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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. Anyone who isn't familiar with the history of
00:37Star Trek may be confused by the lack of any advancements in genetic manipulation, considering
00:42the fact that we're actually very close to making it a reality in present day. However, if you look
00:47into the lore, especially the backstory of Khan, the stunted development of this technology actually
00:52makes a lot of sense. Khan, along with many other individuals, were genetically enhanced at the end
00:57of the 20th century and turned into genius super-soldiers. This started the Eugenics War,
01:02one of the most brutal conflicts of Earth's history, during which augmented troops took control of huge
01:07parts of the planet and nearly plunged humanity into another Dark Age. After this war, humanity decided
01:13that the risks of genetic engineering far outweighed the benefits, and subsequently banned all DNA
01:18manipulation, except to correct life-altering ailments. Genetic engineering is still practiced
01:23through a black market, which is how Dr. Bashir was able to get his enhancements as a child, but it is
01:29highly illegal, frowned upon, and hard to come by.
01:32Number 9. Earth's Planetary Government. You may have noticed that when visiting Earth,
01:38characters are able to travel anywhere on the planet instantly, using public transporters,
01:42as we saw in Star Trek Picard, without the need for any passports or hassle at all.
01:46Additionally, all of Earth in Star Trek seems to have the same or similar laws regarding freedom
01:51of speech, anti-discrimination, and a universal standard of living. The reason for this is that
01:56Earth was actually united under a one-world government sometime during the 22nd century,
02:02largely as a result of the cultural shift towards cooperation following first contact.
02:07As we've seen from the Mirror Universe, a one-world government can be dangerous, because if not
02:11properly democratic, it concentrates power in the hands of very few, and can quickly turn
02:16authoritarian. But in the prime universe, the world government, known most commonly as United
02:21Earth, serves only to enforce basic human rights and protect the planet. Individual countries like
02:26Canada, China, and France are all allowed to keep their names and cultural identities,
02:30but 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,
02:38the near extinction of humanity due to war in the past, and the good example given by the
02:43Vulcans of a successful 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 of Voyager's uniforms along with the
03:01skeleton of a member of the crew, and used these findings to locate Voyager in an effort to prove that
03:07the Voth and humans shared a common ancestor and came from the same planet Earth. Later in the
03:12episode, we learn that this theory is actually true. The Voth were descended from dinosaurs who
03:16escaped the extinction event millions of years ago, who went on to evolve and become one of the most
03:21powerful empires in the galaxy. What's interesting is that, when examining the uniform, the Voth's
03:27scientists located what he called a Microscopic Identification Code. It's likely that this is a form of
03:32military dog tag for Starfleet officers, as a way to identify them in the event of their death.
03:37The ID shows the name of their ship, the USS Voyager, and some numbers that are likely a custom
03:43identification number assigned to everyone in the crew. It's interesting that Starfleet still uses
03:47something similar to dog tags, but apparently on a microscopic level, probably to hide the information
03:52from enemies.
03:53Number 7. The Disappearance of Movies and Television
03:57TV shows and movies remained on top of the entertainment market into the 21st century,
04:03and even during Star Trek Enterprise, movies were popular. The crew had a movie night,
04:07but at some point after Enterprise and before The Next Generation, TV and film fell out of fashion.
04:13The most likely explanation for this is the invention of the holodeck. With holodeck technology,
04:18you don't merely watch the story unfold, you are actually part of it, playing a character that
04:23you usually have to research beforehand. This was a logical evolution of entertainment,
04:27comparable to when television replaced books as the most common media format. We saw in Voyager
04:33that some history buffs, like Tom Paris, like to make or collect vintage TV sets to watch old movies
04:38on, but at this point it was mainly a novelty reserved for people with a passion for historical
04:43storytelling, much like modern people who like to collect vinyl records.
04:47Number 6. Longer human lifespans
04:50It comes as no surprise that due to centuries of medical advances, the human lifespan has
04:55drastically increased by the 22nd century and beyond. This came in large part due to the
05:00eradication of common causes of death like cancer and starvation. During the time of Star Trek
05:05Enterprise, the 22nd century, humans could expect to live around 100 years on average, compared to
05:11around 73 years in modern times, according to the United Nations. In the next generation,
05:16the 24th century, this expectancy rose to around 120 years, with some individuals even reaching beyond
05:23130, such as Leonard McCoy, who visited the Enterprise-D in Encounter at Farpoint at 137 years old.
05:31Some humans were able to live much longer through the use of illegal genetic manipulation,
05:35cryostasis, or other methods, but apart from these exceptions, McCoy is the oldest person we've seen on
05:41screen so far. Number 5. Borg Assimilation of Starfleet Secrets
05:48As most fans know, the Borg can never invent or learn. They only evolve by stealing information
05:53and technology from other cultures through assimilation. When someone becomes a Borg drone,
05:57their entire mind and all their memories get shared with the Collective. It should come as
06:01no surprise, then, that after all of the Starfleet officers and starships assimilated by the Borg,
06:06the Collective has access to a lot of Starfleet's greatest secrets. For example, the Borg assimilated
06:12Captain Picard in the Next Generation episode The Best of Both Worlds. This means that they would
06:16know all of his security codes, every top-secret mission he has ever been part of, and basically
06:21every secret shared with Starfleet captains, such as the Federation's policy on Omega Molecules.
