Sunny Side Up

So Captain Kirk and his crew really didn't travel back to 1986. Bummer. Dr. Nichols in the movie was absolutely correct when he said

... But it would take years just to figure out the dynamics of this matrix...

But Commander Sulu was absolutely wrong when he said

You're about 150 years too early for that.

Try 18 years.

Just over 1 year since the initial findings were made public, a research institute in Dayton, Ohio along with the US Army finally came up with a working prototype of transparent alumina (not exactly aluminum). It's just not being done in the research division of a plexiglass factory in Burlingame, California using a MacintoshPlus.

In a test this summer, the product held up to a .50-caliber sniper's rifle with amor-piercing bullets. Traditional glass armor did not survive the test.

We've got communicators (mobile phones) , tricorders (eve though the company went out of business), and phasers are already possible but not feasible yet. Looks like things are moving faster in real life.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 at 9:42 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.