: “Strange Bedfellows”) but somewhere along the way it’s become an Imperium. There are six primarchs vying for the throne in the wake of the emperor’s death.

Rayner talks about the last time the Breen entered Federation space. With Vance saying that Starfleet was caught flat-footed, this is probably referring to the Breen sneak attack on Earth during the Dominion War which heavily damaged Starfleet Headquarters and San Francisco (“The Changing Face of Evil”). Tilly’s later remark about the Breen “destroying an entire city” may also refer to this.

Using thoron emitters and duranium shadows to fool enemy sensors is a reference to DS9: “Emissary”, when the station used such a tactic to block sensors and make themselves appear better armed than they were. In DS9: “The Way of the Warrior”, the Changeling Martok believed the station was pulling the same trick, but that time he proved to be wrong. The Romulan saying “Never turn your back on a Breen” is from DS9: “By Inferno’s Light”.

The yellow alert symbols are the same design as the “Alert: Condition Red” indicators dating back to ST II, albeit in yellow. The USS Mitchell (NCC-325027), another Merian-class starship, is named after the late Kenneth Mitchell, who played Kol, Kol-sha and Aurellio in DIS. She was last mentioned in DIS: “Coming Home”.

L’ak is Primarch Ruhn’s nephew and carries within him the genetic code of the Yod-Thot, “they who rule”. He is also a direct descendant of the emperor and Ruhn cannot claim the throne without him.

One of Reno’s former jobs was as a bartender - the closed captioning says “Ashalon IV”, but it might be a misspelling of “ Aschelan IV”. Aschelan V was a planet which housed a Cardassian fuel depot (DS9: “Dreadnought”). She refers to a cocktail named “Seven of Limes”, which is an obvious pun on Seven of Nine, although Reno may not know the name’s provenance given that she left for the future about a century before Annika Hansen was assimilated.

A “Code One Alpha” is probably related to or the same as the 23rd-24th Century “Code One Alpha Zero” which is an emergency condition ordered when there is an attack (ST 2009) or a distress call (TNG: “Relics”).

Kellerun was, for a time, used as a Breen forward base by Primarch Tahal. Since Rayner was there, it must have been relatively recent, although to be fair we don’t know how long Kellerun live.

Reno remarks that the hunt “sounds like something out of a holodeck adventure for the littles.” She may be referring to The Littles, a series of children’s adventure novels featuring a family of tiny humanoids with mice-like faces and tails that were written between 1967 and 2003 by John Peterson. There was also an animated series that ran for 3 seasons between 1983 and 1985. Or I’m overthinking and she’s just talking about kids in general.

Rayner says Tahal named her ship the Tau Ceti after a lethal viper with a slow acting venom. Tau Ceti, is of course, the name of a star 12 light years away from Earth and has been mentioned many times in Star Trek.

Bopak III was an uninhabited planet (at least in 2372) in the Gamma Quadrant and the location for the events of DS9: “Hippocratic Oath”.

Tricordrazine is a stimulant apparently derived from cordrazine (TOS: “The City on the Edge of Forever”) and appeared in several TNG episodes, including TNG: “Ethics” and “Shades of Grey”.

The Badlands is an area of space in proximity to Cardassia and Bajor (and DS9), known for its violent plasma storms (DS9: “The Maquis”). Both the Bajoran Resistance and the Maquis used it as a staging area to hide from enemy patrols during their respective conflicts. In 2371, while pursuing a Maquis ship there, the USS Voyager was hurled across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant by an alien force (VOY: “Caretaker”).

The USS Locherer, a Merian-class starship, was first seen in DIS: “Jinaal”. It is named after the late JP Locherer, who was a cinematographer on DIS before he passed in 2022.

Kovich says he likes the feel of paper. A similar preference for “old-fashioned” books over electronic versions was exhibited by attorney Samuel T. Cogley in TOS: “Court Martial”. Fanon has often held that it was Cogley who passed on his love of physical books to Kirk, who from then on, as Spock noted in ST II, had a fondness for antiques.

Culber’s abuela is of course a simulation, since the real one would have died nearly a millennium before. The use of holograms as grief alleviation therapy was also in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, invented by Tony Stark as seen in Captain America: Civil War. Reflecting current events, people have been trying to AI to recreate the personalities of deceased loved ones.

The list of names are: Jinaal Bix (Trill, “Jinaal”), Carmen Cho (Terran, “Mirrors”), Vellek (Romulan, “Red Directive”), and the two not yet encountered Marina Derex (Betazoid) and Hitoroshi Kreel (Denobulan).

Silver iodide is indeed used in cloud seeding in order to encourage precipitation. Atmospheric extraction is also a very old method of getting water dating back as far back as the Incas. In science fiction, it’s probably best represented by the moisture farms on Tattooine in the Star Wars movies.

Halem’no has a pre-warp and pre-industrial civilization, so the Prime Directive applies. A discussion about whether or not Kreel already violated the PD by putting up the towers in the first place is beyond the scope of these annotations, but I’m looking forward to reading the discussions.

Whistled languages are rare, but exist on Earth, in various cultures. Michael’s enthusiasm for it speaks of her primary training as a xenoanthropologist (DIS: “The Vulcan Hello”).

