Substances and Particles L-R

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Substance/Particle Submission Form

 

Chemical element or isotope

Chemical compound or alloy

Real-world reference

Elementary particle

Energy field or radiation

Other concept

 

L

Ladarium

Naturally occurring. Ore, used by Cardassians in the construction of warp drives.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Laser

Artificially generated by crew. Laser stands for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". Unlike it was the case in the 1960's, the laser is a commonly known and widely used bit of technology today.

Submitted by Bird of Prey

Latinum

Origin unknown. A non-replicatable material, almost definitely an element, typically pressed into bars, like gold.

Lepton

Naturally occurring. Particle whose "activity" indicates a wormhole shift. In real life, leptons are the "light" class of elementary particles. In the episode, it would have rather made sense if a specific particle had allowed the detection of the wormhole movement.

Lexorin

Artificially generated by crew. A drug.

Submitted by Chad Eaton

Lithium

Naturally occurring. Lithium was used in old warp drive systems before the application of dilithium became more common. Lithium is a real-world substance and there is nothing that points to the assumption that it could be penetrated by antimatter in the same way it happens in dilithium (i.e. without getting its atoms annihilated). However, the use of lithium in warp cores prior to TOS is contradicted by ENT (maybe it is still used in old freighters).

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Lucrovexitrin

Origin unknown. Highly toxic; alters molecular structure when it comes in contact with glass. Stable in a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere.

Lydroxide

Artificially generated by aliens. A coolant used in orbital tethers of the Nezu.

 

M

Magnaton

Artificially generated by crew or by aliens. In real life, a magneton (see below) represents the magnetic dipole moment of a particle. In short, it's a measurement, not a particle. A magnaton must obviously be something else.

Magneton pulse

Artificially generated by crew.

Submitted by Markus Göpfert

Melorazine

Artificially generated by crew. A sedative.

Mercassium

Artificially generated by crew. Synthetic alloy, needed in the construction of shield systems, only used by the Federation. Strangely, this sounds like a word made by combining mercury and potassium.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Merculite

Artificially generated by aliens. An explosive material used in out-of-date rockets, which are no match for Federation weaponry.

Mercurium isochromate

Origin unknown. Used in drive systems. Equally colored mercury?

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Merfadon

Artificially generated by aliens. Sedative, has no effect on patients who took makara herbs.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Meson

Naturally occurring. Particle "activity" increased prior to the wormhole reappearing and shifting its position.

Metaphasic particles

Naturally occurring. True nature uncertain.

Metaphasic shield

Artificially generated by crew. A subspace technology that involves generating metaphasic properties.

Methane

Naturally occurring. Real compound with the formula CH4.

Submitted by Ari "borgboy" schwartz

Metorapan

Artificially generated by crew. A painkiller.

Metrazene

Artificially generated by crew. A drug.

Metreon gas

Naturally occurring. Inflammable gas. High levels of exposure can infect a humanoid with metremia, a blood disease that causes its victims' cells to undergo fission.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Monotanium

Origin unknown. Monotanium is an extremely strong metal used in the construction of starship hulls. The "mono" prefix may refer to the idea that it may be thinner, yet stronger than tritanium.

Submitted by Derek Seewald

Muon

Naturally occurring. A particle. Short-lived subatomic particle classified as a lepton.

Update by Alex Hoffmann

Murinite

Naturally occurring. Assumed naturally occurring (like boridium) seeing as how it was used by the Hill People of the Argus River region of Rigel II. Could be a chemical compound (i.e. native stone).

Submitted by Scott Gray

Mycelium

Naturally occurring. The mycelium of the fungus known as Prototaxites stellaviatori connects normal space to a discrete subspace domain known as the mycelial network. This network covers the whole universe, and allows immediate travel from one point to another. In the real world, mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony. The assumption that spores could form an "intergalactic ecosystem" is total nonsense, considering that any heavy elements and any form of life could not exist until a few billion years after the Big Bang, when galaxies already existed and were millions of light-years apart.

