Thalaron radiation and 8472

posted on February 23rd, 2010, 10:14 pm

Another prove of how stupid the StarTrek authors are. The sentence itself is not sensible, as there is no difference betwenn organic and anorganic substances at subatomic level.

Perhaps it is not pure radiation then. Perhaps it is a powder or some such which Thalaron radiation is drawn to. The particles, when released bond with organic compounds which exposes them to the radiation.

If 8472 attacked and show no intention of stopping, the ban wouldn't make any difference (as Admiral Ross said 'In times of War, the law falls silent').
Ross's quote, Sections 31's whole existence and some of Sisko actions shows some in the Federation are quite fine doing what needs to be done if they believe they have no other choice.

In the cases where Ross and Sisko did "what needed to be done" the issue was singular and brushed under the carpet. Section 31 is so secretive and outside the Federation that they are practically a separate [political] power. If the Federation hoped to actively employ subspace or biological weapons it would have to go past the eyes of some pretty powerful admirals and politicians and probably wouldn't get very far. This is not to mention the potential repercussions it would have on relations with the Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, etc. We always assume that Starfleet can act on its own without any political body clamping down on it, only because nothing is ever really said about the politics of the Federation. More likely Starfleet is like any government run agency and subject to some form of oversight by the Federation Council.

posted on February 23rd, 2010, 11:11 pm

Another prove of how stupid the StarTrek authors are. The sentence itself is not sensible, as there is no difference betwenn organic and anorganic substances at subatomic level.

Remember of course that organic just means "carbon containing". In almost every sci-fi series I've heard of, organic is improperly used to describe "living organisms" when it is just not the case

posted on February 24th, 2010, 8:38 pm

about the theory that the scimitar's bfg 9000 used powder to deliver radiation, the shields could just stop the powder, or the hull. the idea of powder having being radioactive is plausible, but as a weapon used from a space vessel, its not all that useful.

posted on February 24th, 2010, 10:01 pm

Not if you intend to use it to attack a planet, which I believe may have been his intention. I don't think he ever intended it to be used in the middle of a dog fight. Remember that Shizon only resorted to the Thalaron weapon when both ships were crippled and the Enterprise's shields were down. Of course it's possible that the Scimitar's weapon directly channeled the radiation. Note that the effects of Thalaron were only seen when used in an interior space in which a particulate distribution system would be effective. It's possible that direct exposure to the radiation would have a slightly different effect that what we saw.

posted on February 25th, 2010, 2:16 pm

In the cases where Ross and Sisko did "what needed to be done" the issue was singular and brushed under the carpet. Section 31 is so secretive and outside the Federation that they are practically a separate [political] power. If the Federation hoped to actively employ subspace or biological weapons it would have to go past the eyes of some pretty powerful admirals and politicians and probably wouldn't get very far. This is not to mention the potential repercussions it would have on relations with the Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, etc. We always assume that Starfleet can act on its own without any political body clamping down on it, only because nothing is ever really said about the politics of the Federation. More likely Starfleet is like any government run agency and subject to some form of oversight by the Federation Council.

I'm quite aware of the whole Bioweapon/Federation relations, I was talking about the ban on Subspace Weapons. Those are no worse than prolonged use of regular Warp Drive.

posted on February 25th, 2010, 9:57 pm

The Second Khitomer Accords clearly banned the use of subspace weapons which do way more damage to subspace than warp drive does and most of the damage warp drive does has been remedied by changing the orientation of the nacelles to be similar to the Sovereign's or Intrepid's. Subspace weapons create tears in the spacetime continuum that expose subspace to normal space and/or create subspace shock waves that can permanently disrupt subspace and wreak havoc on near by planets. I really doubt that the Federation would begin using banned weapons without some serious discussions since they would risk making enemies of the Klingons and risk, even more, having the Romulans turn on them.

[Tyler]

posted on February 25th, 2010, 10:14 pm

Last edited by Tyler on February 26th, 2010, 2:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I know the law and Federation mentality, I mean desperation not regular use.

'Premonition travel to the past' level desperation.