Subcutaneous transponders date all the way back to the 22nd Century, first appearing in TOS: “Patterns of Force”. Subdermal communicators/transponders also appeared in ENT: “Stratagem”, TNG: “Who Watches the Watchers” and VOY: “Workforce”. This the first appearance of retinal tricorders.

The Halem’nite “sound cure” may look mystical and exotic, but they’re actually just using Tibetan singing bowls, albeit with a more intense effect.

Tilly is using a simplified Newton’s First Law (or the principle of inertia) as a mantra: a body in motion remains in motion in straight line, a body at rest remains at rest - unless acted on by an external force.

Tritanium is a super-hard metal first mentioned in TOS: “Obsession”, being 21.4 times as hard as diamond. In TNG: “The Arsenal of Freedom” Riker claimed that melting tritanium was beyond 24th Century technology. The metal routinely shows up in hulls, walls, tools, ammunition, etc. so while it may not be able to melt, it can certainly be fabricated with.

Culber uses the “they” pronoun to refer to Ravah.

Culber introduces Book to his abuela’s mofongo con pollo al ajillo. Mofongo is a Puerto Rican dish made from plantains mashed with fat. This variation is served with chicken (pollo) with an oil infused with garlic and guajillo chile (al ajillo).

The title comes from the David Bowie song “Changes” from the 1971 album Hunky Dory. The song also has the lyric “Time may change me, but I can’t trace Time.” Given the theme of this episode, it seems appropriate.

The latinum bars are soaked in fop’yano poison (first mention). Latinum, a Ferengi currency, is a metallic liquid which is encased in gold (considered by Ferengi to be worthless), and persists as a currency in the 32nd Century (last seen in DIS: “All In”). The dead weapons dealer is Annari, a Delta Quadrant species which first appeared in VOY: “Nightingale”.

Deuterium manifolds were mentioned in dialogue in VOY: “Course: Oblivion” and VOY: “Renaissance Man”, with deuterium being the fuel used in fusion reactors on Federation starships. A manifold distributes fluids and gas from one pipe to many and vice versa. In internal combustion engines, an intake manifold distributes the fuel-air mixture to the cylinders and an exhaust manifold distributes exhaust from multiple sources to a single pipe for venting.

Polarons are particles that can be used in weaponry (DS9: “The Jem’Hadar”) or for scanning for vessels (VOY: “State of Flux”), among other things. Polaron radiation is fatal to humanoids (DS9: “Apocalypse Rising”).

The Red Angel is indeed Michael, forming a major part of the plot for DIS Season 2. Michael and Rayner appear to have been transported to the end of Season 2, when Michael pulled Discovery along with her to the 32nd Century (between DIS: “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2” and “Far From Home”).

Michael identifies the second jump as being in drydock in San Francisco when Discovery was first being built. The original dedication plaque for the NCC-1701 says “San Francisco, Calif.”, so that tracks. The dedication plaques for Discovery, Shenzhou and Franklin also indicate they were launched from the San Francisco Fleet Yards. That being said, the assumption was always that the fleet yards were in orbit, the scene in ST 2009 showing the Enterprise being constructed on Earth notwithstanding.

The next jump is to Stardate 1051.8, the climax of Season 2 of DIS (“Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2”), the Battle near Xahea with Control, just before the time of the first jump.

Rayner identifies the culprit: a Krenim chronophage or a “time bug”, left over from the Temporal War. The Krenim were Krenim were a Delta Quadrant species with the technology to manipulate time (VOY: “Year of Hell”). A chronophagey a “time eater”. The Temporal Cold War was a feature of ENT’s stories, which became a hot war around the time of the 31st Century (ENT: “Storm Front”), although the nature of a time war means that it was fought across different time periods. Eventually, as a result of the War, time travel was outlawed.

The time jumping into the past of the ship is very similar to the events of VOY: “Shattered”, as many have pointed out. In the VOY novel A Pocket Full of Lies by Kristen Beyer, it is revealed that the shattering of Voyager into 37 time frames was due to the detonation of a chroniton torpedo launched by the Krenim Beyer was hired as a staff writer for DIS and was an executive producer on PIC and SNW.

Stamets’ consciousness exists outside of the normal flow of time (DIS: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”) because of his tardigrade DNA, which he spliced into himself so he can function as the navigator required to use the Spore Drive (DIS: “Choose Your Pain”).

The fourth jump takes them to Osyraa’s hijack of Discovery in Season 3 (DIS: “Su’Kal”). The Black Alert was Tilly trying to jump away, but Stamets was interrupted before the jump could be executed by an Emerald Chain boarding party. Reno is dressed in Discovery’s 23rd Century uniforms, since this is before the crew changed to 32nd Century uniforms at the end of Season 3.

A Vesper martini is a cocktail invented by Ivar Bryce, a friend of writer Ian Fleming’s, who used it in Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel. It consists of gin, vodka and lillet.

The fifth jump takes them to 3218, 27 years in the future. Zora says that Michael and the crew died “decades ago” when the Progenitor tech fell into the wrong hands.

