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Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Goofs

Evolution

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Edit

Continuity

At around 15 mins, when Dr Stubbs is talking to Picard, Data and Riker in the Conference Room, he is sat directly opposite Troi. But when Troi speaks to him and he replies (telling her to "Turn off your beam into my soul"), he appears to be looking further down the table away from Troi as opposed to directly opposite him where she is sitting.

Factual errors

Stubbs refers to viruses as life-forms. Viruses are generally not considered to be alive although the point is sometimes still debated and depends on how narrowly 'alive' is defined. However, they can be 'killed' (or, more precisely, inactivated). Unlike bacteria, which are true life-forms, viruses are not made of cells, have no metabolism or homeostasis, and cannot reproduce without infecting a host cell.
The mechanism of neutron stars in binary systems accreting mass from their companion stars until they explode has been established by modern astrophysics. However, the explosion results from the neutron star collapsing into a black hole, after which no more regular energy excursions can take place. So, no interstellar Old Faithful can result from this.
Stubbs makes reference to a game in 1951 that supposedly had Ralph Branca playing for the New York Yankees. While it is true that Branca did play for the Yankees, that was only for the 1954 season. In 1951 Branca was still pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Revealing mistakes

At about 12:30 in, just after the red alert sounds, Picard orders the main view screen to shift to 50 degrees starboard. The screen is showing the two stars (red giant and white dwarf) in the foreground the crew are studying, with normal stars in the background. When the view change order is given, the screen blacks for a split second and then the exact same background stars reappear as before, just without the two foreground stars. The normal background stars should be completely different as they're now looking in a different direction.

Miscellaneous

Stubbs likens the predictability of this stellar event to Earth's Old Faithful geyser. At the time of airing, Old Faithful was predictable to the minute but within a few years it had changed dramatically and was no longer as regular as before.

Plot holes

After discovering his nanites missing, Wesley sets traps for them around the ship, with two such traps in the Ten-Forward Bar approximately six feet apart. Using this spacing throughout the ship would require thousands of traps, yet Guinan is the only person who notices.
Emergency ventilation procedures are standard drill practices on all naval vessels, yet Riker is the only one who acts during the gas attack.
Captain Picard and others oppose killing the nanites because they consider it immoral to kill an intelligent life form. However, the point of view is never raised that, as an artificial life that procreates abundantly, they have created an invasive species, which, by definition, could threaten natural life forms.

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