Holy Spock! How Star Trek's science-fiction is becoming fact

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Holy Spock! How Star Trek's science-fiction is becoming fact
February 2, 2011
By Damian Corless
Independent.ie

A team of British scientists claim they're on the verge of boldly going where no man or woman has gone before, by developing a real-life version of the Star Trek cloaking device that allowed Captain Kirk to dodge enemies by zipping invisibly from one spot to another.

It's still in its infancy, but they expect it to be in routine use within 50 years.

Around the globe groups of boffins are working on other fantastic schemes aimed at transforming science fiction into science fact.

These include worker bees that go to work for humans flying surveillance missions, real-life cyborgs resembling Arnie Schwarzenegger's Terminator, and computers that fold up like paper.

As these advances come online they'll transform our world, giving fresh meaning to the old Star Trek line: "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it."

The No-Needle Injection

Other gizmos showcased in Star Trek will be with us well within the next 50 years. Tractor beams for pushing or pulling objects already exist for laser surgery. They will become much larger for industrial use. Translator devices will be standard in mobile phones soon-ish. A real-life phaser gun is on the way.

But the Trek device most eagerly awaited by the world's population is surely Dr McCoy's painless no-needle injection. Work has begun on this hand-held gadget that delivers vaccinations by using a laser to create micro-pores in the skin.

Skin From A Spraycan

In one of the most memorable scenes from The Terminator, Arnie's cyborg performs surgery on his injured arm by cutting away his own skin.

He could have repaired the scar with some spray-on human skin of the sort that's already being tested in the US on burn victims and is said to leave much less scar tissue than grafting. The same researchers are working on ways to grow back bones, muscles and nerves.

Lifesize 3D

Some scientists predict that within a few decades we will live virtual lives in 3D. One argued: "When technology gives you a life-size 3D image and the links to your nervous system allow you to shake hands, it's like being in the other person's office."

Boardroom meetings apparently carried out in full business attire could be conducted from the kitchen table in your pyjamas.

Meanwhile, the kitchen fridge would keep an eye on your supplies and re-order groceries when they run low.

Eternal Life

Others believe that within 50 years the wealthy will be prolonging their lives by downloading their minds into android bodies.

By the end of this century, mind download should become cheaper and routine for the broader masses.

One boffin pointed out that the Playstation 3 launched in 2007 had 1% the capacity of the human brain. PS4 will be far more powerful and PS5 will "probably" have the capacity of the human brain. After that they have to figure out how to make it conscious.

Green Energy

Scientists at Washington University believe that in the not-too-distant future tree-hugging will be overtaken by tree-plugging.

They've found that the natural bio-electric energy stored up in trees may make them the batteries of tomorrow, with the Maple coming out best in tests.

There will probably never be a tree-powered car, but they should be viable rechargers for mobile phones, iPods and other gizmos. The only problem is where to fit a tree in your livingroom.

Origami Computer

The Origami DVD player has been in development in Israel for some years, but with DVDs on the way to becoming yesterday's technology, it's likely that we'll instead get the Origami Computer.

The concept consists of a portable DVD player with a thin sheet of e-paper that folds out like a sheet of paper to act as a screen.

As DVDs go the way of the Dodo, e-paper screens should be a feature of the future.

Self-warming Clothes

The race is on to develop what is likely to be a multi-trillion market in smart clothes using e-textiles. Cotton and other fabrics can be treated with a dye that contains invisible carbon fibres that can carry electronic information.

Smart shoes could store the mechanical effort of walking as battery power to charge your accessories.

Smart shirts could convert every muscle twitch into stored heat to warm the wearer. Scientists insist that smart clothes will eventually become communications devices that you wear.

Cyborg Insects

We've had dolphins trained to place explosive mines, we've had performing fleas in flea circuses, so perhaps the notion that we'll have cyborg insects flying spy missions shouldn't sound too far-fetched. It still does, though.

US scientists have implanted moths and beetles with tiny electronics that allows them to be controlled by a handler. Wireless signals instruct the insect to fly, land, hover or switch direction.

As technology shrinks further, insects will carry cameras and heat sensing detectors. When that happens, it will be possible to use them for spy missions, or search and rescue operations.

When the boffins get a few more bugs out of the system, there'll be no getting the bugs out of the system.