Star Trek Tech Comes to Life

In last week’s posting I reiterated my fondness for Star Trek (in case the picture of me between a Vulcan and a Starfleet officer wasn’t clue enough). Gene Roddenberry’s creation was prophetic in many ways. I know that Star Trek-like technology is in use today and has been covered ad nauseum but indulge my whimsy.

• The sliding door: In the 60s a door that opened as you approached it was not commonplace.
• The communicator: Flip open and talk. It’s a bit of a stretch but it certainly seems like a precursor to a flip phone.

Then there’s the tricorder: In Star Trek lore a tricorder is a handheld device used to gather and analyze information. There are two types of tricorder: the medical tricorder and the engineering tricorder.

When I was a kid, my friends and I made our own Star Trek props. One friend took six of his father’s LPs (long playing, 33 RPM records), painted them gold and used them as transporter pads. I was not nearly as inventive (plus, my father would not have been as understanding as my friend’s dad). My contribution was a block of wood tricorder, painted black with numbers and a screen drawn on it that fit in my hand.

We may not be close to a working transporter, but tricorders may be in our future.

According to Gizmag.com, Scanadu, a tech company based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, is developing a medical tricorder that will be able to measure vital statistics such as blood pressure, pulmonary function, and body temperature.

DVICE reports that Peter Jansen, a postdoc in a lab for "Engineering Non-Traditional Sensors" at the University of Arizona, has developed (from scratch) a perfectly functional Star Trek-style Tricorder. It's a portable sensor system and can measure ambient temperature, humidity, air pressure, magnetic fields, surface temperatures, colors, ambient light level, ambient polarization, acceleration, direction and distance (ultrasonically). It also has a GPS receiver. Jansen has made the plans available so anyone can build it.



Wow! Now this is cool! Do you think there’s a functioning biobed on the horizon?

The Lost Script

I’m a fan of Star Trek, especially the original series, which aired from 1966 to 1969 on NBC.

Forty plus years ago, when I was in seventh or eighth grade, I read a book about the origins of the original Star Trek series. Sadly, I do not recall the name of the text nor do I remember the author’s moniker. I do remember it was a paperback with a dark cover. Some of the book’s details have stayed with me.

Here are a few things of interest that I recall:

· The US Navy was intrigued by the layout of the Enterprise’s bridge and its potential use aboard US warships.
· During filming of the show at Desilu Studios, the use of the bathroom was prohibited because the sound of the toilet flushing got picked up by microphones.
· Gene Roddenberry presented the Star Trek concept to CBS prior to NBC. Supposedly, after completing his pitch, CBS told him no thank you because they were planning a space show of their own, Lost in Space. Reportedly, Roddenberry became upset when CBS used some of his Star Trek ideas in Lost in Space.

Interestingly, CBS Studios, Inc owns the rights to the Star Trek franchise.

I found out that a new version of the 1960s series persists. Original episodes of Star Trek featuring Kirk, Spock, et al are available at phase2trek.com (Star Trek Phase II). The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 is played by amateur actors. Everything Star Trek is protected by copyright but CBS Studios, Inc allows the Star Trek Phase II site to exist because there is no profit derived from the material presented on the site.

Star Trek Phase II has some pedigree. Episodes have been written by the likes of Dorothy Fontana, a television writer since 1960 and former story editor for Star Trek. Some episodes have even featured appearances from original cast members.

But, CBS strikes. According to Thomas Vinciguerra of The New York Times, CBS squashed the use of a previously unused Star Trek script, “He Walked Among Us”, written by Norman Spinrad. Spinrad had donated his copy of the script to California State University, Fullerton.

The folks at Star Trek Phase II learned of the script and planned to run with it. CBS invoked their proprietary rights and squashed production of the script. J. Alec West of Star Trek Phase II wrote that, “Since Star Trek is a CBS/Paramount property, Phase II has agreed not to shoot it.”

Maybe CBS has plans for the script. Could it be used as the basis for a new Star Trek movie? I can only hope.
Does anyone want to see “He Walked Among Us” on the big screen?