4 Star Trek ideas that are now real life reality
by Startacus Admin
One of the realities of working in a co-working space where the majority of the other workers or startups are tech or comic or sci-fi fanatics is that it does rekindle your interest and passion for the whimsical - the adolescent passions, and the geek-esque interests of yesteryear.
But apart from debating whether Quantum Leap is one of the best Sci-Fi shows of the 1990’s (Danny @UproarComics referenced here) or if 
the latest Star Trek movie was really a rather large damp squib, there are some rather significant and important reasons why sci-fi and sci-fi inventions and ideas are really rather important to the next generation of enterprising individuals. (See what I did there?)
If you’re in need of a little motivation from Startacus today, check out this list of Star Trek inventions and ideas that are now real life realities. After all, your big, but panned, dismissed, or not-on-your-nelly idea, could always become the next big invention - maybe not now but in another 20-30 years - ‘could’ being an all-important factor.
Universal Translator
Of course, in Star Trek those enterprising humans had already decided that English was the language of choice for the Federation. However, they still had all those pesky aliens and new planets to discover and all those new languages to decipher. Well, that was made quite a lot simpler (and much smoother for all plot lines) with the creative invention of the universal translator - a piece of equipment that could translate each new and foreign alien language as it was encountered.
But this idea ain’t so much sci-fi any more as even within the last 2-3 years some early versions of said technology, albeit all very much at prototype stage are beginning to hit the consumer market.
3D printers
Ok, so for the tech geeks out there, a 3D printer is not a total replication of the Star Trek Replicator, but it is a ‘giant step’ forward. With NASA planning to send a 3D printer into Space (not on its own of course) via the International Space Station next year, creating replica parts and replacement stuff seems to be a giant step closer. We've featured some other articles on 3D printers previously so read here and here at your leisure. There! Self promotion done!
Tablets/Touch screen TV
I'm writing this article using a touchscreen mobile. Although the keyboard / type-writer functionality is pretty much the same as yesteryear, 
the technology to get your words from head to page has totally changed. The immediacy of a touchscreen tablet /phone / TV, was perhaps first best demonstrated during the early series of Star Trek and was perhaps the inspiration for the 'next generation' of real life technology innovators who were designing the products and technologies we use today.
Medical Tricoder
Much like the Universal Translator, this is still very much a prototype 'product' but with the recent news that Scanadu Scout (a medical tricoder of sorts) had recently broken crowdfunding records by raising $1.6 million, it seems likely that in the next few years, real medical diagnosis will be possible with the aid of a tricoder’s scan. The medical tricoder was most famously used by the original Star Trek crew and has been a popular storyline device ever since.
P.S. Don’t forget about Transporters!
Okay, so we are only joking, but it’s only a ‘matter’ of time...
If you like this post you might also like:
- Sent into Space - The DIY Space Mission
- Unusual Invention - Google’s Driverless Car
- Unusual Inventions - The Invisible Bicycle helmet
- Google Glass and Science Fiction
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Published on: 9th September 2013
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