TREKNOLOGY
TOMORROW’S FANTASY / TODAY’S TECHNOLOGYA TREKNOLOGICAL CELEBRATION OF THE
MOVIE ANNIVERSARIESSCIENTIFICSCIENTIFIC
MILESTONESMILESTONES
In celebration of fi ve Star Trek movie anniversaries, Treknology looks
back at the scientifi c and technological advances that paralleled those
fi ve fi lms – and in many cases pointed the way to our future.
Words: Chris Dows01I
f 40 years is a long time in
the history of Star Trek, it’s a
veritable eon when it comes to the
advancement of technology.
Normally, this feature brings
you the very latest Tr e k-inspired
developments in science, whether
they be concepts, experiments, or
actual technologies. However, as we’re
pausing to refl ect on fi ve signifi cant
movie milestones, we thought it’d be
interesting to use those anniversary
dates of 40 (Star Trek: Th e Motion
Picture), 35 (Star Trek III: Th e Search
for Spock), 30 (Star Trek V: Th e Final
Frontier), 25 (Star Trek Generations),and 10 (theKelvinverseStarTrek)
toinvestigatewhatmajorscientific
breakthroughshappenedinthose
originalreleaseyears,andhowthey
connectedtotheStarTrekuniverse.STARSTAR TREK:TREK:
THETHE MOTIONMOTION
PICTUREPICTURE (1979)(1979)
With a refi tted U.S.S. Enterprise and
pretty much every other aspect of
technology updated for the fi lm’s
release, Th e Motion Picture was a
feast for Treknology fans, once againextending the distance between “real”
science and imagined.
Of all the scientifi c advancements
1979 brought to the world, there
were two that had very close parallels
to what was seen in Th e Motion
Picture – and what was yet to come.
At a press conference in Eindhoven
in March, the Dutch company
Philips revealed a technology that
would change the entertainment
and computing industries almost
overnight. It was the world’s fi rst
digital optical storage medium – the
Compact Disc. Originally designed for
music only, it would very quickly be01 The refitted
Enterprise in
The Motion
Picture.