10 Greatest Unspoken Star Trek Plot Points

In a parody of the harmful effects of fossil fuels, the Next Generation episode Force Of Nature introduced us to a Hekaren scientist who proved definitively that warp travel was slowly damaging the fabric of space and that, if nothing was done, warp travel would soon be impossible.

Although initially, in the episode, the Federation imposed strict speed limits in their space to no higher than warp 5, unless in an emergency, Starfleet seems to have somehow engineered a solution to the problem since then, considering that these laws were never enforced onscreen and we routinely saw Starfleet ships exceed warp 5 whenever they pleased in Deep Space Nine.

Many fans theorize that Voyager's folding nacelles were made to be a more eco-friendly form of warp travel but this was never confirmed in canon, only suggested in an unreleased Star Trek: Voyager Technical Guide. Because this guide was never published, it can't be included as canon, and Voyager seems to be the only ship equipped with this ability so we're left to wonder what Starfleet did since Force Of Nature to seemingly fix this problem. Did Starfleet merely cover it up? Either one would make for an interesting plotline.