test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Where they go wrong with exploring!
catstarsto
Member Posts: 2,149 Arc User
have you ever noticed on Star Trek, when they beam down? Ether to meet alien creature or species, or even for uninhabited planets, they never consider microbiology and/or natural dangers. Was this not the very mistake the War of the Worlds aliens made? Think of first contacts in human history and spreading smallpox and other fun stuff to tribals, or even gain something from them to bring back to your own people. why isnt this ever brought up in scifi? it would be a major factor one would think. Avatar is a very good example, by all means given the terrain, probabilities of catching something lethal would of been through the roof! or even that plant that spiked and poisoned riker in the filler/flashback episode (every show makes an excuse to use) natural dangers besides actual aliens should of claimed more star fleet officers then actual battles, given how they haphazardly jump into everything
0
Comments
Besides, centuries of medical advancement and co-operation between species across the galaxy is gonna make starfleet's medical personnel practically ready for almost anything.
It's the future, they learned from the past, and took the proper precautions.
...my gosh man, think of the space hippies! XD
but you have to also consider situations like those bio engineered kids in that one TNg episode, where Dr Polaski began to age because the bodys immune system attacked a contagious guy from the last crew they encountered...this is what i mean. even the airborn stuff the toxin that made them act drunk that couldnt be detected. none the less, its the environments away from the ship is what im centering on, they never seem to think of the danger of entering something not fully tested before beaming down...even as advanced as they are they do miss things or dont always think to look for stuff on alien worlds.
on a side note, i wonder who would be best to have as a ships doctor, McCoy or Phlox? they seemed to be best equiped for these scenarios
When not on the homeworld, you practically live in your bio-hazard safe suit!
Q had a point, and about more that just the borg. No species evolves and advances by playing it safe. We all build upward from the foundations of others mistakes. A starfleet crew never really knows what they are going to find on the horizon, but that's the purpose of the mission.
in one of my old fictional series, earth was run by an empire. humanity was as advanced as buck rogers era but was like the old British empire, it conquered. the battleships they used to pursue the Venturer (a prototype ship) had a minimal human crew, all combat and exploring that involved field work was done by an automation, fighters, maintenance and science automation's to keep the officers from any harm, and so they could keep a tidy uniform like stressed in the old Brittish empire
http://adventure-cat.deviantart.com/art/Earth-Empire-562681141
It is rare on Earth for any disease or parasite to be capable of infecting/infesting more than one type of host. Even those which can cross the species barrier typically only do so due to close proximity to multiple species, such as farm animal diseases.
On a world which had never seen mankind, the chance for a disease to develop in such a way as to use humans as a host would be lacking.
Most mammals are very simular to us in their DNA and physiology yet most deseases that affect cows or pigs for example cannot affect humans. Just because the structure of a key protein in our cell walls is a tiny bit different.
But since it happend several times in Star Trek anyway you could just assume that scanning for pathogens is a standard procedure and was done everytime without bothering the bridge crew.
like the man said "wait'll you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding".
ironically they discovered the inoculation for smallpox from milkmaids who had contracted the much milder cowpox from cows and had found they were immune to the deadly smallpox.
then theres Rabies, Brucellosis, Blastomycosis, Psittacosis (bird flu) and also many parasites that can be contracted from animals and insects like the parasite from Mosquitos that causes Malaria for example.
in fact it has been estimated that 13 known animal to human diseases kill 2.2 million people every year.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
not to mention what explorers would be carrying with them from one planet to the next, they might be immune to a dozen things, and could wipe out a civilization by bringing it all to a world not immune to it. there would be a lot to consider if we really did set out for deep space exploration one day
edit: ...imagine starting an interstellar war because an alien ambassador dropped dead from an illness and we where blamed for using biological weapons on them ^^;
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Churro-gingivitis??
a class M planet is just an earth like planet basically, this is no indication of contamination factors you might face from the natives or the natives might face from you, if indeed there are any natives as such, a class M planet might not have any life forms of higher intelligence but could be ideal candidates for colonization.
there is a full list of planet classifications here > http://www.sttff.net/planetaryclass.html
quote from that page -
Class M planets are robust and varied worlds composed
primarily of silicate rocks, and are highly suited for humanoid
life. To be considered Class M, between 20% and 80% of the
surface must be covered in water; it must have a breathable
oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and temperate climate.
end quote.
of course they could scan for known diseases and contaminants but how do you scan for something that is unknown.
so earth has been a class M planet for as long as mankind has been around but bear in mind in the 1330s The Black Death or Bubonic Plague has been known of and aliens might be susceptible to that if they had paid us a visit, if they had no way of detecting that diseases as it was not in their scanners database they could be in big trouble if they had no immunity or cure.
remember what happened to the Martian's in war of the worlds, the Martian's succumb to terrestrial bacteria, From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed. They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Defending The Galaxy By Breaking One Starfleet Regulation After The Next.
We are nerds!
...plus i give Zephrum Cockrum!
if you've ever listened to trek nerds talk about the show or details of it, it DOES have to make sense to them, even when discussing the details of fictional mechanics
the thing is its not just the bacteria or germs that you might pick up on a visit to an alien society its what bacteria or germs you might take to the alien society that we have become immune to and the alien society are not, the biofilter might not remove these as they may not be seen as a threat.
also when you consider there are more living organisms on the human body than humans living on the earth and many of these are critical to our survival so if they were removed we would quickly die but an alien society may find that contact with any of these organisms could be fatal.
that's before you even start to consider the living organisms inside the human body, we share our bodies harmoniously with 90 trillion or so microbes on or in the human body at any one time.
For the most part, though, we are blissfully oblivious to the microscopic life we carry around with us. Considering what those organisms look like, that may be a good thing.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
i thought the extended decon chamber scenes where intended to be fan service for both genders. but yeah i get u on it...if they didnt make Phlox so creepy and strange, i would of favored him over McCoy just from his show of knowledge of medicine and biology as though it where 2nd nature, but McCoy would still be in second place for that imo
im not sure why i like the TOS show so much, TNG storys where written better, the crew just seemed more real life i guess. enterpise i could relate with even more, the props and sets aboard the ship are still my favorite of all versions of trek