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Old 03-09-2022, 05:34 PM
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March 2nd, 1992, "Ethics"

Oh boy, is this one a beartrap waiting to be stepped in...

No fiver

The Episode

LAFORGE: I'm still reading some chlorinide leakage, but I can't pin it down.

Only mention of chlorinide. -ide means a binary compound that doesn't have any metallic elements. There's a Reddit post that posits that "chloride" (i.e. a chlorine ion attached to a molecule) should really be "chlorinide". Chloride salts are found in saltwater and also exists in all body fluids. They corrode metal and have other negative environmental effects. They can also be used to preserve food or as a general dessicant. As for what this stuff is doing on a starship, I have to assume that it's being used as a conductor. Perhaps this is a precursor to the bio-neural gelpaks.

WORF: How did you know what I had?
LAFORGE: Let's just say I had a special insight into the cards. Maybe next time you should bring a deck that's not transparent to infrared light. Not to worry, Worf. I only peek after the hand is over.

I fail to see how seeing infrared allows you to see through playing cards. My best (if outlandish) guess is that the ink on a card has a different heat conductivity than the cardstock. Therefore Geordi see the heat distribution across the card and the inked portions are a little "cooler" than the surrounding portion. Although you'd think you could replicate the cards to include a layer of foil within them to prevent this.

LAFORGE: Still nothing. I'll get a dynoscan. We'll try again.

The only other appearance of a dynoscanner is TWOK. Apparently these things are useful for scanning low-level molecular activity, stuff too subtle for standard tricorders.

(Worf carries on scanning with the tricorder, as a barrel stacked on top of the leaking one starts to topple forward until)

Let's get this out of the way right now: the entire premise of this episode is stupid. It's been proven over and over again that the inertial dampeners aren't infallible. Why aren't these barrels secured? A secondary question is how you're supposed to get stuff on and off these shelves. Forklifts don't exist in Star Trek. We know that hover units exist in this universe, but how do crewmen get up there to begin with?

TLDR: There's no reason for multilevel cargo bays in the first place; there should be a mezzanine level with an elevator.

(Worf tries to sit up, but cannot)
WORF: Doctor, I will not attempt to leave Sickbay without your approval. The restraining field is not necessary.

This is just dumb. I'm pretty sure that restraining fields would have some sort of static charge feedback to tell you that they're there.

RUSSELL: Before we get down to business, I just wanted to say that I had the pleasure of reading your paper on cybernetic regeneration recently.
CRUSHER: Really? You're the first person to mention it.

This is a reference to "11001001", back in the pre-Borg days when cybernetics wasn't a boogeyman.

RUSSELL: Only briefly. I must admit, I was a little shocked to find the state of Klingon neurological medicine to be so primitive.
CRUSHER: It's a cultural bias. When I contacted the Klingon Medical Division, they informed me that they usually let the patient die in a case like this. As a result they've done almost no research on neurological trauma.

I get the Klingon cultural bias, I really do. And we'll be covering euthanasia later, but you'd think even Klingons would want to be on the cutting edge of medical technology anyway. No doubt stuff that would've been euthanasia-worth in the TOS days can be fully treated now. If they're going to draw a line at what is and isn't worth treating, we're getting into religious belief here, which would've been an interesting discussion.

RIKER: You look pretty good for someone who's been eating sickbay food for three days.

I get the "hospital food sucks" joke, but in this case it's just dumb. In an age of replicators I imagine patients have full access to whatever they want. Maybe Crusher can tell the replicator not to give Worf stuff with too much sugar or whatever, but in general there should be no difference.

CRUSHER: The cortical spinal tract has continued to deteriorate over the last seventy two hours despite CPK enzymatic therapy.

"CPK" means "creatine phosphokinase", an enzyme (hence "enzymatic" being redundant) that regulates muscle contractility and blood pressure. Too much CPK (or rather CK in today's nomenclature) indicates too much exercise or tissue damage. In this case I think what they're trying to mitigate the damage being done by the higher blood pressure caused by Worf's body trying and failing to repair itself.

