Talk:Deuterium

This page requires some references for its statements. For instance, what episode established the Bussard collectors for the purposes described?Aholland 03:44, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

nowhere in the canon of the show did it mention that the bussard collectors were broke, but as you can see he indented the text and italisized it as to denote speculation. as for the info on deturium itself, it is a REAL element, and i guess the only scource would ne be stated is the periodic table lol. KetracelWhiteJunkie 09:18, 21 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I had forgotten I had put that one, and had gotten an answer myself. Two points:  (1) Deuterium is not an element; it is an isotope of hydrogen.  (2) The fact that the Bussard collectors existed at all and their purpose is what I was seeking a citation for, not regarding the speculation on their being broken.  I found one fairly good cite in TNG and will add it.  The function of the collector is never specifically identified, but the "real world" function is pretty clear, so I think I'll let it slide. Aholland 12:51, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

there are a couple of episodes in voy that state there use as well, one was when they flew into the blood stream of a nebula creature. chakotay said they should use to bussard collectors to gateher the antimatter from the what was thought to be a plain nebula. im sorry i cannot remember the articals name, but i do have it if you think of it ill re-wacth it and add the proper citation. Its Time For The White! Talk]] 23:30, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Mining
Even though deuterium would imaginably be a gas at room temperatures, the Enterprise episode Maurauders shows a "mining" colony "pumping" it from the ground. It's also said deuterium burns "as hot as plasma" in the episode, though this doesn't necessarily seem to match up with the known chemical properties of deuterium.


 * True, and in Voyager the crew would also mine deuterium. It appears that Trek usage and real-world usage are a little different.  Potentially the word means something else by that time, like "anti-" in front of a particle does in the Trek universe.  We should upgrade the article to account for known usages of deuterium.  I'll put it on my to do list!  Aholland 15:34, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * dueterium is fairly rare to find on it's own, usually it's bonded with something else. so perhaps 'Deuterium Ore' like in VOY is just ore that has a large deuterium content in it's molecular structure, and the stuff being pumped in ENT was a deuterium rich liquid in the same way. presumably such sources would have to be more efficent than just extracting it from water. -mithril
 * Also, it should be noted that these is reference to "deuterium slush" and "deuterium pellets" in the TNG Technical Manual, indicating that in order to form a viable fuel deuterium must be combined with other ingredients. As for mining a gas, that's not unusual and I'm surprised anyone would think it would be. Helium is a perfect example. We DO mine gasses. For the term "ore" to be used however, it is most likely a scientific colloquialism referring to unrefined deuterium - as it is clear by O'Brien's proposal that deuterium requires refining.--The Rev 18:57, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Just because we can only extract deuterium from oceanic regions in the form of a liquid, doesn't mean that it's elements can't be extracted or fused in the ground in an ore-like form. (It's scientificilly implausible, but not impossible). - 59.167.1.77 02:24, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, it's not even implausible. Deuterium, like most isotopes, behaves chemically like the original element. --OuroborosCobra talk |undefined  02:27, 22 July 2006 (UTC)