[Nate the Great]

Yeah, that's a valid question. Theoretically any beaming to and from planet surfaces must use a LOT more energy getting the targeting right than non-transporter pad intraship beaming. And the point is quite valid in that A. the computer should know exactly where all of the occupied volume is within the ship at all times and B. the transporter does "clear out" anything where the person is going to be landing.

I hope that when we beam to a planet all of the air in the volume we're about to occupy is moved somewhere. Maybe it's a sort of unspoken rule that entire cylinders of air/matter/etc. are exchanged within the space of less than a few seconds. That would explain the "starfleet officer inside snow globe" effect. They're actually surrounded by ships air, and the ship has just been contaminated by evil alien spores :lol: .

Of course, for that matter, we have to think about the issue Krauss raised in The Physics of Star Trek. Do transporters really move each and every atom of our bodies thousands of miles to a planets' surface, or does it "clone" us a new body with local material? Moving the complete genetic pattern without worrying about shunting billions of atoms at close to the speed of light would be a lot more cost effective, right?