The Breen (DS9: “Strange Bedfellows”) are an antagonistic alien race usually hidden behind their masked suits. They were originally referred to as a Confederacy but in the 32nd Century are an Imperium. They have been mentioned previously as being in a state of infighting.

Michael refers to the first time she boarded Discovery while still serving her sentence for the mutiny she attempted on the Shenzhou in DIS: “The Vulcan Hello” that (debatably) set off the Klingon War.

The diagram that Zora flashes up is a light cone, used in physics as a way to visualize a path through spacetime, converging on the event where the past and future cones meet.

The tone of this future jump is similar to the Short Treks episode “Calypso”, where a future Discovery is seen devoid of life except for Zora, who has been alone for a thousand years. However, that version of the ship does not bear the NCC-1031-A number of the refit (as the episode was made before the Discovery’s time jump at the end of Season 2) and how “Calypso” can fit in with continuity as it stands now is a matter of debate.

Chronitons are Trek particles with temporal properties and associated with time travel. World lines are curves in spacetime describing the path an object takes through spacetime, and therefore its corresponding history. Scaravelli’s Constant is not a real thing as far as I can tell. Mark Rothko was an abstract painter known for his color field paintings.

Just as a note - the reason why Michael and Rayner are in their 32nd Century uniforms and Stamets is not is because the first two are physically jumping through time thanks to being in mid-transport when the jumps started. Stamets remembers only because his consciousness is the one that retains its memory despite the time jumps, as he did in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Turn Mad”.

Book pronounces raktajino in its usual form, so Reno’s pronunciation of it as “raktachino” last episode must be idiosyncratic in nature.

The warp bubble does indeed insulate whatever’s within from the effects of Special Relativity - it has to, or else faster than light travel would be impossible. This is true whether or not you subscribe to the Alcubierre model for the warp drive (which I do not), the TNG Tech Manual version where the warp bubble lowers inertial mass (which I do), or some other method.

Rayner expresses concern that breaking the warp bubble would rip Discovery (and them) apart and Stamets says inertial dampeners will take care of that - which to me discounts Alcubierre once again because there are no inertial forces acting on the ship in such a model.

Airiam was Discovery’s cyborg spore drive ops officer who was taken over by Control and had to be killed (DIS: “Project Daedelus”).

Michael (and Michael) is presumably using Suus Mahna in the fight, a Vulcan martial art that T’Pol was also proficient in (ENT: “Marauders”). She finishes herself off with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Non-Vulcans have been known to use the nerve pinch, and Michael herself used it in “The Vulcan Hello” to disable Georgiou.

Trill has a surface area of 500 million km^2, which is similar to Earth (501 million km^2). Other data include an orbital distance of 1.215 AU, a year of 483 sols, a surface temperature of 297 Kelvin (23.85 C) and 1 satellite.

Trill spots are as unique to the individual as human fingerprints or Saurian dorsal ridges, and Zora links them to one Jinaal Bix, who lived 800 years before. Adira says it is unusual, but not unheard of, for a symbiont to live to 800 years.

Rayner has assumed the rank of Commander as the new XO. It’s not clear if this was a condition of his staying on in Starfleet or if it is a situation like that of Will Decker in TMP, where he was Captain rank but was temporarily reduced in grade for the purpose of the mission once Kirk assumed command. On the other hand, by the time of the Enterprise-A, this ship had at least two or three Captains on board (Kirk, Spock and there’s some debate about Scotty), and Spock was referred to as Captain, not Commander.

Reno pronounces raktajinos as “raktachinos”- which is actually not entirely wrong. Raktajino is actually a portmanteau word from both Klingon and Italian. Technically, Klingon coffee is qa’vIn, derived from “caffeine” (coffee is not native to the Empire, and was probably first taken as plunder from human vessels or colonies). Adding liquor (HIq) to it produces a beverage known as ra’taj, which also gained popularity outside the Empire. The “export” version is non-alcoholic but contains a nutlike flavoring, being called in Federation Standard raktaj. Then a variant of raktaj with cream became popular, which became combined with “cappuccino” to become raktajino. So while the preferred pronunciation is jino, with a soft “j”, saying it as chino actually pays homage to the second word that makes up the portmanteau (Klingon for the Galactic Traveler by Marc Okrand).

Guardian Xi was last seen at Federation HQ in DIS: “…But to Connect”, when Gray Tal decided to join the Guardians. The Caves of Mak’ala house the breeding pools of the symbionts, and we last visited them in DIS: “Forget Me Not”. The milky liquid in the pools acts as a medium for electrical impulses that allow the symbionts to communicate with each other.

The zhian’tara ritual was first seen in DS9: “Facets”, where the memories of a previous host are temporarily incorporated into a volunteer to allow face-to-face communication with the current host. Done under the supervision of a Guardian, a variation of this was used to transfer Grey’s consciousness and memories into a synth body (DIS: “Choose to Live”).

The favinit is a Vulcan plant, first mentioned in VOY: “Alliances”, where Tuvok created a hybrid of it and a South American orchid.

The year is finally stated as 3191, although that does not match with the Stardate given last week, which by TNG reckoning only makes it 3189. More evidence that stardates work differently now, and I do wish the production team would stop being coy and let us know how.

