How do shields work in Star Trek?

[OverVolt]

Originally posted by: Cooler
My guess there like Protoss shields and run off psi.

Quick Captain! Hallucinate the away shuttle and send them at once in a group of twelve, to confuse the enemy!

lol irl.

 

[sdifox]

Navigational shield protects from cosmic rays and debris. That is on all the time. The more powerful shield acts as an energy barrier. Supposed to absorb or cancel out energy weapons (disruptors, phasers and photon torpedoes). I am surprised they didn't create an alien craft with good old slug guns. That would really do a number on that ship

As to frequency, well, all emitters operate on some frequency, though I would think a shield would be on broad spectrum. Otherwise you got gaps in the shield. The freqency referred to in the series might be the spectrum cycle frequency though. Again, doesn't make much sense since it is far better to do random frequency attenuation if you want to increase your chance of matching the incoming shot and cancel it out.

 

[Roguestar]

When asked "How do the inertial dampers work on the starship Enterprise?" at a Star Trek convention many years ago, one of the producers replied "very well, thank you".

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: sdifox
Navigational shield protects from cosmic rays and debris. That is on all the time. The more powerful shield acts as an energy barrier. Supposed to absorb or cancel out energy weapons (disruptors, phasers and photon torpedoes). I am surprised they didn't create an alien craft with good old slug guns. That would really do a number on that ship

As to frequency, well, all emitters operate on some frequency, though I would think a shield would be on broad spectrum. Otherwise you got gaps in the shield. The freqency referred to in the series might be the spectrum cycle frequency though. Again, doesn't make much sense since it is far better to do random frequency attenuation if you want to increase your chance of matching the incoming shot and cancel it out.

FWIW I think the other shield is called the deflector shield, if the first one is called the navigational shield. ~shrug~

 

[ITJunkie]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
pew pew pew!!

ha haa...shields up...you miss :laugh:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: sao123

Originally posted by: Atheus
I notice the shields protect the crew from radiation - in several episodes they use them for that purpose - but then when they go into battle they say 'shields up' - why aren't they up all the time? Dangerous radiation is present at all times in space.

Actually the ship has at least 2 sets of shields.
One which protects the ship & crew from standard levels of radiation & debris...
Under more intense a stronger shield can be deployed, this stronger shield is also the one used during battle.

Actually the ship is a toy model, so I doubt it has even one set of shields, let alone two.

The shields are made up of a highly technical material called model plastic.

 

[ViRGE]

I'm surprised no one has started a Star Destroyer vs. Enterprise debate yet.:Q

 

[Jack Ryan]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: sao123

Originally posted by: Atheus
I notice the shields protect the crew from radiation - in several episodes they use them for that purpose - but then when they go into battle they say 'shields up' - why aren't they up all the time? Dangerous radiation is present at all times in space.

Actually the ship has at least 2 sets of shields.
One which protects the ship & crew from standard levels of radiation & debris...
Under more intense a stronger shield can be deployed, this stronger shield is also the one used during battle.

Actually the ship is a toy model, so I doubt it has even one set of shields, let alone two.

The shields are made up of a highly technical material called model plastic.

Maybe you two should go back to watching LOST.

 

[Matt2]

You guys have nothing better to do than crap someone's thread?

Take some anti-diahreal medicine and move on.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: Atheus
I notice the shields protect the crew from radiation - in several episodes they use them for that purpose - but then when they go into battle they say 'shields up' - why aren't they up all the time? Dangerous radiation is present at all times in space.

Because the writers are scientifically illiterate and would never think of that? Besides, when in doubt, the answer is tachyons...

Adjust the deflector dish...



...to emit a modulated tachyon pulse.

 

[Triumph]

I actually love Star Trek, and would challenge anyone here on TNG trivia, but I think it's funny when people talk about it as if its real. How do the shields work? They don't, it's a fantasy!!!

