Star Trek Technobabble, Just as incomprehensible in-universe
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:08 pm
I came across this gem a few days ago while rewatching the episode.Battle Lines wrote:O'BRIEN: I'm not reading a single M Class planet in the system. If they went down anywhere around here, they couldn't have survived.
DAX: I'm not sure we can believe the scans, Chief. The star is putting out abnormal levels of delta radiation.
O'BRIEN: That'd foul up our long range scanners.
DAX: We'll have to survey each planet, one at a time.
O'BRIEN: Not to mention two dozen or so moons and an asteroid belt. Bloody needle in a haystack. A needle in a haystack. What we need is a magnet.
DAX: A magnet?
O'BRIEN: Yeah. You want to pick a piece of metal out of the straw, you use a magnet.
DAX: I don't think I'm following you, Chief.
O'BRIEN: Runabout hulls are made out of metallic composites that interact with magnetic fields. We could send out a few probes to scan the system for those specific magnetic resonance patterns. If Sisko's runabout is in the system, we might pick up a fluctuation in the hysteresis curve.
DAX: The magnetic deflection of a runabout's hull is extremely weak. The probes will never be able to detect it.
O'BRIEN: They will, if I can outfit them with a differential magnetomer.
DAX: A differential magnetomer. I've never heard of a differential magnetomer. How does it work?
O'BRIEN: I'll let you know as soon as I've finished making one.
So miles makes something up, and then builds it. How often do you think this sort of thing happens?