Q put it to Picard that the exploration of different dimensions, parallel realities and
the universes was the next large goal for humanity. Looking into certain realities and
realms of Star Trek lore often provides proof that we’re not ready for that yet as some
realms are shaped by thought alone while others are as alien as their inhabitants.
Hello, Ric here and today we’re looking into the nature of Fluidic Space, the home
of species 8472, what is it, how to get there and what we can infer from its inhabitants?
Be forewarned though, this has no definite answers as Star Trek hasn’t provided any
and I think that’s brilliant. Briefly, let’s look at some properties of
this place so we know what we’re dealing with. First up, it is referred to as another
dimension, or an extra-dimensional realm. This is a fairly broad term that in Star Trek
has been used to cover sections of our universe yet unseen like higher planes of existence
as well as alternate realities. Okay, right into the deep end already then.
This realm’s chief characteristic however is that it is filled with an organic fluid
that permeates every corner of its observable dimension. The seeming sole species that lives
here is called Species 8472, by the Borg and the Undine by later-era Starfleet. This species
is biologically very different from anything in our standard universe and is even considered
by the Borg to be close to organic perfection. So, what is Fluidic Space?
Despite being a dimension outside of our main one, it seems that certain laws of physics
still apply, which tells us that we’re not dealing with an added axis like a cube getting
a fourth dimension and becoming a hypercube. Objects can exist in both here and in normal
space, without noticeable adverse effects like having physicis.exe just crash on you.
So at the very least, this isn’t a higher dimension on the same level as the Q continuum,
which has to be viewed as a metaphor by us poor mortals. But what about that fact that
it is filled with this fluid? Well First off, a fluid doesn’t necessarily mean a liquid,
scientifically. A liquid is a fluid, but gas is also a fluid, in fact anything that yields
to pressure and flows could be considered a fluid, so for starters, this cosmic makeup
could be anything from a fine mist to treacle. We see the USS Voyager move through it easily
enough and the Bioships of Species 8472 can traverse space as easily as their home turf
so it can’t be too thick. It is, as stated in its first introduction,
organic in nature. So it is either alive, or the by-product of something alive.
And now we have our first thing that doesn’t make sense. If this stuff fills the entirety
of creation, then shouldn’t it collapse? There’s no depth pressure here, but as physics
seems to operate the same, then gravitational force is still a thing. One particle of this
matter is pulled to another, then a third then more and more and eventually, enough
of a mass has formed to exert a stronger gravitational pull and soon you’re looking at a giant
sphere of everything that gets denser the closer to the centre you get. And if fluidic
space is infinite, then we get an infinitely dense core or something? I’m going to take
a step back from this eldritch trail of thought before I go mad.
The point is that there has to be something keeping fluidic space from collapsing in on
itself and as a physical presence, it couldn’t exist in our reality.
So I can see a couple of options here, either one, the laws of physics in the fluidic realm
are more different than they first appear and something fundamental is changed, like
perhaps space-time is more rigid and cannot bend to the whim of gravity, or some other
sci-fi explanation. This could be the case but then the laws have to be similar enough
to allow for creatures from both dimensions to exist in each other’s.
So option two. The laws of physics are the same and what we see is only a snap-shot in
this dimension’s life cycle. It could be that fluidic space is indeed a spherical universe,
gradually compressing together in its own weird entropy and the Borg happened to visit
it before its “Big Crunch” or Sploosh, in this case. It could be that species 8472
only exist in a goldilocks zone where the density is just right for their existence
and the closer to the centre you go the denser it is. Or maybe it’s at the other end, and
we are seeing a universe in its earliest stages of development, where all the matter is relatively
close together. Though if this were the case, my very limited understanding of physics says
that the start of the universe was a little bit toasty. And also widely considered a bad
idea that made a lot of people very angry. Then there’s option three as to how it seems
to be stable. The fluid itself has some property that counteracts any gravitational attraction.
Maybe whatever matter it’s made from repels other molecules so there’s always this equal
force pushing outwards as inwards. Heck, as it’s organic, it could even be alive and
a sea of amoeba that are always trying to swim away from each other.
How to get there? A Quantum Singularity. In universe, creating
a stream of gravitons with specialised deflector modifications creates a quantum singularity
that forms a breach in our universe; passing through it brings a ship into fluidic space.
In real life, a singularity is a term used to measure a point and often used to describe
a black hole. Flying a ship into a black hole is also generally regarded as a bad idea and
very unlikely to take you anywhere unless you believe in an afterlife.
But Star Trek has had a strange relationship with singularities and playing with gravity
to produce all sorts of effects. Sure Star Trek 2009 used a Black Hole to drop Ambassador
Spock into an alternate reality, but Voyager did it first. As for the term Quantum, this
probably originates from the use of Gravitons, a theoretical quantum particle that something,
something gravity. From everything we saw in Star Trek, we’re going to have to assume
that this is a very different type of singularity from your standard black hole. In fact we
have heard the term quantum singularity used before, in reference to the artificial core
of Romulan Starships. They use these in place of a warp core to bend space time and achieve
warp speeds. Fluidic Space’s inhabitants.
