Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
Yes, there is real science behind the idea of a warp engine.Dilithium crystals may be fictional but they are believable (and acceptable) because the science behind using minerals as motive devices has been proven. We actually had a working knowledge of nuclear fission via the use of "rocks", i.e. uranium, for several decades before ST:TOS. There is a proven scientific basis for using minerals to power engines as shown by the use of small nuclear reactors used to power submarines. That right there is the science, not magic, behind Dilithium crystals. So it is perfectly acceptable for ST to use Dilithium powered warp drive as the science fiction premise of the show. To put a finer point on it: The warp engines have a legitimate scientific explanation and basis. Yes warp engines are fictional, but that's why it's called science fiction. Nonetheless, there is genuine scientific theory behind this premise.
What I asked was weather there is any known element that can govern / control a Matter/Anti-matter explosion in the same way that the control rods in a nuclear reactor do.
If your answer is "no"...................
No, it does not. It is as equally impossible with our current understanding of technology and physics to achieve Real time communications over a single light year as it is to transfer a persons consciousness. it makes no sense whatsoever, and neither have ever been explained. It is made "more plausible" because it *is* just a phone call, something we have accepted as possible for over a century. We are also far more willing to give it a pass because of what it is used for. ST uses FTL subspace comms as a "MacGuffin" to further the story, SGU used them as a central plot element, rather than just a device.Now you can argue that there is a scientific basis for using minerals in communication devices, quartz, silicon, etc., but the stones in SGU aren't backed up by any scientific explanation as to how those minerals work. Holding a cell phone to one's head is not the same as having one's consciousness ripped out of one's body and instantaneously transferred across the universe. Conversely, the subspace communication devices on ST make sense because they don't transfer people's consciousness, they simply "make a phone call", which is something that makes sense scientifically.
Just remember here, I am NOT defending the *use* of the stones here, I found them stupid, and I reiterate that the use of the "plate" rather than the comm tower was even more stupid. What I am saying is that despite the veneer of science provided by ST, it still has many concepts that really do just break the laws of physics. Uranium may be able to fuel a nuclear fission reaction, but just because I call my version Dyranium, say it can power a Matter/antimatter reaction and couch it in understandable terms does not make that element any more "real".