Sometimes there is a link between science fiction and science. That's what The History Channel wanted to explore this month in a documentary on "Star Trek Tech." The show brought the channel to Duke University, where they found research that parallels the cloaking and holodeck technology featured on the popular show.
The show came to the lab of David Smith, whose work with novel electromagnetic materials led to a working cloaking device. Although currently limited to a narrow range of the light spectrum, the device successfully rendered objects invisible to microwaves. Smith, who has written about the similarities and differences between science fiction and fact, says the work represents the most comprehensive approach to invisibility yet realized. While it's not clear that any device could cloak objects in the visible light, as is used in "Star Trek," the principle behind the work in the Smith lab is the same as in the show.
The cameras also showcased work lead by Rachael Brady in the Duke DIVE (Duke Immersive Virtual Environment). Brady, who heads the Visualization Technology Group, is using futuristic optical technology to create a three-dimensional artificial world, just as in the Star Trek holodeck. DIVE provides a fully enclosed six-sided virtual reality environment. Once again, the research is years away from Star Trek's holodeck, but it is providing new ways for researchers to interact with 3-D data.
To see the History Channel clip, click here.