Star Trek at 50 - Space Travel

I was born on the edge of the space age. The year of the first men in space and President Kennedy's historic speech, challenging the nation to land "a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth" before the end of the decade.

Space exploration defined my boyhood. Small scale models of various spacecraft filled the shelves in my bedroom, nestled among book titles such as Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space and a double sided Little Golden Book titled "Planet" and "Space Flight". While in grade school, I somehow convinced my parents to allow me to take our television to school on days when Saturn rockets would launch carrying men into space or when capsules carrying those men would plunge through the atmosphere and splash down on the blue waters of the Pacific.

And here we are, on what may be the brink of a new space race, looking to Mars and beyond. 

At its heart, Star Trek has always been about how humanity can progress. It started with a simple casting decision -- having a Scottish man, a black woman, an Asian man, an alien, and later a Russian man, all working alongside the two white American men, a radical notion in 1966. It proceeded to give us a show where the day wasn’t always saved by having the bigger gun, but by being smart and by being compassionate. Star Trek has always been about hope, first and foremost, starting with that very casting decision showing that humans of different nations had put those hostilities aside, and now were one united Earth.

This week, a look at space travel and the hope of a better future.
 
TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Just beyond the next planet, just beyond the next star..." - Captain Jonathan Archer, Star Trek: Enterprise, “These Are The Voyages..."

   ST50 - Space Travel by fredwine on Scribd

Star Trek at 50 - Automatic Doors

Automation, as it turns out, is not a new concept. A Greek inventor named Heron contemplated the notion some 2,000 years ago. He describes not one, but two different automatic door applications. The first application used heat from a fire lit by the city's temple priest.  After, a few hours atmospheric pressure built up in a brass vessel causing it to pump water into adjacent holding containers. These holding containers acted as weights, that through a series of ropes and pulleys would open the temple's doors, at just about the time people were to arrive for prayer.  Heron used a similar application to open the gates to the city.

This week, a look at automatic doors.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Feelings aren't positive or negative Data, it's what you do with those feelings that becomes good or bad."  - Counselor Deanna Troi , Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Descent Part 1" 

   ST50 - Automatic Doors by fredwine on Scribd

Star Trek at 50 - Nanotech

The term "nano" refers to the metric prefix 10-9. It means one billionth of something. Nanoscience is the study of structures and materials on the scale of nanometers. To give you an idea of how long a nanometer is, a printed page is about 75,000 nanometers thick. When structures are made small enough -- in the nanometer size range -- they can take on interesting and useful properties.

Nanoscale structures have existed in nature long before scientists began studying them in laboratories. A single strand of DNA, the building block of all living things, is about three nanometers wide. The scales on a morpho butterfly’s wings contain nanostructures that change the way light waves interact with each other, giving the wings brilliant metallic blue and green hues. Peacock feathers and soap bubbles also get their iridescent coloration from light interacting with structures just tens of nanometers thick. Scientists have even created nanostructures in the laboratory that mimic some of nature’s amazing nanostructures.

This week, a look at nanotech.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Everyone's trying to...look out for us. Protect us from ourselves. But in the end, all that matters is how we feel...and what we do about it. Because either way, we're the ones who have to live with the consequences." - Jadzia Dax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Rejoined"

   ST50 - Nanotech by fredwine on Scribd

Star Trek at 50 - Teleportation

It's not the destination, it's the journey. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Ashe, Zig Ziglar, Brian Eno and many others had something to say about this. I've had many interesting journeys along the way and look forward to many more.

Still, wouldn't getting wherever it is you are traveling to in a few seconds beat spending hours in a car or a crowded airplane?

This week, a look at getting somewhere in the blink of an eye.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I’ll never understand this obsession with accumulating material wealth. You spend your entire life plotting and scheming to acquire more and more possessions until your living areas are bursting with useless junk. Then you die, your relatives sell everything and start the cycle all over again." - Odo, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Q-Less"

   ST50 - Teleportation by fredwine on Scribd

Star Trek at 50 - Hypospray

I was a terrible tooth brusher as a child and, consequently spent many hours in the dentist chair. I learned to loath the Kit-Cat Clock hanging in the examination/torture room with it’s iconic swinging tail, rolling eyes and scary smile, laughing at me as the doctor put that foot long needle through my cheek and jaw to anesthetize my mouth.

This week, a look at hyposprays.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!" - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek VIII: First Contact

   ST50 - Hypospray by fredwine on Scribd

Star Trek at 50 - Geordi's VISOR

I had my first pair of glasses when I was in sixth grade. A novelty at first, I wore them only when I needed to, putting them on and taking them off in a sort of rythmic gymnastic progression. I lost and or broke a few pairs this way, so by the time I was in college they became a permanent addition to my eyes. Over the years they have corrected my vision, shaded my eyes from the sun and allowed for much laughter when looking at photos from decades past as fashions changed.

