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T'aral

Star Trek Tech ...

Among the various things I think about: tech in Star Trek. Here's a goodie:

 

When watching the old series, the most hokey thing I thought there was of all were the 'data tapes': those little plastic rectangles which supposedly held all sorts of information. Yet as I sit here today I suddenly realize that the little data tape rectangle is about the most probable advancement that the show could've predicted.

 

Think about it: the rectangle is essentially a flash drive which uses induction rather than direct connection to provide power and data transferrence. The fact that the mechanisms are entirely encased in plastic is actually a good thing - the internals are completely protected. I wouldn't be a bit suprised if, in the next ten years, somebody comes up with little plastic rectangles which use inductive interfaces whichcan hold a mega-gig of data.

 

Why anyone would *need* a mega-gig of transportable data is anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be suprised.

 

 

Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? Is there any other piece of ST tech that you think has a future?

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Why anyone would *need* a mega-gig of transportable data is anybody's guess, but I wouldn't be suprised.

 

Because of program bloat. I honestly remember when Win3.1 fit on a 128MB hard drive/4MB RAM pc, comfortably. Now you've got programs that will only run well on the latest and greatest systems, and wheeze along on legacy systems.

 

I'm thinking the medical tricorder/saltshaker combination will be next. Already paramedics carry portable monitors that can do: 12 lead ECG, pulse, BP, and O2 saturation levels as well as interface via bluetooth with the Medic's cellphone to give the receiving/controlling hospital a baseline of what we see in the field. And add to the fact that we have web-based charting and online medical reference materials, I see a company like Medtronics or Laerdal fielding something like McCoy used within the next 10 years.

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I've also heard they're working on an ultrasonic device to deliver medicines without the need for needles... aka the hypospray. THAT'S one I'd like to see, I hate shots. :wacko:

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A-MEN!

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Woah, a medicine gun? That looks worse than the needle.

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This thing looks terrifying ! No Doctor would get anywhere close to me with one of those!!! ::runs away and hides under her bed ::

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The hypospray's been around for a while, guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_injector

 

That's a compressed air thing, the one I'm talking about uses ultra-sound. Took a while for me to find it online (originally saw it on one of the cable news networks a while ago), but it's by Dr. Robert Langer, called SonoPrep. Right now I don't think it's capable of high quantities of medicine but I'm sure they're working on it.

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Woah, a medicine gun? That looks worse than the needle.

 

Actually you can barely feel it. Our doctors overseas used it 30 years ago for cholera shots. Even our kids (then 6 and under) thought they were cool.

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They did use it <IT looked like a air gun in the 70,s>IT was too big and chumsy to use>NIMOY was using a cell phone and someone pointed to him star trek -he laught -he thought of it too.

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Lab worms are stunned by 'phaser'

By Jason Palmer

Science and technology reporter, BBC News 999999.gif

_46752897_phaserworm.jpg Under UV light, the worms turned blue and were paralysed Scientists have shown off an effect not unlike that of the "phasers" in the show Star Trek - but it only works on tiny worms called nematodes.

 

They used a special molecule that, when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, changes its shape.

 

When the worms were fed this molecule and then exposed to UV light, they exhibited paralysis.

 

But when the worms were again exposed to visible light, they regained their ability to move.

 

The work is published in Journal of the American Chemical Society.

 

The authors claim the research could have therapeutic applications.

 

The phaser is a fictional invention in the Star Trek TV shows and films, a gun-like device that can stun or kill adversaries.

 

The effect in this study is down to the molecule dithienylethene.

 

This belongs in a family of compounds known as "photoswitches", which reversibly change their shape in response to light.

 

While some so-called photodynamic therapies already make use of light to release chemicals or make them more reactive, only photoswitches can be returned to their starting shape, on exposure to light of a different colour.

 

They are routinely used in chemistry experiments to investigate fundamental processes, but the researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada say their work is the first time the photoswitching effect has been demonstrated in a living animal.

 

Stop light

 

The team started with tiny, transparent Caenorhabditis elegans nematode worms, an animal frequently employed in scientific research.

 

_46753524_m705126-paterson_lamp_used_to_treat_facial_skin_cancer-spl.jpg Therapy using light could benefit from the control of photoswitches After feeding them a solution containing dithienylethene and exposing them to ultraviolet light, they turned blue - because the "switched" form of the molecule is blue.

 

The worms remained paralysed until exposed to normal light, which returned the dithienylethene molecules to their starting condition and the worms to theirs.

 

Neil Branda, lead author of the research, said that a likely reason for the paralysis is that the "blue" form is much better at attracting electrons, which would interrupt metabolic pathways in the worms and starve them of energy.

 

"I'm not convinced there's a legitimate use of turning organisms on and off in terms of paralysis, but until somebody tells me otherwise, I'm not going to say that there isn't an application," Professor Branda told BBC News.

 

The researchers are more interested in the demonstrating the potential use of photoswitches in "photodynamic therapies" within the body.

 

Doctors use light-sensitive materials and photo-reactions in medicine to treat certain forms of cancer.

 

"Right now, [photodynamic therapy] tends not to have as much control as the clinicians would like, so we have the potential opportunity to be able to turn the therapy off and on," Professor Branda said.

 

So, does this mean that phasers and protoplasers are coming?

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