Everyone who’s watched classic Star Trek knows the red-shirted crew members have an invisible target painted on their backs. Now the “red-shirt death phenomenon” has been studied with scientific precision by Matt Bailey, in his article “Analytics According to Captain Kirk.” 

In the first year of the series, red-shirt casualties were lower than other color-shirted crewmembers. The second and especially the third seasons were especially brutal. In the third season, only red-shirted crewmembers died; maybe because the other colors enacted better safety protocols, or maybe because they avoided the bridge when a new planet came into view, for fear of beaming down with Cpt. Kirk.

“I love it when someone can do this with a favorite theme,” says Bjo Trimble, who pointed me to site. “Gene Roddenberry would have roared with laughter.”