Emanations

** (2 stars out of 5)

The 247th element known to Federation science, found in a planetary ring, turns out to be a byproduct of decomposition. So if it would make a good energy source (or breakfast cereal), we'll never know. Our heroes, especially Chakotay, won't desecrate graves for their own benefit. Rightly so. That would be like putting dead people into their engine! What jerk would ever do that?

Harry Kim is lost down a subspace vacuole, landing in some screwy techno-coffin on the homeworld of the Vhnori. They send their dead through it: our dimension is their afterlife.

The Chief Thanotologist (Mark Twain's identical cousin) explains that the Cenotaph pre-emptively kills to coincide with the opening of the ruptures. Good thing everyone's 100% certain they lead to heaven!

What did the Vhnori do before Cenotaphs were invented? Did they just throw the dead into the Ruptures? How in hell did THAT get started? Hey, there's a weird hole in the air, I'ma gonna toss Grampa into it! Hur hur durp!

Vhnori wrap themselves in INHERITED death shrouds. First, ick, Second, exactly HOW does this shroud stay behind?

And Federation medicine can apparently sometimes revive the dead after several hours. Well, thank goodness when Captain Kirk died of simple crushing injuries recently that Picard dragged his body up a mountain to bury instead of to a starship to make a revival attempt... oh, wait... that's not good at all.

"Emanations" tells us Voyager's sensors can scan neural energy escaping a Vhnori body at death! They have, just listen: A MACHINE that routinely measured BRAIN WAVES lasting BEYOND DEATH. So... what? Does that mean only dead Vhnori do this? Or does this happen when a human dies and Star Trek has just never mentioned it before or since? That would be rather useful to know about 'emanations'... or 'soul farts' as I like to call them.