• Question: is there any truth in star treck?

    Asked by shiniqua to Arlene, Colin, David, Eugene, Paul on 18 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Paul Higgins

      Paul Higgins answered on 18 Nov 2012:

      Very few things in star trek are possible today, but some of them could be possible some day.. “Beam me up, Scotty!” could be possible because of quantum mechanics. There are scientists working on teleportation, right now. Also, the engine on the Enterprise works by accelerating protons out the back of it using an electric field. The European Space Agency has actually sent a satellite into space that uses an engine with the same idea- but it is much much slower than the Enterprise…

    • Photo: Colin Johnston

      Colin Johnston answered on 19 Nov 2012:

      Sadly, virtually none (I write this a great fan of the show).

      We’ll never be able to travel faster than the speed of light (it’s just the way the Universe is, nothing goes faster than light), planets where you would walk around without a spacesuit are probably very rare. If any aliens really exist, they won’t be just like us but with pointed ears or lumpy foreheads. I’m not as optimistic as Paul that teleporting people will ever be possible.

      It’s great fiction, and it’s optimistic view of a future without poverty or prejudice where technology has made things better is the real message of Star Trek.

Comments