Much of the technology that was first engineered in the minds of Gene Roddenberry and the rest of the creative team behind Star Trek has made its way into use in our everyday lives. From the PADDs that later became our iPads and other tablets to speaking to a computer that can talk back (though it’s a shame Siri doesn’t sound like the Enterprise’s computer), Star Trek tech has informed a lot of our own advancements over the last several years–and it’s often what fuels scientists to try and see if there’s any real-life means of replicating (no pun intended) what only exists in fiction.
Currently, laser scientists at Lockheed Martin, an advanced technologies company, are in the process of working on their version of the phaser, a classic weapon and tool that has been used in Star Trek for everything from stunning an enemy to cutting through a rock wall. From the “Building Star Trek” documentary currently airing on the Smithsonian Channel (which also features the restoration of the model of the USS Enterprise), you can get a glimpse inside the laser development lab to see exactly what they’re working on:
This team of laser scientists (coolest job title ever) is currently examining things like the replica phasers used in the original Star Trek series to try and hypothesize just where all that powerful energy could be stored–and while their own “phasers”, or laser weapons systems, may not quite be down to handheld size just yet, maybe that’s for the best right now. These babies are powerful.
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