system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek] Why do consoles explode?

This has been bothering me for awhile...

I've noticed that like 90% of deaths on Star Trek happen because people's consoles explode. I feel like at one time or another, they mentioned it's because of rupturing plasma lines.

So, with all this futuristic technology, why can't they find a way to run the plasma lines further back, or shield them better, and make the workstations simple "dumb terminals" or something?
gpt
See, in Trek, they don't use what we would consider "electricity".

They use high-energy electro-plasma, routed through conduits to the device that will use it.

In the case of consoles and displays, when damage or an overload occurs that breaches through to atmosphere, the electro-plasma is flashed *into* electricity.

Since this process occurs inadvertently, there's no way to break the circuit intentionally at the flash point.

Secondary systems will generally reroute power away from the damaged portion within moments, but sometimes it's not fast enough to avoid a small explosion. Sometimes a person will even be close enough to get blown back. Sometimes it's even *severe enough to cause plasma burns.