So, just to get our chronological bearings, Michael leaves 2258 at the end of Season 2, lands in 3188 at the start of Season 3, spends a year with Book before Discovery lands in 3189, and the rest of Season 3 takes place. A few months pass between Season 3 and 4, taking us into 3190, and at least six months between Season 4 and 5, bringing us to 3191.

The Vulcan Purists were first mentioned in DIS: “Unification III”, where we met their representative V’Kir. In DIS: “All is Possible”, the Purists tried to force an opt-out clause in the agreement for Ni’Var rejoining the Federation, but a compromise was brokered by Saru and Burnham for an independent review committee instead.

Cabrodine, an explosive material, was first mentioned in DS9: “In the Hands of the Prophets”, where the station schoolhouse was destroyed by a cabrodine-infernite bomb.

Jinaal says that the Dominion War was raging when the Progenitor technology was found, so it’s not a literal 800 years (which would make it 2391). The Dominion War officially lasted from 2373-2375.

Dalaka was a rogue planet, one that had broken out of orbit and was traveling through interstellar space untethered to a star system, first encountered in 2151 by the NX-01 Enterprise in ENT: “Rogue Planet”. Bore worms were said to enter a person’s ear to lay their eggs there.

Tongo was a Ferengi game played in Quark’s on DS9 in the 24th Century, so at some point either the game migrated to Bajor or Asha spent some time with Ferengi who played. She says her nicknames were “Full Monopoly” and “Bluff Master”. Two of the winning hands in Tongo are “Full Consortium” and “Total Monopoly” (DS9: “Change of Heart”).

Nilsson was played by Sara Mitich, the original actress for Airiam in Season 1, who then changed roles for Seasons 2-4. This dialogue establishes that she left to join the Voyager-J, the platform for testing the pathway drive, and that the tribble seen in Discovery’s corridors is a pet.

Sehlats are large bear-like beasts native to Vulcan (TOS: “Journey to Babel”), and domesticated varieties were treated as pets. Spock had a pet sehlat named I-Chaya in his youth, who died defending him from a le-matya (TAS: “Yesteryear”).

The bar on Discovery is given a name, “Red’s”.

The Tzenkethi were in conflict with the Federation sometime in the mid-24th Century (DS9: “Paradise Lost”), but although mentioned in that episode and extensively in DS9: “The Adversary”, we have never seen one on screen. Different versions have appeared in both Star Trek Online, the Litverse novels and in the current Star Trek comic by IDW.

At the end, we see a disguised Moll plant some kind of device on Adira’s sleeve.

It is Stardate 866274.3, which places it, by TNG reckoning, in 3189. However, as I’ve noted before, this is an impossibility, since Burnham arrived in the 32nd Century in 3188, then spent a year before reuniting with Discovery (3189), then months passed between Seasons 3 and 4, and also between Seasons 4 and 5 so at a minimum it should be 3190. So stardates have to be working differently now.

The image Burnham is looking at is of the Progenitor hologram from TNG: “The Chase”, played by Salome Jens, who also played the recurring role of the Female Changeling in DS9.

The unwritten Starfleet code of conduct is apparently “Don’t snitch.” Rayner has been in Starfleet for 30 years, during which time the Federation was apparently at war (but no longer), and he’s fought side-by-side with Vance. The Breen are infighting over a new leader (they are now an imperium instead of a confederacy), and the Orions are regrouping, presumably after the splintering of the Emerald Chain at the end of Season 3 (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”).

Book imitates Saru’s threat ganglia, which started as a response to sensing danger, but following his vahar’ai (DIS: “An Obol for Charon”), were replaced organs which could shoot spines.

The Promellians fought a long war against the Menthars which ended in the extinction of both species in the 14th Century. The Enterprise-D encountered a Promellian battle cruiser caught by a Menthar booby trap and nearly fell victim to the same trap in TNG: “Booby Trap” (2366). A necropolis is basically a very large graveyard or tomb, hence Burnham’s concerns about it being a sacred space.

Zareh was a courier who encountered Saru and Discovery when they first arrived in the 32nd Century (DIS: “Far From Home”), attempting to extort dilithium from them. He allied himself with Osyraa during her commandeering of Discovery and eventually died in the ship’s turbolift systems while fighting Book (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”).

The Promellians’ use of Lang-cycle fusion engines was first mentioned in TNG: “Booby Trap”. I do wonder, however, what the statue was supposed to represent, since Promellians as seen in TNG only had two eyes, not four.

Being able to generate new phasers with just a metaphorical flick of the wrist is really handy.

Booker says that Moll and L’ak are Sui, couriers who take the most dangerous jobs fpr the action and latinum (from suicide, perhaps?).

The inscription starts with “Jolan tru, zarbalgon…” which Burnham translates as “Hello, wanderer”. Jolan tru is a traditional Romulan greeting which was used as both “hello” and “goodbye” (TNG: “Unification I”). Where Burnham learned Romulan is unexplained, but likely from her mother, a member of the Qowat Milat or on Ni’Var (DIS: “Unification III”). At the time she left the 23rd Century, the Romulans were still safely ensconced behind the Neutral Zone.

