Luke
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Post by Luke on Jan 20, 2010 11:57:45 GMT -6
Third possibility -- they didnt discover warp drive because that planet didnt have any natural dilithium.
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Arkroyal
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Post by Arkroyal on Jan 21, 2010 15:52:19 GMT -6
Neither does Earth, Vulcan, Qo'nos...
In fact Constitution-class starships used crystallised lithium at first and then switched to dilithium which is so rare that only a few planets actually sustain it.
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Jan 22, 2010 8:49:57 GMT -6
I was thinking of something similar. In order to sustain warp drive, you have to have some kind of matter conversion power plant (either atomic or anti-matter), because it requires an enormous amount of energy, and at the same time the power plant has to be compact enough to be carried on the ship. If the Sarpedonians didn't develop atomic energy, or elected not to use it for ecological reasons, they couldn't have developed warp drive. For all we know, the Atavachron was powered by geothermal or hydroelectric power plants over half the continent.
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Jan 25, 2010 8:40:59 GMT -6
Neither does Earth, Vulcan, Qo'nos... In fact Constitution-class starships used crystallised lithium at first and then switched to dilithium which is so rare that only a few planets actually sustain it. I didn't want to comment on this until I had the chance to do some research. Now, I'd certain be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but for the life of me I can't think when any of this was stated in the series. It appears to be another case of filling in the gaps. In an early episode ("Mudd's Women"), the Enterprise was using lithium crystals, and they were surprisingly fragile. They cracked if too much power was put through them. By the end of the first season ("The Alternative Factor") they were using DIlitihium and didn't have that problem any more. I'll admit that's a reasonable conjecture [the alternative would seem to be "the writers screwed up", which is unacceptable], but it leaves open the possibility that dilithium is so rare that the original quantity found on Earth had already been used up by the 23rd century, requiring them make do with lithium.
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Jan 27, 2010 8:52:45 GMT -6
I'm glad you explained that,s ir. I was scratching my head wondering how I could have missed something so basic. But I have to say I have to agree with Ark. Ockham's razor, the explanation that involves the fewest assumtions is prefered.
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Jan 29, 2010 9:02:58 GMT -6
That's a very good point. I only brought it up because I think the point of a forum is to discuss these things. Memory Alpha is a great resource, but I don't want us to get in the habit of just quoting it as if it was gospel.
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Arkroyal
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Post by Arkroyal on Jan 29, 2010 10:46:16 GMT -6
Ockham's razor? I'm going to have to look up what that is.
Incidentally, it never occurred to the man that the visitors could be from somewhere other than their planet. Admittedly, this species looked very much like humans but surely Spock's ears would have caused a raised eyebrow?
As for why they didn't develop space travel, it is never stated how long their race lives - they could be like the Ocampa and live only what we'd call a short time. Did Zarabeth ever mention how old she actually was?
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Feb 1, 2010 8:41:12 GMT -6
Ockham's razor, also spelled Occam's razor if you have trouble finding it.
I'm not clear what their life spans would have to do with it. Would you like to explain a little more?
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Arkroyal
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Post by Arkroyal on Feb 3, 2010 13:20:06 GMT -6
Many people would balk at the idea of a journey that would take longer than or at least the most part of their lifespan. Space travel would probably not start with warp speed so for a race with a life span of, say, ten years it would take a good portion of their lives and would put a good many people off space travel thus limiting its development and eventually possibly cutting it off altogether. Am I getting my point across right?
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Feb 4, 2010 8:26:22 GMT -6
I see what you mean now. That's a very good point, similar to what Luke said about cultural differences, but not quite the same.
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