  • DIS: "Context is for Kings" - Captain Lorca reveals that the propulsion system of the USS Discovery is based on fungus spores that form an intergalactic network.
  • DIS: "Into the Forest I Go" - Captain Lorca manipulates the spore drive in a way that the jump would take the Discovery into the Mirror Universe.

 

N

Nadion

Artificially generated by crew. The TNG Technical Manual identifies "nadion" particles as the output produced by phasers.

Submitted by Matt Anderson

Negative mass

Naturally occurring. May indicate the existence of a parallel universe.

  • DIS: "Into the Forest I Go" - As an indication of the existence of the Mirror Universe, pockets of negative mass were discovered by the USS Discovery.

Neurogenic field / radiation

Naturally occurring. A resident field that forms by a person's brain as part of the thought process. Each person's pattern varies depending on their current thought.

Neuropeptide

Naturally occurring. Neuropeptides are chemical substances in the brain. Neuropeptides are indeed part of our organic system.

Submitted by Fabian W.

Neurocine gas

Artificially generated by aliens. Anesthetic gas. Fatal if present in the air.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Neurozine (aka neurazine)

Artificially generated by crew. An anesthetic. The fact that it is used by Starfleet doctors suggests that this should not be the same as the lethal Cardassian neurocine gas. On the other hand, it has pretty much the same effect. Perhaps Starfleet employs a much lower dose of the same substance that would not be lethal.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Neutrino

Artificially generated by crew. A particle involved in several different processes. Real particle with no charge, until recently thought to have no mass.

Neutron

Naturally occurring. A particle. Neutrons are neutral particles which, along with protons, are constituents of atomic nuclei. Neutrons not contained within a nucleus have a half-life of about 15 minutes.

Neutronium

Naturally occurring or artificially generated by aliens. A very dense and strong material. Matter composed of densely packed neutrons, held together by gravity. The material neutron stars are made of.

Nitrium

Naturally occurring. A metal used in an important alloy commonly found in starships.

Noranium

Naturally occurring. A metal. The melting point of one alloy with this metal is 2014°F.

Nucleogenic particle

Naturally occurring. Dust or other particles which attract water vapor, causing rain or other precipitation to form.

Nucleonic particle

Artificially generated by crew. Produced by Federation replicators. Could refer to the nucleus of atoms.

Nucleonic radiation

Artificially generated by aliens. Exact nature unknown. It sounds like it is composed of nuclei, although it does have some biochemical effect.

 

O

Omega

Artificially generated by aliens. A highly unstable molecule that can serve as a virtually inexhaustible power source.

Omicron particle

Naturally occurring. May be used as a power source.

 

P

Paralithium

Origin unknown. Used to power Akritirian ion-based drive systems, can be (as well as dilithium) converted to trilithium. Si-lithium, di-lithium, tri-lithium, para-lithium and even "lithium" itself, and none of these substances has apparently anything to do with the real-world element lithium. It's rather related to all of the above mentioned lithium-variants but silithium.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Particle signature

Naturally occurring. A characteristic unique to each universe.

Peridaxon

Artificially generated by crew. Medication used to manage Irumodic Syndrome. Not a cure.

Submitted by Fidel Melgoza

Pergium

Naturally occurring. Used to regenerate environmental controls filters.

Update by Alex Hoffmann

Phospholipid fiber

Naturally occurring. An organic compound. In real life, phospholipids are fatty acids with phosphate groups attached. They are small and naturally occur only as liposomes and bilayer sheets, and as monolayer spheres called micelles. But they never form "fibers." Phospholipid bilayers are what cell membranes are mostly made of.

Photonic energy

Naturally occurring. Emitted from the surface of a protostar. A fancy name for light.

Plasma

Naturally occurring or artificially generated by crew or aliens. Occurs in several gaseous phenomena. Used to distribute power on starships. A very hot, ionized gas. The atoms in plasma have enough kinetic energy that the electrons are torn from their nuclei, ionizing the gas.

Polaric ion

Artificially generated by aliens. Used as a power generation system.