RUSSELL: What about alkysine treatment?
CRUSHER: Ineffective.

Alkysine doesn't exist. In fact this is redundant nonsense, as -ine indicates an organic base, and alkaloids are already organic.

RUSSELL: Overdesigned. Klingon anatomy. Twenty three ribs, two livers, eight-chambered heart, double-lined neural pia mater. I've never seen so many unnecessary redundancies in one body.

Humans have 24 ribs (don't pay attention to accounts from Genesis), odd numbers don't make sense. Two livers I don't understand, even if Klingons do enjoy their booze. Does bloodwine have two different forms of alcohol in it that require two livers?

Pia mater is the delicate inner membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord. I don't see why having two layers is a bad thing.

CRUSHER: Unnecessary? The Klingons refer to it as the brak'lul. Almost every vital function in their bodies has a built-in redundancy in case any primary organ or system fails.

Except for the heart. While I could understand how eight chambers could help with larger feats of strength in battle, I don't think you could injure four chambers and have the other four work like normal.

Incidentally, in "Lineage" it's revealed that Klingons have three lungs to aid in battlefield longevity. I wonder why it wasn't mentioned here. And in "Macrocosm" we learn that Klingons have two stomachs, another implausible redundancy.

Incidentally, Okudagram text in DS9 reveals that there was a Klingon officer in the Dominion war named Brak'Lul who was killed in action. Why you would name someone "Redundant" is beyond me.

RUSSELL: The early results have been very encouraging. Beverly, the genetronic replicator can create a completely new neural conduit for your Lieutenant Worf.
CRUSHER: Replace his entire spinal column?
RUSSELL: Exactly. Instead of splicing and pasting together broken connections like a couple of glorified tailors, we create a new living system.

This is a case where I agree with Russell. Trying to splice neural tissue has historically been a bad idea in Trek (I especially refer you to Bariel), this is a case where complete replacement is preferable if possible.

CRUSHER: I had no idea you were already using this on humanoids.
RUSSELL: I haven't been. This'll be the first time.
CRUSHER: First time?
RUSSELL: I've done dozens of holosimulations. The success rate is up to thirty seven percent.

I balk at the notion that a holographic recreation can predict everything that can do wrong with a neural system if altered. I do wonder why it wasn't 47 percent.

CRUSHER: You're talking about a spinal column. Even before we could replace it, we have to remove the existing one, and we don't know enough about Klingon neurological medicine to re-attach it.

This is where I don't agree with Crusher. Attaching bones, muscles, and basic nerves isn't the problem here. It's been done before in Trek. My concern is severing the existing nerves to cause minimal damage in the time between spines.

CRUSHER: I'll need to convert all three shuttlebays to emergency triage centres. I also want all civilians with medical training to report for duty.
PICARD: Make it so.

Why would she need permission to do this?

PICARD: Will, if you were dying, if you were terminally ill with an incurable disease and facing the remaining few days of your life in pain, wouldn't you come to look on death as a release?
RIKER: Worf isn't dying and he is not in pain.

I agree with Riker on this one. The whole allegory falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. We'll be returning to this issue when Picard talks to Crusher.

ALEXANDER: This is part of that Klingon stuff, isn't it. My mother always said that Klingons had a lot of dumb ideas about honour.
TROI: Alexander, that Klingon stuff is very important to your father.
ALEXANDER: Well, it isn't very important to me. I don't care about being Klingon, I just want to see my father.

This is a good point. Furthermore, this is a bad time to bring up Klingon custom, as this is exactly the sort of "nonsense" that K'Ehleyr hated. Worf is pushing this stuff on Alexander too fast, and he shouldn't be surprised if Alexander doesn't want to be a warrior later. If Klingon honor makes Worf unhappy by keeping him from the Empire AND leads to Worf's death, Alexander will never even have a positive impression of Klingons.
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