Star-Trek 'Gadgets'

[captain nemo1701]

Dilithium, fiction!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilithium

OK, I stand corrected. However, it could never be used to mediate a matter/anti matter reaction, would likely get vapourised. The article does have a link to the fictional version.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Re: the first post. I'm surprised those translators aren't more common and/or cheaper? They seem to be between £50 and £300. Surely it's just Alexa-style voice recognition which I've had on my Amazon Fire Stick for years, populated into google translate which has been around for years, and then read out again through a speaker?

 

[captain nemo1701]

Don't forget that Spock was always inserting various coloured 'chips' into the bridge computer. Now we had SD/MicroSD cards.

 

[Threevok]

Don't forget that Spock was always inserting various coloured 'chips' into the bridge computer. Now we had SD/MicroSD cards.

I always thought of them as MiniDisc

 

[Vantage]

You know that device the doc used to inject people with that didn't use needles? It's actually been made. Or a crap version of it anyway.
I had one years ago for delivering insulin. It used a really strong spring to punch the insulin through the skin pores. It hurt like hell and left bruises and bleeding.
Never again.

 

[Reynard]

Never watched it

I'd really recommend it - it's the first sci-fi series that worked to a planned story arc, paving the way for a lot of the stuff we watch today, like GoT...

First season is a bit slow, but it lays all the groundwork. But once it picks up right at the end of S1, you'll be swept away, I promise. Seasons 3 and 4 are real gems. OK, the sets are a bit ropey (the pilot aired in 1993 after all) but the writing is amazing and the acting is unique.

Joe Straczynski used a lot of theatre actors rather than sticking to those who only did TV. You get cameos from John Vickery, John Schuck, Jane Carr and even Guy Siner (he of Lt Gruber fame)...

I got introduced to B5 first time round by some friends at uni - I was a trekkie and didn't "get" it at first, but the episode "Confessions and Lamentations" really blew my mind, and I've been hooked ever since.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I'd really recommend it - it's the first sci-fi series that worked to a planned story arc, paving the way for a lot of the stuff we watch today, like GoT...

First season is a bit slow, but it lays all the groundwork. But once it picks up right at the end of S1, you'll be swept away, I promise. Seasons 3 and 4 are real gems. OK, the sets are a bit ropey (the pilot aired in 1993 after all) but the writing is amazing and the acting is unique.

Joe Straczynski used a lot of theatre actors rather than sticking to those who only did TV. You get cameos from John Vickery, John Schuck, Jane Carr and even Guy Siner (he of Lt Gruber fame)...

I got introduced to B5 first time round by some friends at uni - I was a trekkie and didn't "get" it at first, but the episode "Confessions and Lamentations" really blew my mind, and I've been hooked ever since.

I saw a bit of it recently and unfortunately, it visually looks dated due to the fact they went CGI with the effects, IMHO, too soon. The FX look 'video-gameish' now which is a shame as the story & acting are great. OK at the time, but nothing to what can be done now. Looking back at ST TNG, it's fared a bit better in the FX dept by sticking to miniatures. B5 would have been very expensive to do with models, so CGI was probably chosen for production time/costs. But I think just a wee bit before it's 'time'.

At the time, DS9, Voyager and even the ST TNG movies resisted full CG ships. However in 1995, Foundation Imaging who left B5 , produced an absolute gem that got the FX industry motivated.

Watch from the 2 minute mark:

 

[Reynard]

I saw a bit of it recently and unfortunately, it visually looks dated due to the fact they went CGI with the effects, IMHO, too soon. The FX look 'video-gameish' now which is a shame as the story & acting are great. OK at the time, but nothing to what can be done now. Looking back at ST TNG, it's fared a bit better in the FX dept by sticking to miniatures. B5 would have been very expensive to do with models, so CGI was probably chosen for production time/costs. But I think just a wee bit before it's 'time'.

At the time, DS9, Voyager and even the ST TNG movies resisted full CG ships. However in 1995, Foundation Imaging who left B5 , produced an absolute gem that got the FX industry motivated.

Watch from the 2 minute mark:

They had to go with CGI to keep production under budget - it was one of the prerequisites from WB for taking up the series in the first place. When you think that B5 was produced at a fraction of the cost of TNG / DS9 / Voyager which were all airing concurrently, you realise what a gem it really is.

Sticking to miniatures is fine, but the build time and maintenance and all the specialised shooting that needs to be done is the black hole that sucks up all the money. OK, once you've got the stock shots, they can be re-used, but it's all the other stuff...

And to be fair, unlike a lot of sci-fi, B5 is all about the story, not the glitzy packaging.