Select a topic on the left for a quick scan of the show's best-known plot devices."; trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Warp drive","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: Einstein said nothing could travel through the space-time continuum at faster-than-light velocities, but \"Star Trek\" ships get around that cosmic speed limit by riding within a warped section of space-time itself.
The science: Theorists have looked into what it would take to expand or contract the fabric of space-time but have no idea how it could be done.
Bottom line: Most physicists say it's impossible."; trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Wormholes","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: Starships can enter an area of space-time that's stretched and folded to hook up with a distant region, providing an alternate method for faster-than-light travel.
The science: Theorists say wormholes could conceivably exist, but they'd require almost godlike amounts of energy to keep open. They could also function as time machines.
Bottom line: Worth speculating about, but don't hold your breath.";
trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Communicator","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: Tiny device could be held in the hand or even worn as a badge, with the capacity to communicate over thousands of miles.
The science: Hel-lo?! Why couldn't Captain Kirk send streaming video over his pocket phone, like we can today?
Bottom line: 21st-century reality outpaced 24th-century fiction."; trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Transporter","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: Cargo and people could be taken apart, atom by atom, then beamed to a remote location and reassembled in the twinkling of a special effect.
The science: Quantum entanglement and teleportation have been demonstrated in the lab, but only with subatomic particles and individual atoms. A real transporter likely would have to destroy the original in order to send a copy.
Bottom line: Good for quantum computing and cryptography, bad for people. "; trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Tricorder","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: A handheld device can detect life forms and even scan internal organs, picking up medical problems.
The science: Infrared imaging and full-body medical scanning have turned some aspects of the tricorder into reality. Now if only we could shrink the size and the cost of the equipment...
Bottom line: Stay tuned for medical nanomachines."; trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Holodeck","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: A room takes on the appearance of an imagined environment, complete with virtual-reality things and people you can touch and converse with.
The science: Today, virtual-reality rooms called CAVEs can put researchers inside a cell or within Earth's core — but you have to wear a helmet and the interaction is purely of the video-game variety.
Bottom line: Developers are trying to add the sense of touch.";
trek_truth_wb3[i++] = new Array("","Aliens","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
trek_truth_wb3[i-1].body = "The idea: Other intelligent species generally look like human actors wearing lots of makeup and prosthetics on their heads.
The science: If they exist, intelligent aliens might well look like octopuses or something completely otherworldly, and their thoughts might be untranslatable.
Bottom line: \"First contact\" is most likely to come via distant signals or robotic emissaries."; // END editorial data