This week, a look at, well, looking.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves! I don't want my pain taken away! I need my pain!" - Captain James Kirk, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

ST50 - Geordi's Visor by fredwine on Scribd

Star Trek at 50 - Tractor Beam

A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. The concept originates in fiction: In Philip Francis Nowlan's Buck Rogers novel, Armageddon 2419 A.D. (1928), the enemy airships used "repellor beams" for support and propulsion, similar to the "eighth ray" beams used for support and propulsion of Martian airships in the Barsoom/John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first published 1912-1943.

The term "tractor beam" was coined by E. E. Smith (an update of his earlier "attractor beam") in his novel Spacehounds of IPC (1931). Since the 1990s, technology and research has laboured to make it a reality, and have had some success on a microscopic level.

Gravity impulse and gravity propulsion beams are traditionally areas of research from fringe physics that coincide with the concepts of tractor and repulsor beams..

This week, a look at tractor beams.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you or would you like to break some more furniture?" - Counselor Deanna Troi, to Commander Worf, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Birthright"

ST50 - Tractor Beam by fredwine

Star Trek at 50 - Communicator

The communicator is a fictional device used for voice communication in the fictional universe of Star Trek. In a twist of the science fiction future infliencing present day technology, Dr. Martin Cooper, inventor of the first handheld mobile phone, credits the Star Trek: The Original Series communicator as being his inspiration for the technology. Although the first "brick" mobile phones were much larger, modern flip phones like Motorola´s StarTAC strongly resemble the original series communicator.

This week, a look at communicators.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: Kirk: "My God, Bones, what have I done?" McCoy: "What you had to do; what you always do: turn death into a fighting chance to live." Doctor Leonard McCoy to Admiral James T. Kirk while witnessing the destruction of the Enterprise, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

ST50 - Communicator by fredwine

Star Trek at 50 - Phaser

A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.

Phasers are common particle-beam weapons first seen in the original Star Trek series and later seen or referenced in almost all subsequent films and television spin-offs. The phaser was originally a "PHoton mASER", because at the time of writing the laser was a relatively unknown. Masers, on the other hand, were already established and produced long-range coherent beams of electromagnetic radiation.

This week, a look at light amplified weapons.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "There are creatures in the universe who would consider you the ultimate achievement, android. No feelings, no emotions – no pain. And yet, you covet those qualities of humanity. Believe me, you're missing nothing. But if it means anything to you...you're a better human than I." - Q to Commander Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Déjà Q"

ST50 - Phaser by fredwine

Star Trek at 50 - Warp Drive

Warp drive is a faster-than-light (FTL) spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction works. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at fantasy speeds greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude.

Fantasy speeds? Hey, just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it can't. Some smart person will figure out how hyper-fast travel within General Relativity can occur. Maybe. Or, maybe not.

This week, a look at warp drive.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "One can begin to reshape the landscape with a single flower, Captain." - Spock to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Unification, Part II"

ST50 - Warp Drive by fredwine

Star Trek at 50 - Natural Language Queries

A natural language query consists only of normal terms in the user’s language, without any special syntax or format. This type of computer human interface is where linguistic phenomena such as verbs, phrases and clauses act as UI controls for creating, selecting and modifying data in software applications.

Heck, I have enough trouble composing sentences with the correct grammatical form. And yet, a computer can manage to do it...most of the time, anyway. Take that, Siri.

This week, as look at natural language queries.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” - Captain Jean-Luc Picard to Commander Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Peak Performance” 

ST50 - Natural Language Queries by fredwine

Star Trek at 50 - Food Replicators

In history, most people prepared food for themselves. The rich and powerful had servants who made food for them. Then restaurants appeared, making the food for whomever could afford it. With a pocketful of nickles you could visit the automat, the original fast food restaurant where simple foods and drink were served by vending machines. The arrival of fast food served over the counter and with more payment flexibility than nickles came next and never looked back.

What could be easier, you say? How about printing your meal?

This week, a look at fast(er) food.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Your Honor, a courtroom is a crucible. In it, we burn away irrelevancies until we're left with a pure product - the truth, for all time." - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Measure of a Man"

   ST50 - Food Replicators

Star Trek at 50 - Holodeck

There are times when we want to disappear into the mists and emerse ourselves in something, anything, besides reality. A good book, a movie, a game...the list is endless.

This week, a look at emerging yourself into that other reality.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Regret is one of the strongest emotions and one of the saddest." – Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker, Star Trek: Enterprise, “Fusion”

   ST50 - Holodeck

Star Trek at 50 - Tablet Computers

The tablet computer and its associated operating system began with the development of pen computing. Electrical devices with data input and output on a flat information display existed as early as 1888 with the telautograph, which used a sheet of paper as display and a pen attached to electromechanical actuators. Throughout the 20th century devices with these characteristics have been imagined and created whether as blueprints, prototypes, or commercial products. 

