Faithful Reader wrote:Probably, but the transporter has been around for over two hundred years. It's pretty ubiquitous by now. While there are sciences that don't require expertise in that area, she's in artificial life. Printing our robots in replicators is what she does and the replicator is based on transporter technology. Plus, Raffi is former Special Ops. Granted, she was preoccupied, but there are some red flags the crew isn't seeing.
Trains are pretty ubiquitous now. How many here know how to start one, let alone drive it safely from A to B? Many Starfleet personnel know some about it, but not all of them, and not fully unless they are trans techs. Depends on if, why, and how they were trained on it, I believe.
Also, she's a theoretical scientist. Yes, we're used to the scientist sience-ing everything together, on TV (even, ludicrously, cross-field); but I think IRL it is highly unusual for, say, a high-grade geneticist to be able to operate specialized functions in a laboratory; or a high-level engineer to be able to solidly solder a circuit board. (I know what I'm talking about here.) They know their way around the equipment perhaps, but aren't used to using it; they invested their time in other skills. Don't forget that practical jobs require their own training and experience to pay off successfully. That kind of operational and/or menial labour is done by lower-level, but nonetheless high-skilled personnel, that devoted years to safely operate and maintain certain equipment. The theoretical people think things up; the practical people build/use it (and advise on their practical matters during the R&D phases), working closely together. Or -- in your example -- print it out via those replicators.
At least, that's how it goes IRL. (
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Thus -- on several levels, perfectly possible that she doesn't feel confident with transporters.
- By Danny
- By Mugato