You too can use Star Trek technology every day!

Bailo · September 7, 2006

Star Trek gadgets now a reality

The futuristic gadgets used in Star Trek may have become a reality, a scientist has said, days before the franchise reaches its 40th anniversary.

According to Dr Sima Adhya, a space mission scientist, many of the gadgets beloved of "Trekkies" have influenced the technology people use today.

"It's amazing to see how science-fiction-style gadgets have so quickly become a reality and part of our everyday lives," she said.

"Who would have thought when Star Trek was devised that in less than 40 years people would be walking around with portable handset 'communication devices' on which they can talk to and see each other?

"The real-life rate of progress of science and technology has far exceeded the imaginary world of the Star Trek writers and TV producers whose stories were set much further into the future than where we are now."

Fans of the popular franchise will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Friday. The show was first broadcast on September 8, 1966. Many fans will remember the gadgets Dr Adhya believes have influenced today's technology.

For example, the Transporter - which prompted Star Trek's characters to shout "Beam me up, Scotty" - sounds scientifically impossible. But physicists have recently teleported live particles across the 600-metre-wide river Danube in Austria, Dr Adhya said.

Today's mobile phones could have stemmed from the Star Trek Enterprise's Communicator, which had a black plastic body and antenna, she added. Plus, the Holodeck resembles modern virtual reality games which allow users to interact with a computer-simulated environment.

Dr Adhya explained: "I think science fiction writers do come up with ideas that are copied in real life but you couldn't really prove that."

Star Trek has long inspired young scientists to become interested in space, and Dr Adhya is no exception. Dr Adhya is part of New Outlooks in Science and Engineering (NOISE) which is a UK-wide campaign that aims to raise awareness of science and engineering among young people.

http://news.uk.msn.com

I'd pay to see a "dead" particle.

cymrococh · September 7, 2006

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