I didn't see that specific episode.....
but I really do like that idea!!!!
We could imagine a quark... buzzing around at incredible speeds perhaps saying something along the line of the line by Speedy Gonzales on
the Bugs Bunny show......."Undale, undale..... ariba, ariba.... Yeehaw..... Yeehaw!!!!!!", (padon my terrible spelling of Spanish in spite of my wife being from Ecuador!!!)
it ends up taking over the ship .. almost
salt based
and self propagates through light
but also communicates with light(not sure if thats a conflict)
it is as i recall a mineral light electric based life form
living in a highly salinated layer very deep i the planets surface
so the part of the light confuses me
unless they produce light & so the light helps it propagate as a reproductive cycle exchange
which would explain it self propagating in high light scenarios
i know they smash these science things out in their script rooms to make sure they have solid science behind them
it might have been thought up to represent a brain concept as a living entity
removing all the biological compound and leaving just the minerals and water
the episode is in the next generation
crew member data investigates ... ends up being locked in the laser drill room where the life form trys to attack him with the laser drill and he destroys the laser drill after it has killed 1 or 2 other people who were mining on the planet
jordi deciphers the language with his optical array implant
during which they discover the entity which is a socialist organism of many members
declares war on humans because it believes war has been declared on it as the terraforming laser drillers have killed many of their species(how true this would be to real human space exploration)
it turns out the mining colony manager had suspected it was life but decided to keep mining anyway
they were a forward science party expected to terraform the planet
if rough memory serves
the star trek crew transport a part of it into their science lab where it grows then starts to take over the ship
they manage to establish communication and discuss the situation and then teleport it back to the surface and evacuate the remaining mining crew
after that everything gets a little foggy as one episode bleeds into the other in my memory
star trek next generation
ship is called to check in on a terraforming mining operation