Tablet computers appeared in a number of works of science fiction in the second half of the 20th century; all helped to promote and disseminate the concept to a wider audience. Examples include Isaac Asimov with a Calculator Pad in his novel Foundation (1951), Stanislaw Lem with the Opton in his novel Return from the Stars (1961), and Arthur C. Clarke's NewsPad was depicted in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). There were numerous similar devices depicted by Gene Roddenberry in Star Trek: The Original Series which continued into Star Trek The Next Generation with tablet computers designated as PADDs.

And here were are again, reality imitating imagination. 

This week, a look at holding the future in the palm of your hands.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "You either live life fully, face to the wind, with skinned knees, bruises and all or you turn your back to it all, wither away and die." - Captain Christopher Pike, Star Trek: The Original Series, “The Cage” (unaired pilot)

   ST50 - Tablet Computers

Stra Trek at 50 - Tricorder

Like some wizard, Dr. "Bones" McCoy needed only to wave his tricorder sensor like a talisman over Star Trek crew members to detect any ailment -- and to cure many of them. These futuristic sickbay tools presented a captivating vision of what medicine might one day achieve, inspiring legions of fans who later became some of the world's most inventive scientists.

Rather than undergo exploratory surgery, many patients now rest on tables similar to the Enterprise's sickbay bed while an automated scanner delivers diagnostic images of the body's interior. Blade-free "surgery" is possible with equipment like the CyberKnife, developed at Stanford University. Devices like McCoy's needle-free "hypospray" injections are now commonplace vaccination tools.

And what of the tricorder? Once again, the future is now.

This week, a look at holding a diagnostic lab in your hands.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Laws change depending on who's making them, but justice is justice." - Odo, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “A Man Alone”

   ST50 - Tricorder

Star Trek at 50 - Universal Translator

The Prayer of Saint Francis, also known as the Peace Prayer, includes a wish "...to be understood as to understand..." There are plenty of times when I'm not understood, and if I was honest, a lot more when I didn't understand. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to travel to Italy and visit relatives, where our differences were fewer than our similarities, but the language barrier was a tough one to cross. Fortunately Google Translate was there when we needed stamps for postcards (francobolli per cartoline), non-dairy creamer for coffee (creamer non lattiero-caseari per il caffè) or a pencil (matita).

This week, a look at not being lost in translation.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want." - Commander Spock, Star Trek: The Original Series, “Errand Of Mercy"

   ST50 - Universal Translator

Star Trek at 50 - Crew Locator

Do a Google search on "finding yourself" and you'll discover a myriad of ways to find your true self, how to make peace with yourself, how to connect to your core. None refer to geolocators or the Global Positioning System or how the government tracks us through our cell phones.

In a world where it is increasingly difficult to find yourself alone, most of us are never out of reach via one form of communication or another. Whether that is good or bad is entirely up to you.

This week, a look at finding where you are.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "I don't believe in the no-win scenario." - Admiral James Kirk, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 

   ST50 - Crew Locator

Star Trek at 50 - Androids

An android is a robot or synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human, especially one with a body having a flesh-like resemblance. Historically, androids remained completely within the domain of science fiction where they are frequently seen in film and television. Only recently have advancements in robot technology allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots.

This week, a look at androids. 

Quote of the week: "No man should understand where his dreams come from, Data." - Doctor Noonien Soong to Commander Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Birthright, Part 1"

   ST50 - Androids

Star Trek at 50 - Telepresence

In a pioneering paper, the US cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky attributed the development of the idea of telepresence to science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. In his science fiction short story "Waldo" (1942), Heinlein first proposed a primitive telepresence master-slave manipulator system.

The term telepresence was coined in a 1980 article by Minsky, who outlined his vision for an adapted version of the older concept of teleoperation that focused on giving a remote participant a feeling of actually being present at a different location.

This week, a look at telepresence.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "I am superior, sir, in many ways. But I would gladly give it up, to be human." - Commander Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Encounter at Farpoint” 

   ST50 - Telepresence

Star Trek at 50 - View Screens

At the turn of the 20th century, the TV as we know it today was only a dream in the eyes of inventors. Many believed they could take the basic concepts applied to the transmission of sound and apply them to the transmission of pictures. It would be unfair to say the invention of the television is attributed to one person. Philo T. Farnsworth, Vladimir Zworykin, Charles Jenkins and John Baird all attributed greatly to the invention of the modern television each supplying their own piece of the puzzle.