Burnham identifies the inscription as a Romulan revlav, which from context must be a poetic form, consisting of five verses or lines. “Hello, wanderer. Many worlds have you traveled. Opaline waters call to you. Thoughts are shared.” Saru says that seems to point to Betazed, but the fifth verse is missing.

Saru and Burnham have really been boning up on Romulans. The shaiqouin, the false front door of Romulan houses, was first mentioned in PIC: “The End is the Beginning”, but there was called a shaipouin. The last verse reads, “A world like no other, where two souls entwine, joined as one.” Adira deduces that the whole poem in context points to Trill.

Booker reminds us that his name is an alias, passed down from courier to courier (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”, “Species Ten-C”).

Saru packs his knife, a gardening tool given to him by his sister on the night he left Kaminar to join Starfleet (ST: “The Brightest Star”).

Saru talks about giving oneself over “to the journey”, which reminds me of the toast that Barclay gave in the alternate future’s tenth anniversary of Voyager’s return (VOY: “Endgame”). Saru first warned Tilly about not touching the swamp kelp in bloom in DIS: “Choose to Live”.

Vance’s daughter previously appeared in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”, but this is the first time we learn her name is Charlie (named after him, presumably).

Other receipients of the Grankite Order of Tactics (first mentioned in TOS: “Court Martial”) include James Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard (PIC: “Remembrance”) and Liam Shaw (PIC: “The Next Generation”). The latter three also received its Class of Excellence.

The Star Trek Universe bumper features Discovery jumping in with her spore drive then flying off at warp. 

If anybody’s questioning whether one can actually survive on the outside of a ship traveling at warp, the answer is yes, as long as they are within the starship’s warp bubble (ENT: “Divergence”, where Trip moved between Enterprise and Columbia while the two ships shared a merged warp bubble. See also PRO: “Mindwalk”). There is a mistake in the closed captioning which says “warp level” instead of “warp bubble”. 

Tonic 2161 is named after the year the Federation was founded. Although it’s for the Millenium Celebration, the current year is actually around 3188-3190 (stardates have been a bit wonky ever since DIS went to the 32nd Century), hence the “give or take a few decades” remark. The stars in the cocktail taste like jumja sticks, a sweet Bajoran delicacy made from the sap of the jumja tree (DS9: “In the Hands of the Prophets”). 

The holographic nametag for Stamets is not a screen overlay, but comes out of his tricom badge (DIS: “Die Trying”), a 32nd century combined tricorder, comm badge, holographic PADD and personal transporter. The pathway drive was first mentioned back in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”, where a prototype was installed on the Voyager-J and Burnham was under consideration for being her captain. There were no details on how it worked, however.

Tilly says it’s been “months” since Burnham has talked about Book, which means some time has elapsed since the end of Season 4. There is a brief shot of a Lurian speaking to another alien I’m unable to identify.

T’Rina mentions the Tholian Republic and Breen Imperium. There have been political changes since the TNG era, since back then they were the Tholian Assembly (TOS; “The Tholian Web”) and the Breen Confederacy (DS9: “Strange Bedfellows”). Her relationship with Saru has grown more serious, as evidenced by her use of the word “love”. 

800 years - if exact - puts it at 2388, after the Mars Attack (2385), Picard’s resignation from Starfleet (2386) and the Romulan Supernova (2387). This is the first mention of a “Red Directive”.

The dessicated Romulan corpse has the forehead ridges that mark them as a Northerner (PIC: “The End is the Beginning”). 

Burnham’s phaser pistol can transform into a rifle configuration, presumbly by the same method that allows it to be stowed as a device on the sleeve (first seen in DIS: “Terra Firma, Part 1”). 

Burnham’s EVA suit must have inertial dampeners because the moment she exits the warp bubble she’s going to decelerate to sublight. Without them, inertial forces would turn her into a red smear inside of her suit.

Captain Rayner is a Kellerun (DS9: “Armageddon Game”). We see a tribble in the corridor, perhaps the same one from DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”.

Moll and L’ak stole a tan zhekran, a Romulan puzzle box. We saw an example of it in PIC: “The Impossible Box”, where it was used as a booby trap. 

Tilly is of course speaking of her ice moon escapade with a group of cadets on Kokytos in DIS: “All is Possible”. This is the first mention of Andorian champagne (or should that be Andorian sparkling wine?) - previously the only Andorian alcoholic beverage we were aware of is Andorian ale. 

Fred is a synth (PIC: “Maps and Legends”), with the same golden skin and eyes as Soong-type androids like Data, and has lived for at least 622.7 years (c. 2565), the last time he saw a Romulan puzzle box. Among the items L’ak and Moll offer is an infamous self-sealing stem bolt (DS9: “Progress”). 

The book inside the puzzle box appears to be filled with Romulan writing. Booklice, or Psocoptera, are real in case there was any doubt. 

Fred’s internal memory drive has the serial number AS-0572Y. Stamets connects that to Altan Soong, which might mean Fred is from Coppelius (PIC: “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2”). Altan was last seen in a holographic recording in PIC: “The Bounty”, having died between 2399 and 2401. 

Burnham says she hasn’t hated anyone this much in 930 years, which if taking from 3188 dates back to 2258, the year Discovery jumped to the 32nd Century. 

