Tele-Portation may have been the coolest thing from star trek along with the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty!" I personally loved Picard giving us viewer's lessons on leadership on the USS Enterprise. Many of the devices we saw decades ago are now available for use in the real world; we thank the engineers who made real these ten Star Trek technologies.

10 The Communicator.

Communicators are devices used for voice communication in the Star Trek fictional universe. They allow direct contact between individuals or via a ship's communication system. To answer the device, you just flipped it open and started talking. Of course, everyone recognizes this device today as a cell phone. Amateur electronics wizards have occasionally made replica Star Trek

9 Medical Tricorder.

The medical tricorder is used by doctors to help diagnose diseases and collect bodily information about a patient; when Enterprise crew members became sick, Dr. McCoy was able to diagnose the problem in record time, usually thanks to his medical tricorder. Today's physicians make use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and CAT scans in much the same way. For smaller bugs, NASA has actually tested a similar kind of device on the space station. The LOCAD-PTS is able to detect and identify within minutes environmental pathogens (fungi or bacteria) that could adversely affect the health of crew members.

8 Translators from Google

Its purpose is to offer an instant translation of any language, since the Enterprise constantly dealt with intelligent beings throughout the galaxy. When different languages were encountered, the Universal Translator was there to help bring different cultures together. In the real world, the US military is using the Phraselator in Iraq for speech translation and Internet juggernaut Google, among others, can translate Web sites to suit user needs. Also, just this month, NEC announced the first cell phone with speech translation.

7 QUIDS

The design intent is that QUIDs must withstand the rigors of space travel - no sharp edges and no chemicals that could hurt space tourists. "None of the existing payment systems we use on earth - like cash, credit or debit cards - could be used in space," said Professor George Fraser from the University of Leicester. "Anything with sharp edges, like coins, would be a risk to astronauts while the chips and magnetic strips used in our cards on Earth would be damaged beyond repair by cosmic radiation." The science fiction standby of "credits" was usually brought into the picture. Today, however, real-life astronauts can use colorful QUID's (Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination), which are specially designed for use in space.

6 GPS

The Enterprise's transporter was able to zero in on the exact location of an individual crew member from thousands of miles away. Of course that could teleport a crew member. Although we're still working on teleportation (see USAF Looks into Teleportation), we've pretty much got the location technology down part. It's called the Global Positioning System - GPS.

5 Mars rover sensors.

The engineering tricorder is fine-tuned for starship engineering purposes. There are also many other lesser-used varieties of special use tricorders. Whenever Spock beamed down to a planetary surface, there was one thing he always took with him - his trusty tricorder. This handy pocket-sized device could do things like analyze the minerals in soil and look for life signs. NASA is ready to send similar sensors to Mars in coming years, like the Raman spectrometer shown above.

4 Focused ultra sound surgery.

This isn't a scene from Seattle Grace Hospital, the set of the popular television drama Grey's Anatomy, but from its real-life model, Harborview Medical Center. Engineers at the University of Washington are working with Harborview doctors to create new emergency treatments right out of Star Trek: a tricorder type device using high-intensity focused ultrasound rays. This summer, researchers published the first experiment using ultrasound to seal punctured lungs.
This surgical technique is a non-invasive way to destroy unwanted masses within the body (like uterine fibroids) without harming the surrounding tissues. I seem to recall Dr. McCoy touting the advantages of doing surgery without using knives decades ago. On one occasion, he saved Chekov with a nifty little non-invasive surgery device (see photo), saying "Put away your butcher knives and let me save this patient before it's too late!"

3 Transparent Aluminum armor.

According to an early draft of Star Trek IV, transparent aluminum was invented in the mid-2130s. The novelization (likely based on a latter draft) indicates that Dr. Nichols IS the credited inventor of the formula. Transparent aluminum armor (aluminum oxynitride - ALON) is being tested by the military as a lighter and stronger alternative to traditional materials. ALON is a ceramic compound with very high compressive strength and durability; it offers better performance than traditional materials consisting of bonded glass. In extensive testing, ALON has performed well against multiple hits of armor-piercing rounds.

2 Military Phasr

Several prototype PHASR weapons are being tested by the US military. The Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response device is under development at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate. The PHASR has been designed as a non-lethal, man-portable deterrent weapon. It uses a laser system with two different wavelengths to blind (temporarily!) the enemy. The clever acronym for this device is obviously back-formed to resemble its original - the phaser rifle from Star Trek, which actually looks very similar (see another photo).

1 Life Detectors.

The long range sensors from Star Trek, which could detect life from unreasonably long distances, is a sure fire comparison to what NASA is trying to achieve. Well the recent goof up of a lady like figure appearing on the surface of mars not counting. A robotic rover called Zoe is the first robot to remotely detect the presence of life. On a NASA-sponsored mission in the harsh Atacama Desert in Chile, Zoe was able to detect life by looking for natural fluorescence from lichens and bacteria. Life detection is all the rage now; the European Space Agency will be using the Urey Life Detector on an upcoming Mars mission.

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