Polaron

Artificially generated by crew. A particle with various exotic properties. In real-world condensed matter physics, a polaron is a type of mobile crystal defect consisting of an electron coupled to an induced lattice polarization. But this polaron, like the hole familiar from the semiconductor principle, is only a quasi-particle that could be responsible for hardly any of the effects observed in Star Trek.

Polyduranide

Artificially generated by crew. Structural material.

Submitted by Michael Warren

Positron

Naturally occurring. A particle. Real antimatter version of an electron.

Preanimate matter

Naturally occurring. Matter that is very close to being classified as a form of life, but doesn't quite make the grade.

Promethean quartz

Naturally occurring. Valuable mineral that glows with an internal light.

Protocol 12

Artifically generated by crew. Drug consisting of adrenaline and pain inhibitors that greatly increases physical capabilities, but research on which was discontinued because of the side effects.

  • SNW: "The Broken Circle" - M'Benga still has some of the green fluid left from the Klingon War.
  • SNW: "Under the Cloak of War" - M'Benga, who was involved in its development, takes Protocol 12 in order to assassinate the Klingon leaders on D'Gal.

Protomatter

Origin unknown. An unstable form of matter used by David Marcus as a shortcut in the construction of the Genesis Device.

Proton

Naturally occurring. An elementary particle. Positively charged baryon with a virtually infinite life span. Protons occur in all atomic nuclei.

Protoplasm

Naturally occurring. An organic material. Makes up the interior of cells in living matter.

Psilocsynine

Naturally occurring. A neurotransmitter involved in telepathy.

Pulse compression wave

Artificially generated by crew. Used to increase the power of a phaser blast.

Pyroclastics

Naturally occurring. Rock formed by volcanic activity. A real-life geological term.

 

Q

Quadrolin

Artificially generated by aliens. Used as drug in Malcorian hospitals.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Quanarium alloy

Artificially generated by aliens. It is one of the strongest metals, and also an excellent heat conductor with k=494.

  • DIS: "The Examples" - The control circuits of the prison on Radvek V are protected by a quanarium shield. Using the phaser, Burnham doesn't destroy the shield but fries the circuitry inside.

Quantum filament

Naturally occurring. An elongated subatomic object, hundreds of meters long, but possessing almost no mass.

Quaratum

Artificially generated by crew. Used in thruster packs. This is the correct spelling of the substance previously listed as "corudum", according to the Fact Files.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

 

R

Radioactive radiation

Naturally occurring or artificially generated by crew. Collective term for different forms of radiation. The radioactive radiation consists of alpha rays (helium nuclei), beta rays (electrons) and gamma rays (electromagnetic rays). It occurs wherever nuclei of atoms fall apart (mostly "bigger" atoms like the ones of uranium). The technological ability of using the energy caused by nuclear reactions led to many inventions, like the nuclear power plant and the atomic bomb - inventions which changed our world in more than one way...

Submitted by Bird of Prey

"Red Matter"

Artificially generated by crew. Substance that initiates the formation of a black hole. This appears to be a nickname, owing to the substance's red color.

  • "Star Trek (2009)" - Spock's ship carries "Red Matter" to swallow the supernova and thereby save the planet Romulus, but he comes too late. His ship and Nero's Narada are sucked into the anomaly and travel back in time. In the 23rd century Nero captures the "Red Matter" and destroys Vulcan by creating a black hole inside the planet. His ship is eventually crushed in another singularity.

Retnax

Artificially generated by crew. Used to improve eyesight.

Rhodium nitrite

Naturally occurring. Ore of inferior quality. Someone with better knowledge of chemistry may tell us if this compound would be viable.

Submitted by Alex Hoffmann

Riboviroxicnucleic acid

Naturally occurring. Like DNA, except the number of riboviroxicnucleic acid structures increase as the biological organism ages. In other words, without these structures, we wouldn't be able to "grow up."

Ryetalyn

Naturally occurring. A mineral.

Rodinium

Naturally occurring. Cast rodinium is the hardest substance known to Federation science.

Rubindium

Origin unknown. A non-toxic crystalline substance. This may have been supposed to be the real-world element rubidium, altered through a typo.

 


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