Why is pon farr, a condition affecting Vulcans in the fictional world of Star Trek, suddenly trending? Well, it was referenced in the latest Dilbert cartoon. In Star Trek, pon farr occurs in Vulcans and causes them to go into heat once every seven years. They become irrational and violent, and if they don’t return home and find a mate, they die. Even Star Trek’s most famous Vulcan, Spock*, had to confront the seven-year cycle of pon farr in a 1967 episode of the show. Pon farr was later turned into a perfume that invited women to “leave logic behind.”
* The original version of this post incorrectly referred to Spock as “Dr. Spock.”
