Remembering Joseph Ruskin
Star Trek alumnus Joseph Ruskin died of natural causes on December 28. He was 89. Ruskin is probably best remembered for playing master thrall Galt in the original series episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion”. He also guest starred in the Deep Space Nine episode “The House of Quark” as Tumek – a role which he later reprised in “Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places”. Ruskin appeared in the Voyager episode “Gravity” as a...
Star Trek Phase II: Kitumba
For fans of the Star Trek Phase II fan film project, the latest episode, Kitumba, has just been released. Star Trek Phase II is the continuing voyages of Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, taking place in the fourth and fifth seasons of the original series. Kitumba, was originally meant as a two-part story for the proposed Star Trek: Phase II television series back in 1977. Now a single episode, Kitumba features the...
So You Say You Want A Resolution? -By Rick Austin @EvolvedRick
2013 was a bit of a roller coaster for me, and for many others too, I imagine. The good news is that it’s over; the bad news is that another one has begun, and it’s up to us to make the best of it. So you say you want a resolution? Most of us make resolutions, little promises to ourselves that could make our lives better in the new year. Usually we break them within hours, but I figure that since Star Trek is a part of my daily life,...
Klingon Resignation
What would Worf say about David Waddell’s resignation from the Indian Trail City Council in North Carolina? Waddell, who is stepping aside Jan. 31, tendered his notice this week in Klingon, the language of the fictional humanoid warrior species from Star Trek. The Charlotte Observer reports the lawmaker’s letter to Indian Trail Mayor Michael Alvarez was meant as a joke but to be safe he included a translation using...
Levitation technology brings Star Trek holodecks closer to reality
One of the most iconic technologies in the Star Trek universe are its ubiquitous “holodecks”, which use fictional “holomatter” to generate realistic three-dimensional objects that people can interact with. Now, scientists at the University of Tokyo have invented a way to levitate and manipulate particles in mid-air—essentially paving the way for making holodecks a thing of science fact. Yoichi Ochiai, Takayuki...
Fan creates $30,000 replica Starship Enterprise suite in basement
Canadian Line Rainville had $30,000 to spend on renovations to her Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Quebec home and decided to recreate parts of the Star Trek Enterprise in her basement. The 51-year-old social worker decided she wanted to create a home theater, but also to remind herself of her childhood. The answer? A suite of rooms in her basement including the Enterprise’s bridge, transporter room, recreation room, observation deck...
Star Trek: The Fall – Peaceable Kingdoms now available
The fifth and final novel in the Star Trek: The Fall series is now available! Written by friend of Trek Mate, Dayton Ward, Peaceable Kingdoms completes the Next Generation/Deep Space Nine crossover story arc. More information is on Dayton’s website. You can purchase Star Trek: The Fall – Peaceable Kingdoms from Amazon US and Amazon UK.
The man behind the transporter effect
It was a former North Dakotan, not Scotty, who “beamed” Capt. James T. Kirk aboard the Starship Enterprise during almost every episode of “Star Trek” in the 1960s – or at least, it was Bowman’s Jim Rugg who created the illusion that Kirk’s body was being reconstituted inside the transformer of the Enterprise. He did this by filming a transparent container filled with water, into which he sprinkled and stirred glitter. During the time...
Ten amazing science and technology innovations coming up in 2014
Beam yourself across the world The growth in video communication has been exponential. Skype now boasts 300 million users, and a 2012 Ipsos/Reuters poll revealed one in five people worldwide now frequently “telecommuted” to work. But Star Trek fans will be happy to hear that incoming technology will add a further dimension to international conference calls. Known as holographic telepresence, it involves transmitting a...
The Year’s Biggest Trek-centric Stories
2013 was certainly an eventful year for the Star Trek franchise. Star Trek Into Darkness opened and, yes, Khan was the baddie. Patrick Stewart cemented his status as a Twitter god and cultural icon. Fans bid farewell a number of Star Trek figures, from A.C. Crispin to Michael Ansara, who passed away. Today, we’re going to revisit some of the biggest stories. Four years after Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness at long last...