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: sdifox
Navigational shield protects from cosmic rays and debris. That is on all the time. The more powerful shield acts as an energy barrier. Supposed to absorb or cancel out energy weapons (disruptors, phasers and photon torpedoes). I am surprised they didn't create an alien craft with good old slug guns. That would really do a number on that ship

First Contact Spoiler Alert:


Thats why the conventional machine guns worked so well against the borg. The borg shields were only good against energy, not projectiles

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Triumph
I actually love Star Trek, and would challenge anyone here on TNG trivia, but I think it's funny when people talk about it as if its real. How do the shields work? They don't, it's a fantasy!!!

Hah, your statement reminds me of what Josh Lyman said one episode of West Wing to the trekkie girl.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Matt2
You guys have nothing better to do than crap someone's thread?

Take some anti-diahreal medicine and move on.

Let me guess...you go to Star Trek conventions don't you? :laugh:

 

[toolboxolio]

My nerd-o-meter spinned 5 times just thinking about this thread.

Thank god "real" smart people exist. You know, the ones who thought of this stuff for noobs to debate.



I wasted my time here... was expecting more since I am a fan of the series.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Triumph
I actually love Star Trek, and would challenge anyone here on TNG trivia, but I think it's funny when people talk about it as if its real. How do the shields work? They don't, it's a fantasy!!!

but convincing fiction can have reasonable and consistent explanations for things within the constraints of the fictional universe. of course star trek technobabble is anything but convincing. I think the explanation is the shield is made from some kind of particles bonded into shape by some kind of field.

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: Atheus
I notice the shields protect the crew from radiation - in several episodes they use them for that purpose - but then when they go into battle they say 'shields up' - why aren't they up all the time? Dangerous radiation is present at all times in space.

Their shields are up all the time. They has a separate system of navigation shields. I remember once in TNG they were fighting some sort of unadvanced race that was firing lasers at the enterprise and one of the crew said "those won't even penetrate the navigational shields!" or something like that.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: sdifox
Navigational shield protects from cosmic rays and debris. That is on all the time. The more powerful shield acts as an energy barrier. Supposed to absorb or cancel out energy weapons (disruptors, phasers and photon torpedoes). I am surprised they didn't create an alien craft with good old slug guns. That would really do a number on that ship

First Contact Spoiler Alert:


Thats why the conventional machine guns worked so well against the borg. The borg shields were only good against energy, not projectiles

You are talking about when they were on the ground right? I don't remember the trek movies all that well... Have them all mind you, just don't really remember the details.

Mech Warrior FTW! ... There is just something to be said for a big slug. I liked how in Space Above and Beyond they were using both energy and kinetic weapons.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Triumph
I actually love Star Trek, and would challenge anyone here on TNG trivia, but I think it's funny when people talk about it as if its real. How do the shields work? They don't, it's a fantasy!!!

It's science fiction, not fantasy, and apparently you don't know the difference.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: Triumph
I actually love Star Trek, and would challenge anyone here on TNG trivia, but I think it's funny when people talk about it as if its real. How do the shields work? They don't, it's a fantasy!!!

It's science fiction, not fantasy, and apparently you don't know the difference.

Um... Star Trek is very arguably science fantasy as opposed to science fiction, due to the fact that the writers and canon barely even make a token effort towards scientific accuracy.

Just some small examples: "up" and "down" in deep space, "full stop" in space (relative to what? ), "inertial dampers," "heisenberg compensators," and other endless techobabble that either completely ignores science or merely gives it lip service.

OTOH, examples of true science fiction would be Wells, Verne, Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke (to name the classic masters). Works by these authors tend to retain scientific accuracy as much as possible (as hypothetically or theoretically understood at the time of writing), while the fiction is more related to the characters and circumstances. It's not like Star Trek where the day is saved at the last minute by some technobabble bullsh!t.
Oh BTW, I can say this and I'm a pretty big Star Trek fan. It's just that I'm also a huge true science fiction fan, and I don't like to see Star Trek lumped into that category.

