Tricorder competition
Almost 50 years ago, TV viewers were introduced to a nifty little sci-fi gadget on the series Star Trek that could read a patient’s vital signs and diagnose diseases with a mere swipe above the surface of the body. Now a Canadian company and 20 other teams from around the world are vying for a $10-million XPrize by trying to replicate Dr. McCoy’s “tricorder” and go where no real-world medical device has gone...
Star Trek Symbols on Mars
Mars sand dunes shown in a new photograph resemble Starfleet badges seen in Star Trek. The new image was taken by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, currently in orbit above the Red Planet. The photograph, taken on 30 December, reveals several of these structures, spread out across the Martian surface, near Mawrth Vallis, one of the oldest valleys on the Red Planet. While Star Trek fans may delight in...
Hailing frequencies open between the stars?
There are folks out there (on Earth, at least) that are examining the problem of talking between stars. David Messerschmitt, of the University of California at Berkeley, is one of those people. A new paper by him on Arxiv examines the issue. Note this is a preprint site and not a peer-reviewed journal, but all the same it provides an intriguing addition to how to communicate outside of Earth. Messerschmitt explains that humans already...
NASA is Working on Star Trek Healing Devices
NASA and Texas-based company GRoK Technologies will work on the development of new “breakthrough products,” non-invasive medical technologies designed to “regenerate bone and muscle tissues.” It really sounds like something out of Star Trek, but “it’s not just sci-fi anymore.” That’s exactly what GRoK’s founder and CEO Moshe Kushman says: It’s not just science fiction anymore. All indications are that 21st century life sciences will...
Star Trek Replicator Nearing Reality?
Star Trek’s food replicator may soon become more science fact than science fiction. Back in May, 2013, NASA — as it sets its sights on manned missions to Mars — revealed that it was teaming up with Systems & Materials Research Consultancy (SMRC) on a 3D printer that can produce… food, and more specifically, pizza. SMRC actually won a six-month, $125,000 Small Business Innovation Research Grant from NASA to...
We get closer to a holodeck
Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking are playing poker together. No, this isn’t a bad physics joke. It’s a scene from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It takes place in a holodeck, a simulated-reality room in the fictional Star Trek universe. The three scientists — or at least computer-generated versions of them — have been transported to the 2300s to play cards with Lt. Cmdr. Data. “I don’t even know why I’m here in the...
Free ebook: Star Trek transporters, not just possible but now science fact
A free ebook is available on Amazon from January 31, 2014 Have you ever wondered if it would be possible to be teleported just like in Star Trek? Amazingly, not only is it now possible, but scientists have started teleportation experiments, science fiction is now science fact! Ever since the TV series Star Trek introduced the idea of teleportation from one place to another via a matter transporter, many have been fascinated with the...
Finding a M-class planet
M-class planets are seen each week in Star Trek. Our characters always seem to land on planets which support human life. But finding Earth-like planets has been a tough ask for astrophysicists. Many exoplanets discovered to date are just desolate chunks of cold rock, or worse – gas giants. Previously, most of the exoplanets labelled ‘super Earths’ (as they are slightly larger than our own planet) have also been...
Dyson Spheres: How Advanced Alien Civilizations Would Conquer the Galaxy
Ancient extraterrestrial civilizations, millions of years older than humanity, would need enormous amounts of energy. By creating a swarm of satellites in a spherical shell, they could harness much of the power of their star. Science fiction author Olaf Stapledon described spherical, energy-trapping alien structures in his 1937 novel “Star Maker”: “Not only was every solar system now surrounded by a gauze of light...
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...