I used to love Space 1999, anyone remember that?
Yes. I really liked the character who could change into an animal or creature.
1.TNG
2.TOS
3.DS9
4.VOY
5.ENT
I think the Next Generation was the height of Star Trek (esp The Best of Both Worlds). It's to bad that the Gorn didn't appear though.
1.TNG
2.TOS-I only saw this in reruns, but it's still good.
3.Voyager
4.DS9
5. Enterprise-I never really liked that series, especially when compared with TNG and the original.
I also have every Star Trek movie at home.
TNG
Voyager
DS9
Enterprise
TOS
I have just recently started watching Star Trek again after a few years not watching it, mostly The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.
Why I stopped watching Star Trek I don't know, It's great (well I don't know about Enterprise being good because I never have seen it)
Who here likes what has to be the greatest Sci-Fi genre of all time
I do :grin:
It's also a bit odd that there is sound in a vaccuum (eg. the constant humming noise outside the ship, phasers, torpedos).
It's also a bit odd that there is sound in a vaccuum (eg. the constant humming noise outside the ship, phasers, torpedos).
Does seem odd
Another sound problem is the universral translator. The movement of lips are the most apparent problem, but there are others. When a crew meets a new species on the other side of the galaxy (DS9 and VOY) the translator seems to instantly work (only one episode of DS9 showed the translator having difficulty).
The biggest problem is when charactors talk in Klingon. It should be instantly translated, but it isn't :lol: .
So what's the original called? (i.e. what are the code initials in the preceding dialogue for this post)
Official designation for the original series is simply Star Trek or TOS (hence, The Original Series)...
As for the sound issue, here's a few bits of advice...
Space is never a complete vacuum. There's always some bits of matter in space, hence a tiny (but present) amount of 'atmosphere'. It may be a pressure in the order of microbars or something, but there's a pressure in space and if there's a pressure it's also possible to have pressure differences and variations -- hence sound. The only problem is that the human ear is simply not sensitive enough to get these minute variations, when the sound is transferred onto a ship's hull (vibrating matter bouncing off a ship's hull). Suppose they put ultra-ultra-ultra sensitive microphones in space... they'd probably pick up loads of noise from everwhere. Although I doubt they'd hear a ship 'whoosh'-ing by. 
In deep space there is about 1 atom of hydrogen for every 10 feet (I belive that's correct I could be wrong) so even traveling faster than light (a problem in it's self) it couldn't make a sound, unless the Enterprise is venting a gas out into space in the process of traveling.
I've done some research on this topic. The speed of a sound is determanned by this equation (I will do the best I can; as I can't type mathematical symbols):
The velocity of a sound wave= square root of gamma*P/p
Where gamma is the ratio of heat capacity in a constant volume and heat capacity at a constant pressure, P is pressure, and p is the density of the substance. In deep space with atoms a few feet from each other there would be no pressure and therefore the answer would be 0.
Funny you mentioning hydrogen in space. Some co-workers and I were discussing this the other day and someone says there are hydrogen scoops located on the front of the nacelles. Ever heard of that?
I know there are some real world hydrogen propulsion ideas based on large hydrogen scoops, but I didn't know this was used by any fictional Federation craft.
Yap. On the front of the nacelles there are the Bussard ramscoops (the round spherical thingys on the TOS nacelles) which collect both deuterium (for the main fusion engines) and antimatter (for the warp drive) drifting in space.
In deep space there is about 1 atom of hydrogen for every 10 feet (I belive that's correct I could be wrong) so even traveling faster than light (a problem in it's self) it couldn't make a sound, unless the Enterprise is venting a gas out into space in the process of traveling.
The atoms being tens or even hundreds of feet apart doesn't prevent them from interacting with each other. Gravitational forces can go a large distance even on the atomic level, although the intensity of the pressure waves would decrease rapidly. Doesn't mean it's nonexistent though, the current equipment available can't measure pressure differences in the order of nano- or picopascals (or less) since that's already way beyond their noise threshold.
Simply put: If we can't measure something, not instantly assume it's not there. This turned out to be the case with many things including the atom which is now general knowledge but they couldn't measure such a thing back in the '20's (scanning-tunneling microscopes weren't built back then) but still they theoreticized it would be present.
And the Enterprise is actually venting gas (plasma) when it's travelling at warp speeds. Remember Picard always chasing the ion trail of a baddie's ship? It's got to come from somewhere and since plasma (including warp plasma) is ionised gas, it would be a quick reasoning (although a little imagination is still required) that high-velocity, high-temperature gas (in ionised form) is pushed into the nacelles, it does its job (generate a warp field) and the excess matter (low-temperature, low pressure but still ionised gas particles) would be expelled out of the nacelle grilles. That's also the trails you see when Enterprise jumps to warp (both in the movies and on the Star Trek: Enterprise series).
Should I drop more (somewhat) interesting André Bormanis theorires here or should we keep it at this?
André's done a nice job on the whole Treknology issue, BTW. Anyone seen his new series Threshold? Brent Spiner in a totally different character 
There is a bit of a problem with gravity on quantum scales; it doesn't seem to have any affect. Quantum mecanics (physics of the very small) deals mostly with the three other forces (electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force). Gravity is used mostly in General Relativity (the physics of large objects).
Antimatter (as far as 21st centunary physists know) doesn't exist anywhere outside Fermilab and CERN (I live very close to Fermilab btw). One of the major questions in physics today is CP violations, which means when the universe was made there was just a very small fracion more matter than antimatter; the reason why we don't live in an antimatter universe today. So the Enterprise would have to make its own.
To collect signifigant amounts of hydrogen they would need a collecter several hundred miles long, but it's possible that the Bussard ramscoops are used when going though nebulas.
Interestingly there is a theory that it's possible to go faster than light by bending (warping) space.
With regards to gravity - in space no-one can hear you scream (sorry wrong film but perhaps that is what they meant - noise doesn't carry, so you wouldn't hear anything?). Watching ships move about without creating a sound would be truthful but boring
Oh, I don't know. Some sci-fi's that do this have a sort of etherrealy beauty to them. Especially in battle scenes.
and as for the gravity thing, too confusing to keep having the ships maneouvre in relation to each other (a comedy film okay but a serious idea like Star Trek? No way!).
If you were designing ships for centrefugal gravity, they'd look nothing like the ships in Trek (which are all designed for gravity plating, which might be possable but I'm going off from my point here). For an example of what I mean - The human ship and station designs in Babylon 5 (which is generally acknowledged to have the most realistic ship designs within television sci-fis)
Babylon 5 is indeed one of the few shows which makes space travel and colonisation really credible. Also details like, all of the current nations and beliefs still exist in 2359, FTL drive isn't shipbound for the smaller ships (jumpgates are a very real concept, also used in Freelancer) and more things make Babylon 5 one of the best thought over sci-fi shows of the '90's. Also remember that the computer graphics they did back then can easily be reproduces by the current desktop systems... in real time! (just start up X3: Reunion or Freelancer and you'll see!)
The Firefly universe by Joss Whedon is also a very credible one, no aliens, no FTL travel, man has taken centuries to colonise one star system. Most of the technology you see shipboard (especially on Serenity) is actually scavenged from aircraft scrap yards. (I've actually got an aspiration to build a working (simulated) flight deck of Serenity one day)