06:27In the Star Trek Picard episode Penance, we learned that the Borg, or at least the Borg from the
06:31Altered Timeline, are aware of Q. It's not confirmed, but they could have learned about
06:36the continuum from Picard, as he was assimilated long after first encountering Q.
06:41Number 4. Starfleet's Death Penalty
06:44Starfleet and the Federation have reputations for being very humane with prisoners. They do not
06:49practice torture and usually prefer to rehabilitate or otherwise is to visit Talos IV. The punishment was
06:55death. Starfleet feared what people would do to the Talosians to harness their ability to make dreams
07:00reality, and also what the Talosians would do to them in return. Because of this,
07:05they thought a highly severe penalty of death would be a good deterrent. However,
07:08the only time Starfleet found someone to be in violation of General Order VII,
07:13Spock, in the episode The Menagerie, they decided to let him off. Presumably,
07:17this law was done away with after The Menagerie, as Picard stated in the Next Generation episode
07:21Justice that Starfleet has no death penalty.
07:25Number 3. Exceptions to the Prime Directive
07:28The Prime Directive, also known as General Order I, was created by Starfleet some time
07:33before the original series. It simply states that Starfleet personnel must do everything they can,
07:38even sacrificing their own lives, to prevent unnecessary interference in the development
07:43of alien societies, even if their interference could greatly help these people. This directive
07:48is perhaps the most important rule in Starfleet, especially when applied to pre-warp civilizations,
07:54who Starfleet are banned from revealing themselves to. If a less technologically advanced species
07:59suddenly gained access to all of the science and advanced weapons of the Federation, the results
08:03could be catastrophic. There were exceptions to the Prime Directive, however. Starfleet ships
08:08were allowed to save pre-warp societies from certain destruction by asteroids or alien invaders,
08:13but never interfered with their development or made their presence known, only prevented apocalyptic
08:19events. Another example is the beginning of Star Trek Into Darkness, when the crew prevents a massive
08:23volcano from going off and killing a pre-warp society.
08:27Number 2. Human Extrasensory Perception
08:30Star Trek is known for its realism, but there is often a fair amount of pseudo-science mixed in
08:35to keep things interesting. In the original series episode Where No Man Has Gone Before,
08:40we learned that Extrasensory Perception is real, and that Starfleet even had tests to determine
08:46someone's level of ESP power. Extrasensory Perception basically describes someone's ability to sense
08:52things beyond the standard five human senses — touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell.
08:57These abilities can include telekinesis, telepathy, and precognition. ESP is almost
09:02always very weak in humans, though there were ways to unlock the power. In Where No Man Has Gone
09:07Before, when the Enterprise traveled beyond the edge of the galaxy, an energy field activated the mental
09:13powers of Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Denner, who slowly began turning into godlike beings, using their
09:18ESP powers to bend reality to their whims before eventually being defeated by Kirk.
09:24So, while human ESP is typically nothing than impressive, much less powerful than a Vulcan or
09:29Betazoid, it is interesting to know that these powers are present, and that Starfleet actively
09:34screens all officers to determine their ESP levels. Denner even claimed that some humans were able to
09:39sense future events, accurately guess the backs of playing cards, and even see through walls on occasion.
09:45Number 1. The Warp 10 Barrier
09:49In the 24th century, warp speed was segmented into different warp factors from 1 to 10. Warp factor
09:551 is light speed, and 10 is infinite velocity, meaning that the vessel would be traveling so
10:00fast that it would occupy every point in space simultaneously. Warp factor 10 was only achieved
10:05once in the Voyager episode Threshold. The technology was deemed too dangerous to use because it had
10:10interesting effects on human evolution and turned Tom Paris into a horrifying lizard, but most fans
10:15like to pretend that Threshold never happened. The speeds of warp factors increased exponentially,
10:20meaning that Warp 2 is vastly faster than Warp 1, and so on. Starfleet ships in the 24th
10:26century can reach above Warp 9.9, and Voyager can even get up to 9.975, which may seem close to 10,
10:33but it is actually incomprehensibly slower. In the 23rd century, during the original series,
10:39Starfleet used a different scale for calculating warp speed, which is why, in many episodes,
10:44the Changeling, for example, the Enterprise traveled at Warp 10, 11, or higher.
10:48And that concludes our list. If you can think of anything that we missed,
10:52then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're there, don't forget to like,
10:55and subscribe, and tap that notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there,
10:59at TrekCulture, and I can be found across various social medias just by searching
11:04Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with TrekCulture. I hope you have a wonderful day,
11:08and remember to boldly go where no one has gone before.
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