Something I don’t see mentioned often but that adds so much alien feel to DS9: I don’t think it’s ever purposefully stated “this station operates on the Bajoran 26-hour day cycle”. It’s something you realise by yourself, and it clicks. Is 26 Bajor hours equal to 24 Earth hours? Is 26 Bajor hours equal to 26 Earth hours? Doesn’t really matter, that’s how the day cycle just goes here. And then there’s some episode and Odo mentions “for the next 78 hours” and it feels a little weird, and then you realise it’s 3 days, of course it’s 3 days! But the phrase “next 78 hours” hasn’t been ingrained in your brain like “next 72 hours” has been. And you get to feel that these little alien guys on your screen are different in the same ways that feel natural to you.
