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The coolest and most ridiculous things that shape Star Trek as we know it.
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00:00Star Trek lore is so expansive that it's easy to get confused or surprised at times,
00:05even for hardcore fans. From weird Federation lores that you may not know of, to mind-bending
00:10scientific discoveries that are widely ignored, to cool details of Starfleet life that most people
00:15don't think of, this list will be looking at all of Trek history and counting down 10 of the most
00:20important aspects of Star Trek lore that people barely ever talk about. And so with that in mind
00:25then, I'm Ellie with Trek Culture here with 10 important Star Trek details that are almost
00:30never mentioned. Number 10. The Genetic Manipulation Ban
00:34Anyone who isn't familiar with the history of Star Trek may be confused by the lack of any
00:39advancements in genetic manipulation, considering the fact that we're actually very close to making
00:44it a reality in present day. However, if you look into the lore, especially the backstory of Khan,
00:49the stunted development of this technology actually makes a lot of sense. Khan, along with many other
00:54individuals, were genetically enhanced at the end of the 20th century and turned into genius
00:59super soldiers. This started the Eugenics War, one of the most brutal conflicts of Earth's history,
01:05during which augmented troops took control of huge parts of the planet and nearly plunged humanity
01:10into another dark age. After this war, humanity decided that the risks of genetic engineering far
01:15outweighed the benefits and subsequently banned all DNA manipulation except to correct life-altering
01:21ailments. Genetic engineering is still practiced through a black market, which is how Dr. Bashir
01:26was able to get his enhancements as a child, but it is highly illegal, frowned upon, and hard to come by.
01:32Number 9. Earth's Planetary Government
01:34You may have noticed that when visiting Earth, characters are able to travel anywhere on the
01:40planet instantly, using public transporters as we saw in Star Trek Picard, without the need for any
01:44passports or hassle at all. Additionally, all of Earth in Star Trek seems to have the same or
01:49similar laws regarding freedom of speech, anti-discrimination, and a universal standard
01:54of living. The reason for this is that Earth was actually united under a one-world government
01:59sometime during the 22nd century, largely as a result of the cultural shift towards cooperation
02:05following first contact. As we've seen from the Mirror Universe, a one-world government can be
02:10dangerous because, if not properly democratic, it concentrates power in the hands of very few and
02:15can quickly turn authoritarian. But in the prime universe, the world government, known most
02:20commonly as United Earth, serves only to enforce basic human rights and protect the planet.
02:25Individual countries like Canada, China, and France are all allowed to keep their names and
02:29cultural identities, but all countries simply committed to working towards mutual prosperity.
02:34The change was due to many factors, such as the invention of limitless energy in food, the near
02:39extinction of humanity due to war in the past, and the good example given by the Vulcans of a
02:44successful one-world government.
02:46Number 8. Starfleet Microscopic Identification Codes
02:50The Voyager episode Distant Origin showed us something very interesting about Starfleet's
02:56uniforms during the time period. Two Voth scientists found one episode we learn that this
03:01theory is actually true. The Voth were descended from dinosaurs who escaped the extinction event
03:06millions of years ago, who went on to evolve and become one of the most powerful empires in the
03:11galaxy. What's interesting is that, when examining the uniform, the Voth scientists located what he
03:16called a microscopic identification code. It's likely that this is a form of military dog tag for
03:22Starfleet officers, as a way to identify them in the event of their death. The ID shows the name of
03:27their ship, the USS Voyager, and some numbers that are likely a custom identification number assigned to
03:32everyone in the crew. It's interesting that Starfleet still uses something similar to dog tags,
03:37but apparently on a microscopic level, probably to hide the information from enemies.
03:42Number 7. The Disappearance of Movies and Television
03:45TV shows and movies remained on top of the entertainment market into the 21st century,
03:51and even during Star Trek Enterprise, movies were popular. The crew had a movie night,
03:55but at some point after Enterprise and before the next generation, TV and film fell out of fashion.
04:01The most likely explanation for this is the invention of the holodeck. With holodeck technology,
04:06you don't merely watch the story unfold, you are actually part of it, playing a character that
04:11you usually have to research beforehand. This was a logical evolution of entertainment,
04:15comparable to when television replaced books as the most common media format. We saw in Voyager
04:20that some history buffs, like Tom Paris, liked to make or collect vintage TV sets to watch old
04:26movies on, but at this point it was mainly a novelty reserved for people with a passion for
04:30historical storytelling, much like modern people who like to collect vinyl records.
04:35Number 6. Longer Human Lifespans
04:38It comes as no surprise that due to centuries of medical advances, the human lifespan has
04:43drastically increased by the 22nd century and beyond. This came in large part due to the
04:48eradication of common causes of death like cancer and starvation. During the time of Star Trek
04:53Enterprise, the 22nd century, humans could expect to live around 100 years on average,
04:59compared to around 73 years in modern times, according to the United Nations. In the next
05:03generation, the 24th century, this expectancy rose to around 120 years, with some individuals
05:10even reaching beyond 130, such as Leonard McCoy, who visited the Enterprise-D in Encounter at Farpoint
05:16at 137 years old. Some humans were able to live much longer through the use of illegal genetic
05:22manipulation, cryostasis, or other methods, but apart from these exceptions, McCoy is the oldest
05:28person we've seen on screen so far.
05:31Number 5. Borg Assimilation of Starfleet Secrets
05:35As most fans know, the Borg can never invent or learn. They only evolve by stealing information
05:40and technology from other cultures through assimilation. When someone becomes a Borg drone,
05:45their entire mind and all their memories get shared with the Collective.
