Interesting that this writer apparently does not understand what the shields in Star Trek are actually for. They aren't for protecting against radiation, they are for protecting against weapons fire from hostile ships. What he probably meant to use as an example was the deflector dish, which "deflects" harmful stuff from the path of the Enterprise as it passes through space. Oddly, Star Trek dealt with radiation problems by letting crew get exposed to radiation in some episodes then "treating" them with anti-radiation treatments (another convenient tech solution that will be hard to reproduce).
So the writer had a good concept here but utterly failed to get it right. In attempting to polish the cred of his story with his Star Trek chops he actually blew it big time.
Another example, albeit a minor one, of a journalist never letting letting the facts get in the way of a good narrative. Paddler66
