94 "What about gold-pressed latinum?" (Replicators - Star Trek)
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This article is from the Star Trek Tech FAQ, by Joshua Bell inexorabletash@hotmail.com with numerous contributions by others.
94 "What about gold-pressed latinum?" (Replicators - Star Trek)
In "Who Mourns for Morn?" [DS9], latinum is described as a clear,
viscous liquid. Morn has kept latinum in his second stomach for years.
It's pressed into gold to to handle it better. The gold is worth
nothing. 30 cc latinum is about 200 bricks worth. [Eur van Andel]
So, why is it valuable? See above about energy costs and certain
elements - possibly latinum is a stable element that 24th century
technology can't transmute. Or, alternatively, it could take *exactly*
(perhaps by definition) the same amount of energy to replicate as it
takes to mine/ manufacture, making it a good standard for monetary
transactions.
Here's what Mike Okuda and Rick Sternbach came up with when confronted
with this question in the book The Making of DS9, c/o Benjamin Chee:
Q: How could it be so valuable if it could be churned out by any
replicator ?
RS: Oh, well, Mike and I have had discussions about things like
this... it might be that, you know, that the particular molecular
structure just doesn't, you know, doesn't - Mike? Why can't you
replicate latinum ?
MO: Uh, it's because - uh, when - uh, it's because the um, the, uh,
uh, the valence system and the molecular structure are, are
arranged - the, uh, the, the, uh, replicator reads certain valence
patterns - it recognizes that, that those are... copyguarded !
Q: Copyguarded ?
RS: Copyguarded! Oh, they're, they're 'nudged', sort of 'nudged
quanta' and if they're -
MO: Hey, we talked about this before.
RS: That's right, that's right. Yes, and if they're, they're
polarized in the, in the X plane, then they're, they're okay. If
they're polarized in the Y-Z plane, then they're bogus.
MO: Right.
Tom Luton writes:
The novel "Balance of Power" (TNG #33, written by Dafydd Ab Hugh)
has a detailed description of why latinum cannot be replicated. I
don't have the novel with me, but as far as I can remember, latinum
has a highly complex molecular structure, and is extremely similar
to Chasenum. Any attempt to replicate Latinum will result in the
formation of Chasenum (I've forgotten the specific details, and I
don't even think I've spelled the name of the material
correctly).
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