Communications of the ACM

out” in the “Star Trek” slogan “… seeking out new life and new civilizations …” In “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Lieutenant Barkley undergoes a mind meld with superior aliens who were curious about humans and apparently friendly, yet had no effect on the Federation. 9 These genius beings were never seen again. Although they brought the Enterprise 8,000 parsecs across the Galaxy and then sent it back, the Federation never benefited from its super-warp drive; no scientific knowledge or even sources of nutrition became available. Maybe if the beings were warlike and dangerous to humans, the screenwrit-ers would have found them more compelling and followed up. Another genius civilization, the Q beings, had, however, transcended technology and viewed the Federation with contempt. The story of how the Q achieved their transcendence would have been fascinating. What might we gain if we really did contact advanced civilizations, unconstrained by the boundaries of an episodic weekly TV show? Imagine the possibilities …

References

1. Bixby, J. Requiem for Methuselah. Star Trek episode 74;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_for_Methuselah

2. Braga, B. (screenplay) and Diggs, J. (story). Rise. Star Trek: Voyager episode 61; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Rise_(Star_Trek:_Voyager)

3. Fontana, D.C. (teleplay) and Wolfe, L. N. (story).

The Ultimate Computer. Star Trek episode 53; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Computer

4. Gerrold, D. The Trouble with Tribbles. Star Trek episode 44; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ Trouble_with_Tribbles

5. Kandel, S. I, Mudd. Star Trek episode 37;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Mudd

6. Leinster, M. A logic named Joe. Astounding Science Fiction (Mar. 1946).

7. Livingston, H. (screenplay) and Foster, A. D. (story). Star Trek: The Motion Picture; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Star_Trek:_The_Motion_Picture

8. Lucas, J.M. The Changeling. Star Trek episode 32;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changeling_ (Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)

9. Menosky, J. The Nth Degree. Star Trek The Next Generation episode 93; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ The_Nth_Degree_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

10. Peeples, S. A. Where No Man Has Gone Before. Star Trek episode 3; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_ Man_Has_Gone_Before

11. Schneider, P. Balance of Terror. Star Trek episode 14;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_Terror

12. Sohl, J. The Corbomite Maneuver. Star Trek episode 10;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corbomite_Maneuver

13. Sowards, J.B. (screenplay) and Bennett, H. and Sowards, J.B. (story). Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_II:_The_ Wrath_of_Khan

14. Sternbach, R. and Okuda, M. Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual. Pocket Books, New York, 1991.

David Allen Batchelor ( batchelor@alum.mit.edu) is a scientist and computer engineer for data systems at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. His first science-fiction novel, The Metalmark Contract, was published in 2011 by Black Rose Writing, Castroville, TX.

impact on air quality from rocket exhaust. One episode of “Star Trek: Voyager” concerned a space elevator, 2 but the existence of a transporter beam apparently made the technology unnecessary. Aliens lacking a transporter beam would be interesting nonetheless. But a space elevator would have been a good alternative given the hazardous possibilities of transporter failure. You could never get me to use such a glorified Xerox machine; if the transporter malfunctions, as in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” 7 one could materialize as a nightmare of disorganized body parts, and worse.

Compared with medical practice in the 1960s, medical technology advanced dramatically in the “Star Trek” universe, but no scriptwriter considered the conquest of ageing and death, or immortality. Such a narrow view of the limitless “Star Trek” universe is a pity, because one would need immortality to have time to read and view all the interesting “Star Trek” and other science fiction media our own civilization is creating. My DVR is figuratively bulging with episodes of “Dark Matter” I have not had time for, and the three-part Syfy channel adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End, among other titles, awaits. Science fiction productions I want to see are proliferating like Tribbles. I need the ability to absorb scenes at accelerated speed, the way Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell did when mutating into an advanced being. 10

Only rarely did Starfleet crews pursue
contact with advanced non-human be-
ings. For example, Captain Kirk’s meet-
ing with the advanced but creepy Balok,
Voyager” to finally accept a cybernetic
holographic character, “the Doctor,”
into the crew of the starship Voyager.

Replicated androids like Data would make exponential cascades of robots building robots building robots … providing a workforce to render the Federation a paradise of leisure. The robots could “terraform” desolate planets and further expand the Federation. They might even build spinning space stations for artificial gravity or an inflatable planet.

Another technology being developed today is direct neural connections with electronic devices. Body hackers have surgically attached toy devices to their nervous systems, and brain-machine interfaces enjoy a flourishing research environment. Compared with direct wireless control of starship systems through thoughts alone, as relayed by, say, Bluetooth, the Enterprise control panels might seem insufficiently futuristic. It is but one more step to augmenting human memory and, perhaps, intellectual capability.

Some of the thousands of exoplan-ets that have been discovered by earthly astronomers in recent years may be ocean worlds. The Federation in the far future might thus expect to encounter floating or undersea cities in their meetings with aliens. We might then ponder the plot potential of combining another 1960s TV show, “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” with “Star Trek” on such a planet. The writers of the forthcoming series “Star Trek: Discovery” should keep this in mind for the sake of realism, as well as for the promise of future TV spin-offs and residuals.

Space elevators have inspired many technology lovers since Konstantin Tsiolkovsky conceived and proposed them in 1895. They offer exciting possibilities for expanding access to space at low marginal cost, along with low marginal