Tilly says the database is using 256 qubit (captioned as “Q-bit”) shifting fractal encryption. Breaking into it is a violation of Security Protocol Six Alpha.

Discovery jumps back in at Archer Spacedock, installed around Federation HQ and first unveiled in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”. 

Let’s hope that Saru and T’Rina’s wedding isn’t as violent as Spock’s (TOS; “Amok Time”). Stamets says that they were about to download 15 teraquads of data from Fred’s eye. A quad is a fictional unit of data invented for TNG, deliberately kept vague to avoid comparisons to today’s bytes. 15 teraquads sounds impressive, but in VOY: “Drone” the advanced Borg drone One was said to have assimilated 47 billion teraquads. 

Kovich shows Burnham that Dr Vellek was there on Vilmor II at the climax of TNG: “The Chase” (2369), where Picard discovered that many species of humanoid life in the Galaxy had been seeded by a precusor race, the Progenitors. It’s interesting that Kovich says that the Progenitors created all humanoid life. In “The Chase”, it didn’t reach as far as that - in fact, there were species which didn’t have the DNA pieces necessary to solve the puzzle and the Progenitor hologram only said they seeded “many worlds”.

Many times Star Trek has taken us to the future only to reset the status quo at the end of the story arc. Tapestry (but in reverse?), that time Voyager crashed in the ice, and all that.

How likely is it that Discovery went to a mutable future, just one of many, especially with the Temporal Cold War, Carl, Q, Trelane, Janeway, the HMS Bounty, and any number of other temporally active agents out there in time? How locked in is the 32nd Century?

Let's imagine that there is an Earth from an alternate timeline where the planet received alien interference in the late 20th century that makes humanity certain of alien life and warp drive (note: not warp-capable), with the early 21st century on technological par with the prime timeline's 21st century. In this early 21st century, a person accidentally make both a universe and temporal crossing into Earth in the prime timeline and the late 24th century.

Starfleet quickly locates this highly confused person. How would Starfleet handle the situation while abiding by the (Temporal) Prime Directive?

Personally, I would think given the exceptional circumstances, that Starfleet might given the person limited mobility on Earth and only Earth, and eventually allow them to live permanently in the prime timeline if they have exhausted the list of possible ways to return the person to their timeline. This is especially considering that the alternate Earth has already been interfered with, and Starfleet has no way to know the natural development of neither the alternate timeline nor its native earth.

A who's who of Cardassian officers and Bajoran collaborators (Darhe'el, for example) were persona non grata at best, and arrested to face charges of war crimes at worst. I can imagine that, if there were no specific incidents which could be linked to Gul Dukat, perhaps he and other Cardassian officials would be tolerated... But as he was the head of the occupation, I'm not sure this makes sense.

Is the best explanation that this is merely a matter of convenience to normalize relations between Bajor and Cardassia, or is there a plausible justification for his semi-frequent visits to DS9 and/or Bajor in the early seasons? What real historical examples are analogous to his relationship with the Bajoran (provisional) government?

Edit: 'Bajor' for the planet, not 'Bajoran'

In this post I’ll be proposing a model to understanding how Star Trek warp drive works. In doing so, I’ll be attempting to reconcile the way the TNG Technical Manual describes warp drive with the idea that warp drive somehow takes advantages of shortcuts through real space by warping space around the craft, yet still experiences inertial effects.

I want to point out at the outset that I am not proposing anything analogous to the Alcubierre drive that many fans seem keen on equating with Star Trek warp drive. My objections to conflating the two are laid out here. Ultimately, this model involves the ship actually moving at FTL speeds although spacetime distortion is involved.

I also fully admit I’m not a physicist, so I may - probably - have gotten many things wrong, even with the made-up science I’m going to talk about. I’d appreciate any discussions and suggestions to refine this model, even ones that outright say it’s rubbish and implausible (as long as you be constructive and explain why, so I can learn).

So let’s begin.

How Warp Drive deals with Relativity

To recap: the basic obstacle to superluminal or faster-than-light travel is Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity. Special Relativity says that as the velocity of an object with mass accelerates towards the speed of light (c), the mass of that object increases, requiring more and more energy to accelerate it, until at c, that object has infinite mass, requiring infinite energy to push it past c. In fact, Special Relativity says that nothing with mass can reach c - photons are massless and can only travel at c.

The first publicly available description of how Star Trek warp drive gets around this came from the licensed Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (1991). At page 65:

WARP PROPULSION

The propulsive effect is achieved by a number of factors working in concert. First, the field formation is controllable in a fore-to-aft direction. As the plasma injectors fire sequentially, the warp field layers build according to the pulse frequency in the plasma, and press upon each other as previously discussed. The cumulative field layer forces reduce the apparent mass of the vehicle and impart the required velocities. The critical transition point occurs when the spacecraft appears to an outside observer to be travelling faster than c. As the warp field energy reaches 1000 millicochranes, the ship appears driven across the c boundary in less than Planck time, 1.3 x 10^-43 sec, warp physics insuring that the ship will never be precisely at c. The three forward coils of each nacelle operate with a slight frequency offset to reinforce the field ahead of the Bussard ramscoop and envelop the Saucer Module. This helps create the field asymmetry required to drive the ship forward.