Species 8472. Not too much is known about them. These aliens are adapted to life within
their realm and seem to operate on differing biology, just as their home dimension seems
to defy physics. They have a triple helix DNA and we see this dividing into thirds repeated
in their bodies. They have three legs, three necks and their ship design seems based on
mirrored thirds. They also have three fingers and a thumb and those… nubs. So, just as
their fundamental realm may be similar but different, their biology too seems to have
a basis in the recognizable but plays by a different rulebook.
The species is telepathic and contamination from their cells can lead to you being digested
by them as that contamination spreads. Perhaps they then come back and hoover up the soup,
meaning that’s how they eat? If they eat. They are very territorial and about as aggressive
in their defence as their immune system which destroys any foreign material, hence the Borg
being unable to assimilate them. They also produce an energy field that scrambles sensors
and they can survive in a complete vacuum. Which is also odd for a species that evolved
in a realm without much of a vacuum. The pressure waves of objects moving through fluidic space
are detectable by the species and they can use this to hone in on an invader’s location.
They possess the ability to modify their genetic makeup to morph into replicas of other species
for infiltration and disguise through technology. They are also immensely strong and agile.
One thing that is very interesting however, is their technology. They operate Bioships,
spacecraft that are organic in nature and seem to have a single pilot. The inside of
these vessels looks to be much softer than the outer hull which I’d speculate was some
form of carapace, but does possess user interfaces. The Bioships could amass a large amount of
power allowing for warp travel and can fire off antipolaron beams that can annihilate
the target, including planets. They also use antimatter as propulsion for warp speeds.
So they have antimatter, which means that their matter at least acts like our universe’s
matter. The fact that they have operational warp drive also shows that minimal or no adaptation
is required in order to bring their bioships into our realm and still utilise warp mechanics.
Star Trek Online also points out large formations and growths that appear to be coral-like structures
the size of planetoids that drift in the currents of fluidic space.
So where did Fluidic Space come from? Well, we don’t know. It could be a whole
universe unto itself that exits alongside the standard Trek realities. Or it could be
an area of the universe that has yet to be explored. It might even be a universe in the
process of forming, or at the end of its existence, perhaps even the end of our universe. Species
8472 might be the sole survivors of their realm out of a myriad of lifeforms. Perhaps
the organic compound that permeates everything is the remains of all other life, digested
by the undine? I literally scrawled “8472 poop, question mark?” in my notes here.
Species 8472 are rather xenophobic by nature so perhaps, long ago, they wiped out all other
life that existed in their realm, after all: “the weak shall perish”.
Fluidic Space could be any size, infinite or finite, we just don’t see enough of it
to explore and Species 8472 aren’t into sharing. So it could be a single globe of
fluid jostling among other globes like cells. The entirety of fluidic space is organic after
all, from the undine to the ships, to the fluid medium itself, so maybe it is a single
conscious universe? Are the undine a part of a telepathic whole? Driven by some unseen,
unknowable singular will bent on purifying all other realms like some old god horror
from the darkest depths of a nightmare? …Probably not.
But what if Fluidic Space was artificially created? Species 8472 is strangely well adapted
to life in our universe and their ships handle the change in environment just fine as do
Starfleet’s, so perhaps they evolved in our reality but proved too hostile for an
ancient race to manage and they successfully exiled to a pocket dimension, a strange prison
realm to trap them forever? Perhaps filling it with this liquid was a way to prevent this
pocket dimension from collapsing? Although disputing this idea is the fact that 8472
seem quite capable of leaving whenever they desire, but they didn’t know of our reality
until the Borg invaded so perhaps their history was lost?
The idea of Fluidic Space to me is far cooler than it first seemed, watching Voyager all
those years ago. It suggests there are concepts that lie beyond our, and Starfleet’s understanding.
And that is what the Federation needs to expand and grow. I mean, beyond Trek, science in
real life thrives off challenging what we know and what we think we know. Struggling
to understand concepts that are alien to us is what drives our curiosity and Fluidic Space,
through Starfleet, shows us that the Federation has barely touched the surface of what’s
possible. Perhaps we’re just not supposed to understand
how Fluidic Space works. Perhaps Q did it. Perhaps I better go to bed and stop trying
to figure out made-up technobabble. Ha, stop trying to figure out made up stuff… Now
I really am talking nonsense. Thanks for listening, and if you made it to
the end of the video, you’re a hero, but honestly, what do you think fluidic space
is? I’ll be taking a break from the undine and Borg stuff after this I think and next
week’s video will be a cultural index, so I look forwards to seeing you there.
Thanks again for watching, and until then, goodbye.