Star Trek

If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’ve probably wondered how the Vulcan mind meld works, why Klingons have extra bulging organs or why the Ferengi have such bad teeth. But what this science fiction series – which has spawned countless TV episodes and 10 movies – really does is examine the social, cultural, religious and political mores of humankind. Let’s look at some of the alien species in Star Trek:

• Vulcans
  Famous Vulcans: Spock, Sarek, Tuvok
  
  In ancient times, Vulcans were an extremely war-like race that almost led to their near extinction. The humanoid Vulcan have copper-based blood – a human’s is iron-based --, slightly green-tinted complexion and notably pointed elfin ears, are typically stronger than humans.
  
  Over the centuries, Vulcans have developed a culture dedicated to the complete mastery of logic in nearly every aspect of their existence, in order to suppress their once-violent emotions that nearly caused their race’s extinction.
  
  Vulcans come from the planet of the same name – the hot, dry and marginally Class M world is supposedly some 16 light-years from Earth.
  
• Klingons
  Famous Klingons: Lieutenant Worf, T’kar
  
  Prone to hostility and fatalism, the Klingons are a well-statured race well suited to its warrior culture. They possess long beards and hair, heavy skulls and forehead ridges, slanted brows and canine teeth, which further emphasizes their ferocity and tendency for battle.
  
  Klingons hold honour above life - true Klingon warriors fight to the death and would rather be killed than taken captive. Klingons are remarkably skilled hunters who rely on their keen olfactory senses to pick up and stalk their prey. They eat their meat raw.
  
  Klingons come from the planet Kronos, or Q'onoS, which has a single large land mass with a vast ocean, with a severely tilted axis that causes wild seasonal changes, a turbulent atmosphere and extremes of both warm and frigid weather.
  
• Ferengi
  Famous Ferengi: Quark, Par Lenor
  
  Possibly the ugliest humanoid aliens in Star Trek, the Ferengi have a culture organised around the Rules of Acquisition which essentially sanctions greed and profiteering. Large-eared, beetle-browed, big-nosed, sharp and snaggle toothed, orange-skinned and stunted, Ferengi are somewhat smaller than humans. They hail from the planet Ferenginar, a feted dismal swamp with a near-endless planet-wide downpour.
  
  Its capital city is a series of domes broken by a tall spire, the Tower of Commerce in the Sacred Marketplace, the center of all Ferengi civilization.