05:49It should come as no surprise, then, that after all of the Starfleet officers and starships
05:53assimilated by the Borg, the Collective has access to a lot of Starfleet's greatest secrets.
05:58For example, the Borg assimilated Captain Picard in the Next Generation episode The Best of Both Worlds.
06:03This means that they would know all of his security codes, every top-secret mission he has ever been
06:08part of, and basically every secret shared with Starfleet captains, such as the Federation's
06:13policy on Omega Molecules. In a Star Trek Picard episode Penance, we learned that the Borg,
06:18or at least the Borg from the Altered Timeline, are aware of Q. It's not confirmed, but they
06:23could have learned about the continuum from Picard, as he was assimilated long after first
06:28encountering Q.
06:29Number 4. Starfleet's Death Penalty
06:31Starfleet and the Federation have reputations for being very humane with prisoners. They do not
06:37practice torture and usually prefer to rehabilitate violent people through therapy rather than locking
06:42them up. Despite this, there remains one crime we know of that was once punishable by death
06:47in the Federation. After Captain Pike's visit to Talos IV in the original series pilot episode
06:53The Cage, Starfleet deemed the powers of the Talosians too powerful to be public knowledge
06:58and classified them under General Order VII, which simply stated,
07:02"...no vessel under any condition, emergency, or otherwise is to visit Talos IV."
07:07The punishment was death. Starfleet feared what people would do to the Talosians to harness
07:12their ability to make dreams reality, and also what the Talosians would do to them in return.
07:17Because of this, they thought a highly severe penalty of death would be a good deterrent.
07:21However, the only time Starfleet found someone to be in violation of General Order VII,
07:26Spock, in the episode The Menagerie, they decided to let him off. Presumably,
07:30this law was done away with after The Menagerie, as Picard stated in the Next Generation episode
07:34Justice that Starfleet has no death penalty.
07:37Number 3. Exceptions to the Prime Directive
07:41The Prime Directive, also known as General Order I, was created by Starfleet sometime before
07:46the original series. It simply states that Starfleet personnel must do everything they can,
07:51even sacrificing their own lives, to prevent unnecessary interference in the development
07:56of alien societies, even if their interference could greatly help these people.
08:00This directive is perhaps the most important rule in Starfleet, especially when applied to
08:05pre-warp civilizations, who Starfleet are banned from revealing themselves to. If a less technologically
08:11advanced species suddenly gained access to all of the science and advanced weapons of the Federation,
08:16the results could be catastrophic. There were exceptions to the Prime Directive, however.
08:20Starfleet ships were allowed to save pre-warp societies from certain destruction by asteroids
08:25or alien invaders, but never interfered with their development or made their presence known,
08:30only prevented apocalyptic events. Another example is the beginning of Star Trek Into Darkness,
08:35when the crew prevents a massive volcano from going off and killing a pre-warp society.
08:40Number 2. Human Extrasensory Perception
08:43Star Trek is known for its realism, but there is often a fair amount of pseudo-science mixed in
08:48to keep things interesting. In the original series episode, Where No Man Has Gone Before,
08:53we learned that Extrasensory Perception, ESP, is real, and that Starfleet even had tests to determine
09:00level of ESP power. Extrasensory Perception basically describes someone's ability to sense
09:05things beyond the standard five human senses, touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell. These abilities
09:11can include telekinesis, telepathy, and precognition. ESP is almost always very weak in humans, though
09:17there were ways to unlock the power. In Where No Man Has Gone Before, when the Enterprise traveled
09:22beyond the edge of the galaxy, an energy field activated the mental powers of Gary Mitchell and
09:27Elizabeth Denner, who slowly began turning into godlike beings, using their ESP powers to bend
09:33reality to their whims, before eventually being defeated by Kirk. So, while human ESP is typically
09:39nothing than impressive, much less powerful than a Vulcan or Betazoid, it is interesting to know that
09:44these powers are present, and that Starfleet actively screens all officers to determine their ESP
09:49levels. Denner even claimed that some humans were able to sense future events, accurately guess the
09:55backs of playing cards, and even see through walls on occasion.
09:59Number 1. The Warp 10 Barrier
10:01In the 24th century, warp speed was segmented into different warp factors, from 1 to 10. Warp factor
10:081 is light speed, and 10 is infinite velocity, meaning that the vessel would be traveling so
10:12fast that it would occupy every point in space simultaneously. Warp factor 10 was only achieved
10:18once in the Voyager episode Threshold. The technology was deemed too dangerous to use because it had
10:23interesting effects on human evolution and turned Tom Paris into a horrifying lizard, but most fans
10:28like to pretend that Threshold never happened. The speeds of warp factors increased exponentially,
10:33meaning that Warp 2 is vastly faster than Warp 1, and so on. Starfleet ships in the 24th century can
10:39reach above Warp 9.9, and Voyager can even get up to 9.975, which may seem close to 10, but it is
10:47actually incomprehensibly slower. In the 23rd century, during the original series, Starfleet
10:52used a different scale for calculating warp speed, which is why, in many episodes, the Changeling,
10:57for example, the Enterprise traveled at Warp 10, 11, or higher.
11:01And that concludes our list. If you can think of anything that we missed, then do let us know in
11:06the comments below, and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that
11:09notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, at Trek Culture, and I can be found
11:14across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with Trek Culture.
11:19I hope you have a wonderful day, and remember to boldly go where no one has gone before.
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