 A native of the high @-@ gravity planet Traltha , Thornnastor ( nicknamed " Thorny " ) has a body like a six @-@ legged elephant , and its own keen senses are supplemented by a symbiont that provides acute vision over up to 360 degrees . Thornnastor is the Diagnostician in Charge of Pathology , and it carries ten Educator tapes . Its fascination with gossip , especially about the scandalous activities of a multi @-@ sexed , methane @-@ breathing , cryogenic species , is a running gag in the series . 
