Sci-fi films promise a wonderful world
of fantastic inventions. So what is the problem? Well, there may be
troubling issues beyond the obvious that explain, for example, why
humans may never queue up to be disassembled in a transporter buffer.
A closer look at the issues with some of science fiction's favorite inventions might prove enlightening.
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Magnetic boots are extremely useful if
you want to move painfully slowly on board a spacecraft that has lost
its artificial gravity. Usually, though, you might use them anchor
yourself to the exterior of a ship in order to destroy Borgs or other
alien party crashers.
The Issues
When Warf said, rather excitedly (for
him), "Assimilate this," he must have been thankful that he
was wearing his Himalayan Magnetic Walking Boots. The problem is that
he could only have been saved by his belief that they were keeping
him stuck to the hull of the Enterprise. Unless the hull
were made of iron or steel, and not titanium, aluminum, or other
space-worthy material, he would probably end his days as space junk.
It is possible that, in the future,
some now-unknown magnetic material will be found that is also
compatible with spacecraft construction. The more important point is:
is there even a need for magnetic boots?
Seasoned astronauts, those tough people
that are born for space, are never happier than when they are
scooting along a corridor in zero g. Surely everyone has seen them
performing somersaults and throwing each other like midgets. When they need to stand "upright," they can slip
their feet into little straps on the floor.
As for any extra-vehicular activity,
NASA has had the manned maneuvering unit (MMU) for some 30 years.
George Clooney was quite adept at using it in Gravity. Those
Borgs wouldn't stand a chance.
Why not use Velcro floors and hulls if
you just want to walk?
2. Internally Illuminated Space Helmet
The internally illuminated space helmet
has been especially popular in the Star Trek franchise. A
device that illuminates the wearer's face has been invented because,
presumably, in space it is important that everyone can see you scream
even if they can't hear you.
"I can't see a flipping thing."
Youtube
The Issues
Try this: go out into the dark, to an
unfamiliar place in the woods or on a rocky trail near the edge of a
mountain. You know, just the sort of unfamiliar surroundings space
explorers in films go to all the time. And then shine a torch into
your own face. See how long it takes before you find yourself face
down in the dirt.
There is absolutely no reason
whatsoever for this invention. Not only is it virtually impossible to
see outside the helmet, but the wearer also has to contend with
reflections of the lights that are already blinding him.
The only reason these are in the movies
is so that everyone can see the Oscar-winning facial expressions of
the actors. Now, someone could object that astronauts need to be
identified in the darkness of space for purposes of communication and
direction. So how difficult is it to build a light on top of the
helmet with a different color for each astronaut? There could even be
a variety of illuminated emoticons on the exterior of the helmets to
communicate emotions more accurately than the actors themselves.
Many real space helmets already come
with lights on the outside. Get it? The outside.
The new scientific discovery of Quantum
Entanglement makes teleportation of objects and humans a distinct
possibility. However, it is slightly different to the method used in
Star Trek.
The Issues
If this device becomes a reality, it
will require the mass slaughter of humans to work. This invention
would not "beam" any bodies, just their information. It
would disassemble you while collecting the information to reassemble
you somewhere else. Then, presumably, a technician would hose out the
goop left at the bottom of the teleportation cubicle after you were
"teleported." No cheerful Scottish engineer should be
enticing people into one of these things -- even if he offers them a
free red uniform.
Although messy, what if this procedure
were to work? Would it be you that is teleported? It might
have your personality, your body, and your memories, including the
moment you got into the teleporter. However, there would be no way of
telling whether you, and not an exact copy of you, appeared at the
other end. You may have died while turning to goo, and the person
presumed to be you is living your life, with your wife or husband,
believing itself to be you. By the way, it would tell everyone about
this fantastic invention, encouraging them to use it.
4.
Android (Robot with Human Appearance)
Many humans have long cherished the
dream of creating someone in their image. Usually, reproduction
fulfills this desire. However, some robotics scientists want to do
this with a box of spare parts.
