Plants rarely make an appearance in Sci-Fi shows, and even less so as walking, talking intelligent lifeforms. With the Animated Series’s increased ability to explore new alien designs, Kirk and crew were able to meet a civilization of four-legged plant beings. Hoping to colonize the planet Phylos for the Federation, the Enterprise crew stumble upon … More Planting Peace, TAS: S1E7 “The Infinite Vulcan”
The Enterprise is assigned to ferry two quarreling sets of delegates to a mutual location. Already a difficult task for the diplomacy ship, Picard and crew must cater to their unruly guests while also tracking down a strange energy entity possessing the minds of crew members. The invasive lightening bolt originated from a passing energy … More Bolt of Enlightenment, TNG: S1E7 “Lonely Among Us”
A strange new guest, calling himself the ‘Traveler’, arrives on the Enterprise, along with a propulsion expert named Mr. Kosinski. Both were brought aboard to help improve warp engine efficiency. Kosinski has an inflated ego, and Riker is suspicious of him from the start. The first officer claims that Kosinski was only so successful on … More Unreal Machine, TNG: S1E6 “Where No One Has Gone Before”
A planet eating space blob terrorizes the galaxy and the Enterprise must intercept it before it reaches a densely populated Federation colony. Comprising an unusual combination of matter and energy, the deadly space cloud at first appears to be some natural formation with an undesirable planet-destroying effect. Without much evidence, Spock concludes that the mass … More Tornado, Amoeba, Brain TAS: S1E3 “One of Our Planets is Missing”
As this year slides indiscriminately into the next, the passage of time drains our lives more steadily and relentlessly than any other natural phenomenon. No matter what choices we make, risks we consider, or pitfalls we avoid, there is nothing we can do about our inevitable decline and insignificance. The same force that drains our … More Age Old Advantage, TOS: S3E19 “Requiem for Methuselah”
We often think of scientific and technological progress as a steady march forward, but the reality is more complex. Factors such as natural disaster, war, or even isolation can cause a culture to ‘forget’ its previous advancement. This is known as technological regress and the idea behind it, according to Aiyar et al. (2008), is … More What is Brain, TOS: S3E1 “Spock’s Brain”
Kirk and Spock seem to have no shortage of mind-altering adventures, which is reasonable considering one of the final frontiers still beyond our understanding is the mind. If space offers anomalies and aggressive aliens, the human body provides complex mystery and questionable theories. Brushing up against this frontier, Kirk, Spock, and Lt. Cmdr. Mulhall respond … More Brain Drain, TOS: S2E20 “Return to Tomorrow”
Hopeless Trekkie 