| Ultritium [1] |
A powerful explosive. In 2265 Cervantes Quinn claimed to have rigged a cargo he delivered to Kessik IV with several kilos of ultritium. [1]
As a measure of how powerful an ultritium explosion could be, Chief O'Brien expected ninety isotons of enriched ultritium to be sufficient to destroy a Dominion facility and everything else within eight hundred kilometres of the detonation point. [2]
In 2346, Kira Nerys planted a bomb made from ultritium resin aboard Terok Nor in an attempt to assassinate Gul Dukat. [3]
In 2365, Antedian assassins wore robes lined with ultritium in an attempt to bomb a conference on Pacifica. The attempt failed when Lwaxana Troi read the assassin's minds and exposed the plan. [4]
Romulan scout ships used ultritium-based devices for self-destruct; in 2366 Geordi La Forge detected traces of ultritium residue on a destroyed Romulan ship on Galornden core. [5]
Ultritium-283 was carried by the Enterprise-D, classed as an industrial chemical explosive for use in mining applications. It was intended to be used for precision-charge patterns, detonated with standard microwave pulse ignition devices. Ultritium-342 was also carried, described as a high-yield version of standard industrial ultritium and intended to be used in terraforming applications, when the use of nuclear explosives are not desirable. [6]
The Dominion was mining ultritium from an asteroid in the Gamma Quadrant. The facility was later converted into a prison. [7]
Dominion forces used ultritium concussion shells as a surface bombardment weapon. [8]
In 2374 Captain Sisko used an enriched ultritium explosive to destroyed the Dominion's primary ketracel-white storage facility. [2]
When Captain Picard rebelled against Starleet in 2375 he took seven metric tons of ultritium explosives aboard the Captain's yacht. [9] |
| Underspace Corridor [10] |
The underspace corridor network surrounding the Vaadwuar home world is a natural phenomenon which allows ships to travel at far greater than normal speeds. The corridors were formerly controlled by the Vaadwuar themselves, who spent centuries mapping them and used them to allow trade with many other species and for military expansion of their territory. Approximately one thousand years ago the Vaadwuar were defeated by an alliance composed of their various victim species including the Turei. The alliance subsequently claimed control of the corridor network.
In 2376 Voyager was caught up in the network. The ship had been cruising at warp six when one of the corridors pulled them in abruptly, attracting the ships warp field like a magnet. They found hundreds of interconnected corridors, most filled with debris of various kinds. The ship found it difficult to escape from the corridors, but a Turei vessel was able to use a resonance pulse to alter Voyagers shield harmonic and expel it from the corridor.
Voyager found that the corridor had allowed them to cross two hundred light years of space in under five minutes, an average speed of over twenty million times the speed of light. They attempted to negotiate the right to use the corridors further, but were unable to do so. [10] |
| Universal Translator [11] |
The universal translator is perhaps one of the single most useful devices ever created. Without this handy gadget, co-operation between different species would be a far more complex and time consuming task than it historically has been. Initial versions of the universal translator were somewhat erratic, often needing a significant sampling of the alien language being used and depending on a good deal of operator input. Even then the translations it provided were often of variable accuracy. [12] Much work on improving the system was done by Ensign Hoshi Sato in her missions aboard the NX-01 between 2151 and 2161 - as just one example, she added several Klingon dialects to the database. [13] The increase in capability Ensign Sato provided made inter-species conferences such as that held on Earth in 2155 far smoother, more manageable affairs. [14] Sato eventually created the Linguacode translation matrix, a system which remained in use aboard Federation Starships until at least the 2260s. [15]
So successful was this system that by the 2260s it was an accepted theory that all intelligent life shared certain universal ideas and concepts. The universal translator could instantaneously compare the frequency of brain-wave patterns, select those ideas and concepts it recognizes, and then provide the necessary grammar before translating its findings into English using a voice an approximation of whatever the creature on the sending end is using - for instance a female voice would be provided for any feminine life form, no matter what its physical form may be. Although the system was not considered to be 100% efficient, translation difficulties were remarkably few and far between during this period. [11] Indeed so sophisticated did the translator become by the 2370s that even communications based on movement could be translated. [16] A basic UT unit was incorporated into the standard Starfleet combadge during this era [17], replacing the hand held unit common to the 2150s [18] and 2260s. [11] The software could also be included in programs such as the interactive holograms developed for use aboard ships. [19] Indeed, so advanced had these devices become that it was perfectly possible for a group of individuals to converse in different languages, each one thinking that everybody else was talking their own language - a truly remarkable achievement! [20]
As Starfleet explored more and more of the universe, however, the varieties of language encountered became more and more diverse. The universal translator occasionally had trouble analysing extremely different forms of syntax or grammar, although this could sometimes be overcome with sufficient exposure to the language. [21] Some languages, however, were so different that translation was extremely difficult. [22] For example, the Tamarian language was translated into English by the translator, but this did not greatly enhance understanding of the language because the translator did not convert the Tamarian's extensive use of metaphorical imagery into an English equivalent. [23] Inputting neural patterns and cortical scans of the subject could assist the translator with an unfamiliar form of communication [24], but even so it occasionally remained impossible to translate a language, at least in the short term. [17]
Many other species have discovered universal translator technology. For example, the Ferengi implant their version in their ears. [25] An advanced form of UT was used by the Think Tank which pursued Voyager in 2375, enabling its diverse members to communicate with one another; when Janeway disabled the device the Think Tank was unable to function effectively, allowing Voyager to escape. [26] |
