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If there's replicators to synthesize stuff, why does the Enterprise D need so many cargo holds?
Star Trek - Space: The Final Frontier
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Replicators need feed stock to synthesized stuff.
Parts for the ship and other equipment, as when SHTF it's good odds power maybe lost and the damage control is on the clock to repair shit now.
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Hiya toys is doing 1:18 scale (joe scale) new (JJverse) movie figures.
I watched a couple of Strange New Worlds episodes - it doesn't suck so far? I find this strange and new. It does make me fear that it will fall down a shithole at some point though. The genderblob pilot character grated, especially with her belly button showing while eating with the captain.
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Recovered cargo, antimatter, waste cargo (engines produce plasma waste I think?), shuttles and sometimes it's just useful to haul big stuff with a big ship.If there's replicators to synthesize stuff, why does the Enterprise D need so many cargo holds?
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Empty blue barrels
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Because when you're hauling emergency goods like medical supplies, you don't want to waste time synthesising them when you get there rather than hit the ground running.If there's replicators to synthesize stuff, why does the Enterprise D need so many cargo holds?
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- Dec 17, 2019
Oooh, that Ex Astris Scientia site tickles my Trek 'tism in just the right way.
Among the other answers given, I'd add that some things cannot be replicated.If there's replicators to synthesize stuff, why does the Enterprise D need so many cargo holds?
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- Dec 28, 2014
Latinum would be an example. Although I don't know if they ever expressly stated that, that would be one reason it's actually valuable.
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- Dec 17, 2019
Pretty sure they did indeed. I almost said it in that post, but I thought it would be obvious, like deuterium fuel or dilithium crystals. Hell, Voyager was constantly looking for shit they couldn't replicate in the Delta quadrant.
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I tried to find a specific case of it actually being stated in canon material and couldn't find it. I do remember it, but can't find a specific "latinum definitely can't be replicated." Unlike where dilithium is actually necessary for the replicator to work. Presumably, for that reason, you also couldn't use a replicator to replicate dilithium.
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- Dec 17, 2019
Right? Just hook the replicator up to the matter and anti-matter injector ports. Warpdrive go brrrrrrrr. Same on the specific case. I'm sure I saw it on some trek show, just can't name it, but maybe I'll hit up Memory Alpha and see what I can find.
EDIT: Of course, I remembered as I hit the page. Its stated in Who Mourns for Morn! Also, memory alpha page (trek canon wiki) for replicators. Has most of the canon limits on replicators listed.
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It's been a while since I've watched DS9, but it was brought up a few times that Latinum can't be replicated and the reason why it is encased in "worthless" gold. Apparently, the natural state of Latinum is liquid, so they press it into gold for easier transport. And here is some site that has a post answering the question about why it can't be replicated.
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Where do you think they store all their self-sealing stem bolts?If there's replicators to synthesize stuff, why does the Enterprise D need so many cargo holds?
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I don't believe it's ever been directly stated in the show (though I believe it has been stated in at lest a few books) that it can't be replicated, but the implication is there because if it could be replicated with 100% accuracy it wouldn't be valuable. There's a reason that dilithium can't be replicated, and that's because dilithium actually exists in more than 3 dimensions. Part of dilithium exists in the 4th dimension known as subspace. From Memory Alpha:
"Scientifically, use of the prefix "di-" denotes two atoms, suggesting dilithium consists of two atoms of lithium. However, lithium, being a metal, should not be able to exist in this state, as metals cannot form diatomic molecules. "Real" dilithium (two lithium atoms in a covalent bond) is only currently known to exist as a gas. As an alternative explanation, two science advisers for the franchise proposed that the "di-" in dilithium refers its normal space and subspace components."
However, it's possible that latinum is one of those things that if synthesized or replicated is capable of being spotted as inauthentic. For instance diamonds, we can make them artificially in a lab, but any jeweler worth his salt would know he's looking at a manmade diamond.
Realistically I just don't think they thought much about it. For one thing they seem to often forget that latinum is a liquid metal, often saying things are plated with or made from latinum (for instance latinum plated Renewal Scroll Inscription Pens that Quark tried selling the Bajorans during the Gratitude Festival, a latinum earring Zek gave Kira, the latinum plated waste extraction fixtures in the Nagal Palace, Lwaxana Troi's latinum hair brooch, or the fact that the Divine Treasury is said to be made of pure latinum.)
Frankly I think it's best to just accept it as one of the few non-replicable materials in the universe.
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- Dec 28, 2014
The "worthless gold" thing is the strongest implication. It implies gold can be replicated like nearly everything else and that itself implies that latinum can't.
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- Aug 31, 2020
They make combadges out of gold, meaning it's mass-produced for every crewman plus spares for nominated civilians.
marvlouslie
kiwifarms.net
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It's not so much they make the badges themselves out of gold, but I'm assuming the electronics inside of one is necessary for a lot of the tech to work.