10 Examples Of Real Science In Star Trek

10. Silicon-Based Life

All life on Earth is carbon-based. Carbon is perfect for biology because of its abundance and its ability to maintain four valence bonds with other elements, especially hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other carbon atoms. These types of bonds make up most of the complex biological molecules that allow life to exist.

While it is true that carbon can create more possible molecules than any other element on the periodic table (by a longshot), many scientists theorise that aliens that evolved on a different planet may also be silicon-based. Silicon, like carbon, can form four stable bonds with itself and other atoms, and can create long chemical chains known as silane polymers, which are very similar to hydrocarbons, an essential ingredient of life made with carbon, but the two elements are still vastly different. Silicon is far more reactive to elements like oxygen than carbon is, so silicon-based life may not be possible in reality, but still, the rampant scientific speculation of carbon-based lifeforms led to one appearing on Star Trek.

In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, The Devil In The Dark, the Enterprise crew encountered a silicon-based life form known as the Horta. The Horta is one of the strangest creatures ever encountered by Starfleet, with an appearance more similar to molten rock than a living animal.