We've moved through cathode ray tubes, digital light processing, plasma display panel, liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes. Who knows what is next, but we'll watch it, I am sure.

 This week, a look at view screens.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I've found that when you don't think about a problem, sometimes the solution comes to you." - Commander Chakotay, Star Trek: Voyager, “Flashback” 

   ST50 - View Screens

Star Trek at 50 - Cloaking Device

Among the many tropes found in science fiction and fantasy, few are more popular than the cloaking device. In the real world, scientists have long engaged in research that would at least improve camouflaging technology, conceal aircraft from radar or further our knowledge of how light and electromagnetic waves work. 

Are cloaking devices not just for Harry Potter or Romulan warships anymore? Maybe yes, maybe no.

This week, a look at hiding in plain sight.

TTFN, Fred.
 
Quote of the week: "There is an old Vulcan proverb, 'Only Nixon could go to China.' " - Captain Spock, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

ST50 - Cloaking Device

Star Trek at 50 - In-Ear Communicators

People began getting sound pumped into their ear canal long before Steve Jobs produced white earbuds and Dr. Dre jumped in the game.

The May 1926 issue of Science and Invention magazine included a brief article about a new pair of earbud headphones. The magazine touts many benefits of these headphones that echo the preferences of today: they are lighter, they take up less space, and more comfortable than bulky headphones in hot weather.

The first early ancestors of headphones were used by telephone operators in the 1880's. Less than portable, it was a single earpiece that rested on the user's shoulder and weighed over 10 pounds. In 1910, an eccentric Utah tinkerer named Nathaniel Baldwin began manufacturing the first modern headphones. He crafted them in his kitchen and sold them to the U.S. Navy. Miniaturization allowed microphones to be added to the headset for the complete talk and listen combination. And now the entire thing fits in our ear.

This week, a look at in-ear communication.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Humor. It is a difficult concept." - Lieutenant JG Saavik, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

   ST50 - In-Ear Communicators

Star Trek at 50 - Focused Ultrasound Surgery

In the late 1980s holograms seemed like the next big thing in imaging, after computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), because they added depth. Imaging systems were becoming increasingly important as minimally invasive surgical procedures – such as endoscopy (surgery using a tube camera) and laparoscopy (belly surgery, usually through the navel) – took off. By taking the data from the MRI and CT to create a hologram of a tumor and then projecting that into the body during surgery, a surgeon could cut out a tumor while avoiding healthy tissue. Lasers might be able to accomplish this, but so would high-frequency waves of sound. And why not use the ultrasound for the surgery itself?

This week, a look at the greatest leap in medicine since the scalpel, focused ultrasound surgery,

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "After a time, you may find that 'having' is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as 'wanting.' This is not logical, but it is often true." - Commander Spock, Star Trek: The Original Series, “Amok Time”

ST50 - Focused Ultrasound Surgery

Star Trek at 50: Biometrics

Biometrics refers to metrics related to human characteristics. Biometrics authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.

It has been suggested that biometrics originated in the identificatory systems of criminal activity developed by Alphonse Bertillon and developed by Francis Galton's theory of fingerprints and physiognomy.

Regardless of where it started, it is around us every day. iPhones use fingerprint identification. Walt Disney World takes an image of your finger, converts the image into a unique numerical; the numerical value/ticket combination facilitates ease of re-entry into the park and helps prevent fraud. Washington State has an option for an Enhanced Driver's License that utilizes facial recognition to allow for border crossings into Canada without a passport, a necessity if you're after some Timbits®.
 
This week, a look at Biometrics.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Believing oneself to be perfect is often the sign of a delusional mind.” - Lieutenant Commander Data to the Borg Queen, Star Trek VIII: First Contact 

   ST50 - Biometrics

Star Trek at 50: Force Fields

The concept of a force field goes back at least as far as the 1920s, in the works of E.E. 'Doc' Smith and others; in William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land (1912), the remnants of humanity shelter in the Last Redoubt, generated by something very like a force field. The concept of force fields as a defensive measure from enemy attack or as a form of attack can be regularly found in modern video games as well as in movies, such as in The War of the Worlds and Independence Day.

This week, a look at Force Fields.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Logic, logic, logic. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end."- Captain Spock, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

   ST50 - Force Fields

Star Trek at 50: Transparent Aluminum

Star Trek premiered on television in 1966. It hardly seems like 50 years, but then to admit that I would need to feel my age, which at least for today I'll avoid committing to. Things have changed a lot since then, and we've come to expect science fiction can become science fact. This year we'll take a look at the technologies that spawned from Star Trek.

But where to start? Let's go back to 1986 and the need to put whales on a space ship.

This week, a look at Transparent Aluminum.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Things are only impossible until they're not." - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "When The Bough Breaks"

Start Trek at 50: Transparent Aluminum by fredwine