Those Old Scientists

"Those Old Scientists" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The series follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds and carry out missions during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969). The episode is a crossover with the animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020–2024) in which Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler from that series are sent back in time and interact with the crew of Pike's Enterprise, who try to send them back to their own time. It was written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff, and directed by Jonathan Frakes.

Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn respectively star as Pike, Spock, and Number One, along with Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, and Babs Olusanmokun. The second season of Strange New Worlds was announced in January 2022. It was revealed to have a crossover with Lower Decks that July, with Tawny Newsome (Mariner) and Jack Quaid (Boimler) reprising their roles in live-action. Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, and Jerry O'Connell also reprise their respective voice roles as D'Vana Tendi, Sam Rutherford, and Jack Ransom. Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan was closely involved in the episode. Studio Titmouse returned to provide animation.

"Those Old Scientists" premiered at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22, 2023, and was released on the streaming service Paramount+ later that day. It was estimated to have high viewership and audience demand, and was positively received by critics for successfully merging the tones of both Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks, for taking character arcs seriously despite the overall humorous tone, and for Quaid and Newsome's transition to live-action. The episode was nominated for a Hugo Award.