 

[Skotty]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: Triumph
I actually love Star Trek, and would challenge anyone here on TNG trivia, but I think it's funny when people talk about it as if its real. How do the shields work? They don't, it's a fantasy!!!

It's science fiction, not fantasy, and apparently you don't know the difference.

Um... Star Trek is very arguably science fantasy as opposed to science fiction, due to the fact that the writers and canon barely even make a token effort towards scientific accuracy.

Just some small examples: "up" and "down" in deep space, "full stop" in space (relative to what? ), "inertial dampers," "heisenberg compensators," and other endless techobabble that either completely ignores science or merely gives it lip service.

Just for arguments sake...

I think it's reasonable to assume that they have their own definitions for what "full stop" is in space, and several other terms as well. For instance, they may define "full stop" as stopped relative to the star when within a solar system, and relative to the galactic center when not in a solar system. Explaning this concept frequently on the series would be a waste of time, and seemingly out of place as it would likely be common knowledge to the crew and most other people they encounter.

As for "up" and "down", I can't think of any episodes right now where they had a definite "up" and "down". Though ships as shown in space are often oriented in the same way as each other, so perhaps that's what you mean. Maybe they just prefer to be oriented the same way when not in battle.

"inertial dampers" are pretty much a requirement for their kind of space travel, and their kind of space travel is pretty much a requirement for the stories they want to tell. Stuff like that may have no scientific accuracy for science as we know it, but it could be argued that explaining something away, like inertia, with some fake technology is better than just ignoring the problem completely.

I don't see any problem with calling these kinds of shows "science fiction". It does have the word "fiction" in it, after all. I'd be sooner tempted to call a space show or movie that takes current scientific accuracy as far as possible as a "drama" or "action" or whatever, without labeling it as "science fiction".

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: Atheus
I notice the shields protect the crew from radiation - in several episodes they use them for that purpose - but then when they go into battle they say 'shields up' - why aren't they up all the time? Dangerous radiation is present at all times in space.

Perhaps the shields are running in a low power passive mode most of the time (similar to amd's cool n quiet technology), but 'shields up' is the command given to charge the shields to 100%. That makes more sense anyway because it would be a lot quicker and easier to increase the charge in the shields from a lower percentage of the total than from if they were off because the generators would have to actually turn on instead of just come up from an idle state (like a laptop in sleep mode).

Maybe...

 

[Vic]

In general, the "fiction" in science fiction refers to the stories (charcater and circumstances), not the usage of science itself. OTOH if the laws of the physical universe have to be almost completely re-written in order for the "science" used in the stories to work, then that is generally considered to be science fantasy.
According to Rod Serling, "science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible." That's a good a definition as any IMO.

Now like I said, this is totally arguable in regards to Star Trek (and we're really going off the edge of geekdom here). But if you wanted to make it a spectrum, with (say) science fantasy space opera with Buck Rogers and Star Wars on one side and purist science fiction like Robert Heinlein on the other side, then you would have to say that Star Trek falls pretty squarely in the middle.

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: sdifox
I liked how in Space Above and Beyond they were using both energy and kinetic weapons.

That was such a great show. Arguably too dark to attract a mainstream audience (same issue the superior Battlestar Galactica faces), but excellent in so many ways. Too bad about how it ended.

I watched every episode of TNG when it aired, but did they ever overuse the concept of deus ex machina, usually as a result of Data inventing and implementing a solution to a problem in 2 minutes that they've already spent 58 minutes agonizing over. But hey, it was good entertainment for the time.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: mjuszczak
They always talk about "Shield Frequencies" and stuff. What's the basis of explanation?

Take theEarth's magnetic fields that deflect the solor winds and keep them from stripping of the atmosphere. Add some techniques that allow manipulation of quantum mechanics at a Macro scale.