• xantoxis@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    One thing I’ve always wondered, and this is hardly the most unbelievable aspect of the science fiction elements of this show but it’s one of the most pervasive and constant; why don’t we ever hear the native languages of the aliens underneath the sounds of the universal translators? Most, although not all, of them speak by vibrating the air, so where are those sounds disappearing to?

    • Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      The translator also emits an interference pattern that cancels out the original speech to the listener

    • macniel@feddit.de
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      11 months ago

      This was a plotpoint in DS9 where the UT didn’t picked up the nuances of a language but the mutants who were able to comprehend the language deciphered what was really meant.

    • timicin@lemmygrad.ml
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      11 months ago

      fwiw: you do get to hear a little bit of ferengi in this episode, before they get their translators fixed