The Science of Star Trek

I’ve been wrapped up in metamaterials, which are the real-life science behind Star Trek’s cloaking devices. These amazing devices do exactly what allows a Romulan warship to become invisible. More recently, they were used by Harry Potter when he tried to hide (remember the scene where there was nothing but the train aisle until Harry appeared under a carpet-like cloak that looked exactly like… the train aisle).

That’s not the only Star Trek science that’s come to fruition in the 45 years since the human mind dreamt up the future as it could be. Here’s a run down (abridged from US News and World Report) of:

• phasers
• transporters
• photon torpedoes
• universal translators
• communicators
• deflector beams
• tractor beams
• hyposprays

Phasers

Weapons that act like Star Trek phasers have been announced in recent years, but not manufactured. Be patient.

Transporters

Great strides over the past decade or so, but we aren’t even close. Yet.

Cloaking devices

There is so much research into the metamaterials that will make this possible, it’s almost become mainstream. I’ve been studying it as a plot twist in an upcoming novel and now wonder if it’ll be too mundane by the time I get the book written. (see this and this and this post)

Photon torpedoes

…which are torpedoes loaded with antimatter. Still quite far in the future as we’re still struggling with the concept and purpose of ‘antimatter’.

Universal Translators

In a webstore near you. The more you spend on one, the more reliable.

Communicators

Available everywhere. Thank you, Star Trek.

Deflector shields

Every time we figure out how to deflect a missile (or rocket), we figure out a better missile (or rocket). This might be never-ending.

Tractor Beams

Logically, this one sounds simple, but is not yet available. Since most vehicles include metals, it’s reasonable we could tractor them with a strong enough magnet. Just hasn’t happened yet.

Hyposprays

These were patented in the 1960′s, but aren’t widely available. Think of the EPI Pen. Why don’t we deliver more meds in this manner? Your guess is as good as mine.

The Opposite of an Invisibility Cloak is…

…a Universal mirror. Using the same metamaterials I’ve discussed here and here as critical to a StarTrek-like cloaking device, they create a see-all. Here’s a great article

Universal mirror shows all angles

It would have many uses including military applications, radar tracking

A universal mirror, an object that reflects all light waves back at their source, has been created by scientists in Europe and Asia.

Imagine a tennis player hitting a ball against a wall. The ball would bounce right back to the player no matter what angle he or she directed the shot. A universal mirror has the same effect, except with light waves. Unlike an ordinary mirror, which only reflects objects at 90 degrees, a universal mirror reflects objects back at any angle. In other words, a person positioned in front of a large, optical universal mirror would see his or her own reflection perfectly no matter where the person stands.

“(A universal mirror) makes things become very visible,” said Ulf Leonhardt, a professor at the University of St. Andrews and co-author of a paper in the current issue of Nature Materials. “It’s the exact opposite of an invisibility cloak.”

Unlike a universal mirror, an invisibility cloak guides light waves around an object in order to conceal it. Although universal mirrors and invisibility cloaks might perform opposite functions, they each employ the same technology: metamaterials.

While the properties of normal materials are predominantly determined by their chemical composition, metamaterials are artificial materials that derive their properties from their physical structures. (more)

Startrek Science is no Longer Fiction

For those of you wow-ed by the invisibility properties of metamaterials, read this. Yet another University is figuring out how to make them not just hide the truth, but a whole lot more:

Device Makes Objects Invisible In Certain Light Conditions

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going, going gone

If you’re a mathematician, here’s your proof:

Mathematics Of Cloaking: New Analysis Improves Methods To Render Objects Invisible

ScienceDaily (Dec. 26, 2006) — The theorists who first created the mathematics that describe the behavior of the recently announced “invisibility cloak” have revealed a new analysis that may extend the current cloak’s powers, enabling it to hide even actively radiating objects like a flashlight or cell phone.

Allan Greenleaf, professor of mathematics at the University of Rochester, working with colleagues around the globe, has announced a mathematical theory that predicts some strange goings on inside the cloak—and that what happens inside is crucial to the cloak’s effectiveness.

In October, David R. Smith, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, led a team that used a circular cloaking device to successfully bend microwaves around a copper disk as if the disk were invisible. In 2003, however, Greenleaf and his colleagues had already developed the mathematics of invisibility.

“We were working on improving the mathematics behind tumor detection,” says Greenleaf. “In the final section to one paper, we spelled out a worst-case scenario where a tumor could be undetectable. We then wrote a couple of additional articles describing when this could happen. At the time, we didn’t think further about it because it seemed extremely unlikely that any tumor would be covered with the necessary material to be hidden that way.”

This past summer, however, Greenleaf and his colleagues learned about a paper that researchers at Duke and Imperial College had published in the journal Science, which used nearly identical equations to give a theoretical proposal for a cloaking device. Once Greenleaf and his colleagues saw that their results could also be used to show how to “hide” an object, they decided to analyze and improve the proposed cloaking device, using the techniques they had developed in their earlier work. They knew that a crucial question would be: What was going on inside the cloaked region?

(click for full article)

Five Cool Real-life Science Projects

These are too cool to keep to myself. It’s amazing what man’s big brains come up with. There is no fiction stranger:

• A fish that can be used to power a clock. It must be an electric fish (like the Amazon’s Black Ghost. The most familiar is the electric eel), a specific type of fish that produces low-frequency electric fields around their bodies to detect prey or predator.
• A material that can make anything invisible. These are called ‘metamaterials’ and are all the rage in scientific circles right now. Successful tests have been run at Duke University, University of Tokyo and other places to hide an object behind a material that takes on the appearance of the background (thanks to light waves and such). They’re also working on hiding sounds the same way. Think military. Hello Star Trek Klingon cloaking device
• A robot that’s almost human. This is mine: Put Otto’s brain into the mechanical body of a sophisticated robot–wirelessly. Easy if they’re close by. Harder the further away they get. Check out Otto’s page on this blog to find out more about him. Check out my last project with Otto to see how he operates (it’s only an excerpt because the rest is classified)
• A virus (yes, like the flu) that can power a battery. This comes from MIT. They think they’ve developed a technology that can recreate batteries using viruses. They say this could hold the promise of relatively inexpensive, nonpolluting, lightweight powerful batteries—a holy grail for the Green generation
• A device that can read your thoughts. It taps into your brainwaves. No, they don’t stay inside your skull; they seep out like light from a shaded window. The University of Pittsburgh got two rhesus macaques to feed themselves using mentally controlled robotic arms. They used robotic arms controlled mentally—no joystick required. Think: I want that food. The robot gets it for you. How cool is that?

Sounds unbelievable, but it isn’t. The human brain loves solving puzzles. Never tell it something’s impossible. Want more on the excitement of science? Read my post, How to Kindle your Child’s Interest in Science.