10 Dumbest Things In Star Trek Into Darkness

Since Star Trek’s “science” has routinely been magic in a technobabble wrapper, Spock having a gizmo to instantly transmogrify molten lava into volcanic basalt and scoria is on-brand (though, since cold is the absence of heat, one wonders where all that heat energy was sent…maybe to Uhura’s anger at Spock?). As with the prior film’s Red Matter, what’s stupid is the name.

“Cold fusion” refers to a hypothetical process whereby atoms fuse at room temperature and release energy. For 35 years every claim for such a thing has been irreproducible, and the term itself is synonymous with junk science.

To be charitable, maybe that’s the point? After all, the planet in the opening sequence bears the moniker of the pseudoscience and conspiracy theory postulated planet Nibiru. Is the film hanging lanterns on the fact that most Trek “science” is junk science? Funny if intentional but if that’s the case the movie doesn’t let us in on the joke. Or perhaps the writers merely thought “Hey, lava is hot, and cold is the opposite … so if they fuse it solid … cold fusion!”

Let’s pretend it was the former.