I learned that it's possible to build a small rocket that not only will clear the atmosphere, but make it all the way to the planet's sun, in 11 seconds without blasting a huge crater in the ground beneath it from the thrust or encountering any friction in the planet's atmosphere from the speed.
I also learned that it's impossible to scan a planet's surface for life signs to find a person, and then to blast the bejeezus out of the area with the ship's weapons. Instead, one person must beam down to the surface and fight the bad guy manno-a-manno.
(sorry, I just go mental when trying to reconcile Star Trek science with reality)