4 ms·

Wait - the warp engine doesn't generate power using matter-antimatter annihilation??

jasperry 6y ago
My memory is a little fuzzy. Matter-antimatter may in fact be involved in the warp drive, but it's definitely not direct propulsion.
rsstack 6y ago
Warp engines are powered by annihilation, since it's an "easy" fuel, but the annihilation itself doesn't move the ship. Similar to how nuclear-powered ships and submarines don't detonate nukes to push themselves forward.
- klyrs 6y ago
  Except when that's the plan? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propu...
- gizmo385 6y ago
  > Similar to how nuclear-powered ships and submarines don't detonate nukes to push themselves forward. Picturing this in my head was certainly a treat :)
rootbear 6y ago
The original series was a bit fuzzy on just what role the matter-antimatter engines (and dilithium crystals) played in making warp drive possible. From the Next Generation era onward, the idea was basically that a matter-antimatter engine was the only practical way to generate the enormous power required to generate the warp field needed to go FTL via warp drive.
- SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
  Except for the Romulans using some sort of captured/artificial singularities (white holes?) for their power generation IIRC.
  - shadowgovt 6y ago
    Undersized black holes. Maintained and dragged along with the ship by manipulating the gravitational frame of reference in the engine core. In TNG, they don't practically behave much differently from the warp core, but some of the video game spin-offs had fun with the idea, having destroyed Romulan warbirds collapse into their own engine core, which then evaporated because it was unstable outside of the confines of the gravitational field.
    - sdenton4 6y ago
      It's a nice way to prevent enemies from salvaging your ships. Seems appropriate for the Romulans!
redwall_hp 6y ago
The entirety of Star Trek revolves around using deuterium-antideuterium annihilation as an energy source. They use those reactors for two things that are essential to the ST setting: warp drive and matter replicators. Both require an astounding amount of energy, made possible by the matter-antimatter reactors, and both address the twin issues of faster-than-light travel and post-scarcity society. The "warp core" on a ship is just the power plant. The nacelles under the saucer house the "field coil" machinery that generates a warp field. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Warp_drive https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Warp_drive
- dreamcompiler 6y ago
  Except for Star Trek Discovery where the energy source is...mold.
  - lovegoblin 6y ago
    No, the fungi give them access to the subspace mycelial network which they can navigate/transverse in order execute what is basically galactic-scale teleportation. Yes, this is gobbledygook. But no moreso than regular "subspace" or anything else in Trek. For power (ed: including their standard warp drive), the Discovery still has a plain old M/AM reactor. And yes, I did just use the phrase "plain old M/AM reactor" hah
  - maxcan 6y ago
    Am I the only one who appreciates that a show with the acronym STD is all about space fungus?
    - lovegoblin 6y ago
      Eh, but in practice the only people who use STD rather than DSC are people who don't like it and go out of their way to shit on those who do. So using "STD" has turned into kind of a unsavory gatekeepy dogwhistle. It tends to bring out the worst types of stereotypical toxic fandom. /r/DaystromInstitute even automod-bans it for that reason.

My memory is a little fuzzy. Matter-antimatter may in fact be involved in the warp drive, but it's definitely not direct propulsion.

rsstack 6y ago

Warp engines are powered by annihilation, since it's an "easy" fuel, but the annihilation itself doesn't move the ship. Similar to how nuclear-powered ships and submarines don't detonate nukes to push themselves forward.

klyrs 6y ago
Except when that's the plan? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propu...
gizmo385 6y ago
> Similar to how nuclear-powered ships and submarines don't detonate nukes to push themselves forward. Picturing this in my head was certainly a treat :)

rootbear 6y ago

The original series was a bit fuzzy on just what role the matter-antimatter engines (and dilithium crystals) played in making warp drive possible. From the Next Generation era onward, the idea was basically that a matter-antimatter engine was the only practical way to generate the enormous power required to generate the warp field needed to go FTL via warp drive.

SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
Except for the Romulans using some sort of captured/artificial singularities (white holes?) for their power generation IIRC.
- shadowgovt 6y ago
  Undersized black holes. Maintained and dragged along with the ship by manipulating the gravitational frame of reference in the engine core. In TNG, they don't practically behave much differently from the warp core, but some of the video game spin-offs had fun with the idea, having destroyed Romulan warbirds collapse into their own engine core, which then evaporated because it was unstable outside of the confines of the gravitational field.
  - sdenton4 6y ago
    It's a nice way to prevent enemies from salvaging your ships. Seems appropriate for the Romulans!

redwall_hp 6y ago

The entirety of Star Trek revolves around using deuterium-antideuterium annihilation as an energy source. They use those reactors for two things that are essential to the ST setting: warp drive and matter replicators. Both require an astounding amount of energy, made possible by the matter-antimatter reactors, and both address the twin issues of faster-than-light travel and post-scarcity society. The "warp core" on a ship is just the power plant. The nacelles under the saucer house the "field coil" machinery that generates a warp field. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Warp_drive https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Warp_drive

dreamcompiler 6y ago
Except for Star Trek Discovery where the energy source is...mold.
- lovegoblin 6y ago
  No, the fungi give them access to the subspace mycelial network which they can navigate/transverse in order execute what is basically galactic-scale teleportation. Yes, this is gobbledygook. But no moreso than regular "subspace" or anything else in Trek. For power (ed: including their standard warp drive), the Discovery still has a plain old M/AM reactor. And yes, I did just use the phrase "plain old M/AM reactor" hah
- maxcan 6y ago
  Am I the only one who appreciates that a show with the acronym STD is all about space fungus?
  - lovegoblin 6y ago
    Eh, but in practice the only people who use STD rather than DSC are people who don't like it and go out of their way to shit on those who do. So using "STD" has turned into kind of a unsavory gatekeepy dogwhistle. It tends to bring out the worst types of stereotypical toxic fandom. /r/DaystromInstitute even automod-bans it for that reason.