The Issues
If an android robot malfunctioned like an android phone, that in itself may be good reason to keep this
idea on the drawing board.When Isaac Asimov created the three laws of robotics, he assumed that robots would be
perfect. They would perfectly follow his laws and be so safe that
they would even sacrifice themselves for their human masters. Welcome
to reality: it would be a shame if your android decided to stuff you
down the garbage disposal while you were waiting for a Microsoft
update. Besides, if Andy the Android becomes a
reality, other social
issues would come to light.
Robots that look like humans can be
creepy. Researchers have found that when robots look more human-like,
any subtle imperfection in appearance or motion becomes repulsive.
Therefore, they would need to be almost perfect. But what would that
perfect replication say about mankind? Why is it important for robots
to look human? Why can't they just look like robots? Eventually, it
is likely that companies would produce mostly beautiful female
androids and their handsome male counterparts.What impact would that have on human self-image? Is it good that
spotty or chubby teenagers should feel even worse about
themselves?
5. Warp Drive
Faster-than-light (FTL) warp drive is
feasible. It has been a long-held assumption that you can only move
through space; however, space itself can move. The universe has been
doing this naturally for billions of years, which is why it has been
estimated to be 93 billion light years across and only 13 billion
years old. Apparently, at its extremities, space-time has been
expanding six times faster than the speed of light on average.
The Issues
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"Make it so."
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For warp drive to work on a starship,
an unknown material called "exotic matter" is needed to
safely surround the spacecraft with a region of normal space ("flat
space") while simultaneously expanding the space behind and
destroying the space in front. Picture yourself standing on a moving
walkway at an airport, the piece of conveyer belt behind you
expanding while the piece in front is contracting. You just stand
still until you arrive at the end. The trouble is that nobody knows
what this exotic matter looks like.
That enveloping warp bubble would
present other problems. Contracting the space in front would
mean squeezing that space and everything in it out of existence. In
other words, it would produce a constant "naked singularity"
as all the material (dust, atoms) in that space is converted to
highly powerful and deadly radiation.
Mankind might explore strange, new
worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, even go boldly where
no one has gone before, but it will fry all these aliens to a crisp
before it meets them.
6. The Replicator
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"Same again, please."
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The replicator is sci-fi's answer to
that guy who pops out of a lamp and grants you three wishes, but with
no strings attached and an infinite number of wishes. This piece of
hardware can copy or reproduce any item you require, that is, up to
certain limits. The
Star Trek people realized that this
thing could destroy some of their story lines, so they made it
impossible to replicate antimatter, dilithium, latinum, or any sort
of living organism. Apparently, the replicator's resolution was too low to make that stuff.
The replicator idea has existed for a
long time prior to Star Trek. It also appears in Lost in
Space (TV) and Forbidden Planet. Writers of these and
other stories did not always set limits for their replicators.
The Issues
There are mind-blowing issues here for
Star Trek and for society.
Everyone's favorite money-grabbing
Ferengi, Quark, loved latinum because of its rarity. But as latinum
is one of those elements that are impossible to replicate, how could
he purchase any of it? Presumably, he would use money or gold or
anything else that, interestingly, could be replicated. As the Mafia
adage says, "Everyone and every rare element has a price."
All bets are off anyway when you don't
need the green stuff to get what you want. All economic models crash
like an Air-fix airplane thrown out of a bedroom window. What could
that mean for any future society?
No one would need to work. Hopefully,
people would spend more time reading, writing, and creating works of
art. However, many might lead an aimless and greedy life, happy to
just replicate whatever they desire. Whatever happens, the shock to
organized society would be tremendous.
Some sci-fi inventions, like the
internally illuminated space helmet, should never be seen in reality.
Others may be impossible to remove from society if they do become
real. If you ever find yourself using a teleporter for the first
time, it will probably be OK. Manufacturers wouldn't make anything
that is unsafe, would they?
