u/Rutschberg

The main difference between Vulcans and Romulans isn't physiological, it's psychological. Vulcans behave in a thoughtful collected manner, while Romulans act erratic and lack inhibition. For instance, both regard themselves as better than other species, but Vulcans express it by mocking others' illogical behaviors with a few well timed comments while Romulans outright say what they think about your whole species.

This difference is not based on evolution, but it is a result of their drinking habits. Both Vulcans and Romulans are green-blooded, meaning their blood is based on copper rather than for instance iron, which is the case with Hoomons. Copper-based blood binds differently with alcohol because the alcohol quickly warps the oxygen binding site, leading to a very quick intoxication. So alcohol works very differently for them.

Vulcans don't usually drink and if they drink a little, their stomaches filter it out before it can affect their copper-based blood. No alcohol reaches the blood and Vulcans don't get drunk easily.

Romulans on the other hand have different drinking habits. They consume large quantities of alcohol, which eventually leaks through the stomach into their bloodstream and intoxicates them rapidly. Clean drinking water was hard to come by on Romulus, so the Romulan culture adapted to drinking ale all the time, similar to the ancient European people of Earth with their unsanitary living habits. This led to an overproduction of Romulan ale, which eventually flooded the galaxy despite trade embargos.

The constant consumption of alcoholic beverages leads to the intoxication of Romulans. Over time every Romulan adult builds up an alcohol tolerance, so that typical signs of drunkenness like stumbling around aren't observable. But it is exactly this tolerance to alcohol that causes the bad mood that we observe the Romulans to be in. The alcohol tolerance of the average Romulan is so high, that most quantities of alcohol do not relax them so they stay irritable, aggressive and have an overwhelming mix of anxiety and dread. This perfectly explains the Romulan paranoid behavior towards other species.

Romulans are dependent on alcohol. Technically there is no such thing as a sober Romulan, because they're constantly drinking, but while the alcohol lowers their inhibitions, their tolerance to it became so high that their mood stays bad and does not improve.

Officially the Oberth Class starship was used as a science vessel to "study astronomical phenomena". But is it a coincidence that an Oberth class ship is seen in every major event? Wolf 359, The Battle of Sector 001, even in the Dominion War during the time a certain Romulan senator was allegedly killed by the Dominion, an Oberth was just located within reach.

It is obvious this ship is being used for something other than science. The tip of the iceberg was revealed, when the Federation wanted to illegally test a cloaking device. So did they put it in a battle tested Miranda class or a flagship Galaxy class? No. They tested it in the Oberth class. A "science vessel" that according to the Federation is no match for a Klingon Bird of Prey or a Romulan Warbird. (Also: aren't all Starfleet vessels "science vessels" after all?!)

And what about the unusual design? It seems unnecessary to have such a small vessel carry a much bigger detached secondary hull. I mean the Miranda class didn't need it and it did quite well for more than a century. Smaller warp capable shuttles or runabouts also don't need it. So what does Starfleet hide in the detached secondary hull which supposedly only has some sensor arrays and other systems that could've easily been placed on the primary hull?

I think it is clear that the secondary hull is more of a giant cover for Starfleet's most secret technologies and destructive weapons. It offers enough space to operate a huge transporter system to beam in and out, say, Section 31 operatives, maybe? The secondary hull is perfectly positioned to be launched at a target, too. It offers sufficient space to load it with enough explosive material to blow up a star.

Think of the primary hull as the perfect delivery system of the giant torpedo that is the secondary hull. The primary hull has the warp nacelles, the warp core and the impulse engines. So an Oberth class can cripple the defensive systems of anything by warping in at its target just a kilometer away, releasing the secondary hull loaded with explosives, and warp off just in time to avoid the blast. Mind you, all this can be operated by a minimum crew complement of five, making sure secrecy can be maintained at all times. Genius concept if you think of it. This way the defensive systems of for example a space station can be defeated in an instant to make way for the rest of the fleet to invade.

Ultimately, being so obviously shaped like a giant torpedo, everybody had to be convinced that the Oberth class is an underpowered, ugly looking, small science vessel. And the propaganda worked.

And in case you're not convinced yet: Where does the name Oberth come from? Does it come from Hermann Oberth, a human who worked on the V-2 rocket? Or does it come from the so-called Oberth spacecraft maneuver of Earth? Or from both, a rocket / torpedo delivered by a maneuver? Think about it.