Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

How Quantum Materials May Soon Make Star Trek Technology Reality

posted by martyb on Saturday October 28 2017, @08:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-when-can-I-get-my-dilithium-crystals dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

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.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
How Quantum Materials May Soon Make Star Trek Technology Reality | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 23 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Sunday October 29 2017, @12:17AM (2 children)

    by looorg (578) on Sunday October 29 2017, @12:17AM (#588845)

    I know everyone will swoon over holodecks, tricorders and phasers. But I just want that medical device Phlox used to fix the teeth of T'pol. That thing seemed totally sweet.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   4  

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @12:44AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2017, @12:44AM (#588850)

    If that device vibrates, my first thought would have been using it some place else. Anyway, I wonder how many people die in the fictional trek universe to make their impossible socialism possible? [nytimes.com]

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:11AM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday October 29 2017, @11:11AM (#588997) Journal

      Gives a whole new meaning to "vagina dentata" :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.