Spore Drive, a few questions.

[Elephant999]

I’m still finding the concept of flying by mushrooms rather bizarre.

A couple of things I don’t really understand. Yes, I know it’s SciFi, but has there been an explanation I’ve missed during the show.

When the spore-drive is engaged, why does it show the ship spinning? Seems like a visual device to differentiate from warp drive, or am I missing something?

How will other people than Stamets become navigators, as genetic manipulation is banned in peacetime within the Federation?

 

[Hythlodeus]

How will other people than Stamets become navigators, as genetic manipulation is banned in peacetime within the Federation?

They won't. That's one of the reasons 24th century ships don't use a spore drive

 

[XCV330]

Seems like a visual device to differentiate from warp drive, or am I missing something??

I assume the same as you on that. It looks cool, and its distinguishably not warp (my favorite warp effect is still the TMP disco tunnel)

 

[Elephant999]

I do like them showing on the view screen, the warp or spore drive effects. I always thought the Enterprise D, for example, didn’t look particularly quick, more barge like in manoeuvrability as the view screen was never a particularly exciting view!

 

[F. King Daniel]

They won't. That's one of the reasons 24th century ships don't use a spore drive

Nah, it has to be something better than that or every other species would be merrily using it. They have set up an enchanted forest full of critters that will likely see the doorway permanently close in the final episode.

 

[Hythlodeus]

Nah, it has to be something better than that or every other species would be merrily using it. They have set up an enchanted forest full of critters that will likely see the doorway permanently close in the final episode.

ONE. OF. THE. REASONS.
O N E

 

[KennyB]

Oh thank God---it's been days since a Spore Drive thread!

 

[Succubint]

It's obviously meant to be a cool visual effect to help differentiate from normal warp, but I think they've touched upon the spinning with what happened with the USS Glenn, that catastrophic failure where both the hull and the people inside were twisted and distorted with "extreme helical torsion". Stamets even mentions this in episode 5 as a problem in physically traversing between normal space and the MN.

 

[Elephant999]

Helical distortion Awful way to die.

 

[Tuskin38]

Nah, it has to be something better than that or every other species would be merrily using it. They have set up an enchanted forest full of critters that will likely see the doorway permanently close in the final episode.

Why haven't any other species been making subspace folding (Voy), or genesis devices, or all those androids Kirk ran into in TOS?

There has been a lot of useful technology or medical advances that have only showed up once and never been seen again in Star Trek with no explanation.

 

[ParkerGlyn]

When the spore-drive is engaged, why does it show the ship spinning? Seems like a visual device to differentiate from warp drive, or am I missing something?

Centripetal force is involved in the space jump some how maybe.

 

[TrickyDickie]

I've been doing some research on bacteria and from what I've read, I think that would have made for a better concept than what they've done with fungal spores.

 

[drt]

The idea is that since earth fungi make large underground networks (based on the research of the real Paul Stamets), Starfleet have found that one species of fungus makes a network through subspace, Discovery somehow taps into this network to pop-up somewhere else in space.

It just occurred to me that this could be retconned to explain how the Q or Iconions travel instantaneously.

 

[Timo]

Well, nothing in Star Trek has ever stood in the way of folks traveling instantaneously. The Trek universe in all likelihood is chock full of weirdness like the spore network, and countless species make use of this, while countless others don't.

Ditto with Genesis devices and whatnot. Our heroes often run into terraformed planets, including ones the UFP considers "impossible" one way or another. Some folks may well carry Genesis devices in their back pockets, then. And humans probably will, too, eventually. Some ideas just don't stick on the first attempt. Give it a century or three.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[TrickyDickie]

Oh, look....it's a S'more Drive

 

[Ovation]

Oh, look....it's a S'more Drive

Instead of making the ship travel across the galaxy instantaneously, it makes it an immovable object, immune to all attempts at moving it.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Oh, look....it's a S'more Drive

Rather than traveling through the mycelial network, this is where the s'more drive takes you through.

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[Agony_Boothb]

Rather than traveling through the mycelial network, this is where the s'more drive takes you through.

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Instead of the mycelial network, one journeys to the hershey highway

 

[USS Triumphant]

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[XCV330]

Well, nothing in Star Trek has ever stood in the way of folks traveling instantaneously. The Trek universe in all likelihood is chock full of weirdness like the spore network, and countless species make use of this, while countless others don't.

Ditto with Genesis devices and whatnot. Our heroes often run into terraformed planets, including ones the UFP considers "impossible" one way or another. Some folks may well carry Genesis devices in their back pockets, then. And humans probably will, too, eventually. Some ideas just don't stick on the first attempt. Give it a century or three.

Timo Saloniemi

Star trek HAS stood in the way of folks travelling instantanously. The way it is written only the ocasional "God-like" advanced civilization has that power, apart from the Borg, and the Borg conduits have limitations.

The problem with that is the Genesis device is shown to be essentially more of a first strike weapon with build in terraforming and evidence remover. If any culture had them and publically displayed they had and would use the technology it would almost be incumbent on every other galactic civilization to band together and wipe them out for their trouble.

Every time trek takes a tech level too far for good story telling like beaming from Earth to Kronos, Genesis bombs, Vger, Unstoppable Whale Probe, super-being espers from the pink wall that is around the galaxy apparently except when it isn't. that kind of tech has to be shunted away and forced to go dormant with very little explanation. Discovery writers at least gave them a bit of an out with the Sphere. it's a lot of data but its also not evey bit of data. it's a slice of the galaxy pie, not all of it, and it will take hundred of years to decode, unless your plot calls for it, in which case it ill take a few seconds. The spore drive cant go on. It's been shown to be able to basically end the universe, and using it violates starfleet ethics as it either requires enslaving sentient tardigrades or genetically augmenting starfleet personnel.