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star trek - Why didn't fluidic space crush Voyager?


When Voyager is taken into fluidic space against its will in Scorpion Part II, why didn't the intense density of matter instantly crush the ship?



Answer



There could be numerous reasons Voyager wasn't immediately crushed when it was translated into the Fluidic Space dimension. The primary problem is we are assuming Fluidic Space behaves like water does on our world in our Universe. One of the only things we can be certain of was Warp Drive would not function there and ship speeds were limited due to the density of the Fluid.





  • There are many assumptions being made about Fluidic Space in your question. Star Trek: Voyager made no effort to inform us as to the true nature of Fluidic Space, neither its composition, nor chemical makeup. We don't actually know what comprises the fluid which fills the dimension of Species 8472. We have no idea of its density, chemical properties or its molecular composition.




  • Fluidic Space does not appear to be exhibiting depth pressure as water does on Earth. The deeper you go into the oceans on Earth, the greater the pressure per square inch. For example at 10,000 feet below sea level, the pressure per square inch is 4,458 pounds.




  • We are also not privy to the physics of the dimension, so we don't know if all life was formed, created, or lives in Fluidic Space, exclusively or whether the creatures there have analogs such as planets, or for that matter whether there is even an analog for gravity in their universe.





  • We also don't know if Fluidic Space is under pressure, like an ocean might be, so it may be filled with fluid but no denser than water at sea level. There is also no reason to consider it's density couldn't also be less than water.




  • Since Species 8472's ships did not immediately explode when coming into our vacuum of space, they are either incredibly tough and did not experience any pressure differential or the difference between our two universes could be less than expected.




  • Voyager's inertial dampeners/structural integrity fields should allow it to, while draining some degree of the ship's power supply maintain the structure of the ship if the overall density of the fluidic space is constant and not applying significant crushing against the hull.




  • It is safe to assume there are similar physical forces such as gravity, since their technology, while alien, seemed quite functional and effective in our Universe. This implies Species 8472 must be familiar with the properties and cosmological constants of our Universe if they are different than their own.





  • Curious bonus question: If the nature of Fluidic Space were of a significantly higher pressure, why didn't any of the fluid, immediately vent into our universe? Yes, it would have vaporized immediately, but we would have seen an indication due to the volume of fluid.




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