As we read here, Star Trek gets around Special Relativity by using a warp field to distort spacetime around the ship and lower its inertial mass so that the shaping of the warp fields and layers around the ship can push and accelerate the ship itself towards c with reasonable energy requirements. We see warp fields lower mass in TNG: “Deja Q” and DS9: “Emissary”.

Note that while ships are equipped with impulse drives, impulse operations are purely sublight in nature. In fact, the Tech Manual says that impulse doesn’t even enter into it at all when a ship goes to warp. It is the increasing strength of the warp field, shaped by the asymmetrical firing of the warp nacelles that produce it, that ultimately propels the ship without the need for impulse or reaction engines being involved. However, the ship still experiences inertial forces through this propulsion, necessitating inertial dampening fields (VOY: “Tattoo”, ST 2009).

As field strength (measured in units of millicochranes) increases, the lower the inertial mass gets and it becomes easier to accelerate towards warp (TMP). When the field hits a strength of 1000 millicochranes, the ship hits c, or Warp 1. Or rather, it straddles the boundary between 0.999c and 1.001c, spending no more than 1.3 * 10^-43 seconds at either velocity, so that it can apparently maintain velocity at c without the infinite energy requirements otherwise needed.

This is in contrast to sublight impulse engines which work in tandem with a warp field to take advantage of its mass-lowering effect. In the 23rd Century, it is implied the nacelles assist with impulse operations (SNW: “Memento Mori”), and in the 24th Century, impulse engines have driver coils built in which create a sub-1000 millicochrane warp field (TNG Tech Manual). In the 22nd Century, the NX-01’s impulse engines also had driver coils installed, but for the opposite reason - to increase the apparent mass of the ejected propellant as it exited the engines so it could provide greater thrust (USS Enterprise Haynes Manual).

What about subspace?

Now, to be fair, the idea of using a warp field to distort spacetime around the ship to propel the ship does sound an awfully lot like Alcubierre. But where warp drive differs is that unlike Alcubierre, the ship still feels inertial effects and is able to interact with objects outside of the warp field. In other words, the ship is still firmly moving through real space, not completely insulated and stationary within the warp bubble while space moves around it. Alcubierre’s bubble also doesn’t have a mass-lowering effect.

We know from the show that subspace is its own realm, with its own layers and domains (TNG: “Remember Me”) where even life can exist (TNG: “Schisms”). That has led to a suggestion that when a ship enters warp, it enters subspace which serves like a sort of hyperspace shortcut or wormhole. However, this has its difficulties in that it doesn’t explain why a ship in warp can still interact with objects outside of subspace as if it were in real space.

It is clear, though, that subspace has its own physical laws and its own special frame of reference, one of which is that you can exceed the speed of light in it: for example, the use of subspace radio which transmits at, in TNG times, Warp 9.997 (approximately 79,000c). In Star Trek, they generate subspace fields like we generate electromagnetic fields - in fact, the warp field is a subspace field.

But how does this relate to warp drive? Allow me a little sidestep into another franchise to draw a rough analogy.

Domain amplification and subspace

In the manga/anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, one of the magical techniques that the most powerful sorcerers use to battle each other is called “domain expansion”. This creates a closed area centered on the sorcerer enclosing their target, an area in which the sorcerer sets the rules, akin to a zone in which they receive a power buff. Inside it, if the domain is not countered, the sorcerer’s strikes will always hit the target. The sorcerer’s abilities are enhanced and various other things can happen depending on the rules that the sorcerer has preset into the domain.

Another use of domains is called “domain amplification”. This is not a full domain expansion, but surrounds the attacking sorcerer with a skin or bubble that has domain effects. It doesn’t use as much power as a full expansion, but is used to nullify any defensive techniques the target sorcerer might have, by imposing the attacking domain’s own rules against the technique. This still allows the attacking sorcerer to interact with things outside this domain bubble while taking advantage of some of its effects.

(All this will make sense, I promise)

Let’s imagine that real space is a domain that follows the rules that we associate with an Einstein/Newtonian universe, where relativity holds sway. Then we have another domain - subspace - where relativity can be ignored or at least circumvented.

So what if generating a warp field is like domain amplification, creating a bubble of a subspace domain that encloses the ship? This subspace or warp bubble is then shaped by the nacelles, which distorts space locally, allowing the bubble and the ship to be propelled along at FTL speed. This is because while inside the bubble, the rules of subspace apply, not the relativistic rules of real space. It therefore becomes possible to exceed c in that special frame of reference. And yet, the bubble is still strongly connected to real space, so the ship can interact with objects outside the bubble. This explains the existence of Newtonian forces like inertia, acceleration and momentum still acting on the ship, and the continuing need for inertial dampers at warp.

This tight coupling to real space is also why we can see “stars” streaking by while in warp (more likely dust particles in real space being accelerated as they are caught in the ship’s warp bubble). The visual change in post-DIS Trek where the outside of the ship looks more like a Stargate-ish tunnel can be explained away as what the interior of the warp bubble looks like stretched out, as the ship speeds along within it like a canoe on a river, being propelled by layers of warp energy within the bubble and also carried along by the current within the bubble itself as it cruises along.

