this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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In LD S3 E8 "Crisis Point: Paradoxus", the holographic version of Dr. T'Ana was able to recognize they were in late 20th century Earth, seemingly by a single sniff.

I am assuming this is a reflection of T'Ana's actually ability rather than mere cinematic indulgence, for two reasons:

  • We do see T'Ana has enhanced olfactory senses in S2 E10 "First First Contact", as it implies she is able to track Tendi by scent, as well as in S4 E5 "Empathalogical Fallacies" when she hunts the Betazoids.
  • Considering that Crisis Point was built off private logs, while the plot points may be ridiculous, crew abilities and limitations tend to be mostly accurate. We see this in the original Crisis Point, for instance, when Rutherford has to do the magic transport instead of Billups - simulated Cerritos crew members won't do what the real them would thing is impossible.

Anyhow, it makes me wonder if Starfleet Academy has some sort of sensory training courses for species with certain stronger senses. For instance, T'Ana might have had the option to take a course working with smell samples that they are likely to encounter in their Starfleet Career with other species that have enhanced senses.

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I wonder if she might recognize some scents from her holodeck...adventures with Shaxs.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 16 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

smells cigarette smoke in a restaurant

"We're sometime in the mid to late 20th century, captain."