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from the but-when-can-I-get-my-dilithium-crystals dept.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
If you think technologies from Star Trek seem far-fetched, think again. Many of the devices from the acclaimed television series are slowly becoming a reality. While we may not be teleporting people from starships to a planet's surface anytime soon, we are getting closer to developing other tools essential for future space travel endeavours.
I am a lifelong Star Trek fan, but I am also a researcher that specializes in creating new magnetic materials. The field of condensed-matter physics encompasses all new solid and liquid phases of matter, and its study has led to nearly every technological advance of the last century, from computers to cellphones to solar cells.
My approach to looking for new phenomena in materials comes from a chemistry perspective: How can we create materials that have new properties that can change our world, and eventually be used to explore "strange, new worlds"? I believe an understanding of so-called "quantum materials" in particular is essential to make science-fiction science fact.
Quantum materials, magnetic fields and shields, superconductors on spaceships, quantum computers, societal revolution? Get your Trek on.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Justin Case on Saturday October 28 2017, @08:30PM (5 children)
I'll believe it when I see it.
Wait... will I be able to see it?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday October 28 2017, @11:17PM (4 children)
All the good technology in the world won't mean a thing as long as we have retarded humans behind it.
I'll give you a Star Trek like example of technology retardation you can try with your own Amazon Alexa -- Ask it if Harvey Weinstein is a Jew. It will say "I don't know." Ask it if Harvey Weinstein is Jewish, and Alexa will say "yes."
(Score: 3, Funny) by Justin Case on Sunday October 29 2017, @12:53AM (2 children)
But I thought the mere possession of an Amazon Alexa qualifies as technology retardation.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday October 29 2017, @03:01AM
You can make that determination yourself, sir.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:05AM
Yeah, being possessed by Alexa sounds really bad.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 30 2017, @08:10PM
And how is that a contradiction? So Alexa cannot tell race(or religion) but can tell religion(or race). That we use the same name for a race and a religion is a little silly.