Subspace and spacetime shortcuts

The existence of subspace as a separate dimensional realm also provides us with a possible solution for the disparity between what the TNG Tech Manual gives us as absolute c values for various warp factors and the speed of plot that we see on screen. Often, the time taken between star systems and sectors is much shorter than what we would expect given the warp factors quoted, if the ship did indeed travel at the c values given by the Tech Manual.

My suggestion is that subspace is not a one-to-one correspondence with real space, but exists in a “higher” dimensional plane where distances in subspace are much shorter compared to their real space counterparts. For example, what would take 200 light years to traverse in real space would be, say only be equivalent to 20 light years travel distance in subspace.

(I’m just tossing out figures here - I don’t obviously mean this as an exact ratio, and for all we know depending on the architecture of subspace the exact correspondence can vary widely, which again helps fit the speed of plot.)

So this further suggests that the TNG Tech Manual c values are meant to reflect speeds in subspace, or rather the ship’s velocity within the warp bubble, which translates to faster velocities and thus further distances travelled in real space. In effect the ship, by surrounding itself with a subspace domain, creates its own shortcut/wormhole through real space.

Conclusion

So, TL;dr: Star Trek warp drive works by surrounding the ship with a warp field, a bubble of subspace which both lowers the inertial mass of the ship and removes it from the relativistic requirements of real space. Propulsion is achieved by shaping the field, but within the subspace bubble the ship still moves and can act on real space as well as experience inertial forces. Additionally, the warped relationship of subspace to real space means that distances travelled in subspace move the ship much further in real space, and that warp factor velocities reflect the speed at which the ship moves in subspace rather than real space.

Thank you for your attention.

Excuse me if this post isn't up to the usual standards of Daystrom Institute, but as I'm looking for an in-universe discussion of this topic, this community felt the most appropriate.

Does anyone else feel like the Temporal Prime Directive is a potential security risk? You're a security officer, and you find an intruder on board. Before you can call it in, they implore you "Stop! Temporal Prime Directive! This is important!"

Now you've paused, thinking any action could cause a temporal paradox, or damage to the future timeline.

Hell, just that pause alone might be enough for them to draw a weapon on you and neutralize you, if they are hostile.

But, assuming they don't attack, suppose the intruder says "I can't tell you what I'm doing or why, but just know it's imperative, and I have to remain hidden. Please go about your business and ignore me."

You're in a catch 22. If you leave them be, it could turn out they are an enemy spy or saboteur. If you report them, it could turn out they are telling the truth, and you cause a big temporal problem.

This question is inspired by VOY S05E24, "Relativity", where Seven of Nine is sent back in time to Voyager (before she had joined the crew), and she gets caught and confronted by Janeway. Ultimately, Janeway doesn't just take Seven at her word, and makes her explain what's going on, but I'm not sure we should be taking cues on the proper application of the Temporal Prime Directive from Captain Kathryn Janeway.

What are your thoughts?

Garak asserts to Bashir that the Repetitive Epic is the finest form of Cardassian literature. I was wondering, is there any real-life literature that could be considered a "repetitive epic" in the same vein as "The Neverending Sacrifice?"

It has occurred to me that Vulcan must have some form of sex industry to handle those going through Pon Farr who aren't currently married or otherwise involved. Otherwise, they'd have constant issues with violence from those suffering the "blood fever" whose spouse was far away, or had died, or for some other reason had no one to mate with.

Given Vulcan attitudes towards sex, it's probably kept out of sight, and is only "officially" available to those experiencing their "Seven Year Itch," but it has to exist, right?

So, I just got my copy of the Lower Deck's Handbook (it's AMAZING) but one of the sections of the handbook goes into the legacy of the ships to carry the name Cerritos. (Think along the terms of the ships to carry the name Stargazer) and one in particular caught my eye...

A Leif Ericson class USS Cerritos was answering a distress call from Earth (in a manner not dissimilar to the Enterprise-E in First Contact), but before the Cerritos could reach Earth a Klingon Bird of Prey manned by Captain Kirk beat them to it.

But an unforeseen consequence of Kirk's time hopping erased the Leif Ericson class from reality.

It was a short blurb, but I actually felt chills. I'm reminded of the scene where Spock expresses uncertainty on how to accurately bring them back to the present, and Bones tells Spock to just go with his gut or something along those terms.

With the implied context that a miscalculation on Spock's part led to the erasure of the Leif Ericson class and presumably all hands, do you think Spock made the right call, given what he knew at the time?

I like coffee. I like Star Trek.

I've had a mild interest in the raktajino, a Klingon coffee drink commonly consumed in DS9. I've looked up a few fan theories and fan recipes. I haven't seen any references to a canonical recipe, so I get that there's a bit of fun and personal preference involved.

The only thing I don't understand is why raktajino is commonly claimed to be made with liquor. On the one hand, I understand why Klingons might want a stiff additive to their caffeine. However, the context in which characters on DS9 drink it does not suggest the presence of intoxicants. I recall at least a few occasions in which bridge officers, while on duty, drink a raktajino. Surely even synthol is not OK when you're on shift for Starfleet.