When Star Trek first aired in the 1960s, it wasn't just a TV show about spaceships and aliens. It was a glimpse into what humanity might become if we stopped fighting over gods and borders and started using our brains. The writers didn't have crystal balls, but they had imagination, and that turned out to be even more powerful. Half the gadgets they dreamed up are now sitting on your desk, charging next to your coffee mug.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. I watched Kirk and Spock explore strange new worlds and thought, that would be sweet! Then life happened (1). So I stuck with building worlds inside computers instead. Turns out Access databases and warp cores aren't that different. They both run on logic, they both crash if you ignore the details, and nobody outside the nerds who built them really understands how they work.

Star Trek got an astonishing number of things right. Kirk's communicator became the flip phone, and later, the smartphone. When Martin Cooper at Motorola made the first handheld cell phone, he admitted he was copying Captain Kirk. It's one of those rare cases where imitation really was the highest form of flattery. The only difference is that the communicator didn't drop calls in rural Florida.

Then there were the PADDs, the Personal Access Display Devices, which looked suspiciously like modern-day tablets. I used to smile when Picard signed reports with a stylus and handed them to Riker, but now I'm doing the same thing with PDFs. Even my students send me screenshots from tablets that look like they came straight off the Enterprise. The future caught up, and it brought better Wi-Fi.

The Enterprise computer also understood voice commands long before Alexa showed up. When Picard said, "Computer, locate Commander Data," it actually worked. Now my wife can say "Alexa, find my phone," and it does. I say my wife because she's the one always losing her phone. I never have. Ever. Seriously. (2)

The universal translator was another winner. Starfleet had a device that could instantly interpret alien languages, which now sounds a lot like Google Translate on steroids. I can speak into my phone and have it tell a Spanish restaurant I don't want cilantro, and that's close enough for me. The replicator wasn't far off either. Sure, today's 3D printers can't create a hot meal yet, but they can print a wrench, a prosthetic hand, or a pizza dough base. Give it time. (3)

The tricorder evolved into today's medical scanners and smartwatches. Doctors now carry devices that check vital signs and detect disease. Even my watch keeps an eye on my heart rate during workouts and scolds me when I skip leg day. Starfleet would be proud. The hypospray was another clever invention that inspired real needle-free injectors. If only they could make flu shots that painless in real life.

Automatic doors are another Trek triumph. Every time I walk into a grocery store, I half expect the doors to make that soft whoosh sound. It's amazing how quickly a science fiction idea turned into a mundane convenience. Imagine trying to explain to someone in 1920 that automatic doors would someday be so common we wouldn't even notice them. (4)

Flat-panel screens came straight off the Enterprise. Back in the day, TVs were giant wooden boxes that weighed more than a shuttlecraft. Now we hang paper-thin OLEDs on our walls that look like windows into space. Star Trek always imagined a clean, uncluttered bridge with sleek displays, and yet my server cabinet looks like a Borg cube mated with a bowl of spaghetti.

Bluetooth earpieces? Uhura was rocking that tech long before it was cool. Her little silver earpiece was basically a 23rd-century wireless headset. People used to laugh at her for wearing it - now everyone walks around talking to invisible people like it's the most natural thing in the world. The future is weird.

And of course, there were the voice logs. Every episode began with "Captain's Log, stardate..." which basically predicted podcasts. I record daily video logs for my courses, and sometimes I start with "Computer, begin recording." Just kidding. But I can say "Alexa, take a note..."

Star Trek even predicted the push for a paperless office. Unfortunately, that one's still a work in progress. Sure, most of what I do is electronic, but every time I make a large purchase, I have to sign a mountain of paperwork that could choke a Klingon targ. Have you seen the number of trees they kill just so I can get a new car? If the Federation ever forms, I hope they outlaw duplicate signature forms.

Of course, they didn't get everything right. The single-lens eyepiece Sisko used in DS9 looked a lot like Google Glass. That one went down faster than a Ferengi investment scam. And then there were the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s, where Khan took over the planet. I don't remember that happening, and I was there. Unless they hid it between the Gulf War and grunge music, I think we dodged that one. Star Trek also predicted World War III around the 2020s, which - given the current state of politics - wasn't that crazy of a guess, but let's hope they were off by at least a century. And while we're at it, universal peace and prosperity still seems like Starfleet's most far-fetched prediction.

One of my favorite alternate realities was the one where Nazis took over the White House in the Enterprise episode "Storm Front." Star Trek often used alternate timelines to show how fragile democracy and reason can be, and how easily humanity can lose its way. Those episodes feel like warnings disguised as entertainment. Good science fiction always does.

The show also inspired generations of scientists, engineers, and astronauts. Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space, became an astronaut because of Star Trek - and later guest-starred on The Next Generation. Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, worked with NASA to recruit more women and minorities into the space program. Countless programmers, physicists, and inventors have said the show sparked their careers. That's the power of imagination mixed with good writing. It made science look cool.

And some of the tech we're still waiting for might be closer than people think. Artificial intelligence is already flirting with what scientists call Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), where a computer can reason, learn, and adapt like a human. Humanoid robots are taking their first wobbly steps toward becoming something like Data. Warp drive? NASA scientists have actually done the math. They've modeled what a "warp bubble" might look like. It's still theoretical, but so was flight once upon a time. The inertial dampeners will be another must-have invention. Until we solve that, drivers should buckle up. (5) As for transporters, I ain't stepping in that thing.

So maybe that's what Star Trek really predicted best: the idea that progress is inevitable when curiosity outweighs fear. Every innovation we've achieved started as somebody's crazy idea, often written on a script for a TV show. As long as we keep asking "what if," we'll keep moving forward.

LLAP
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(1) I saw a few documentaries about what real astronaut training was like. Definitely not for the timid.

(2) If you believe that I've got some Florida swampland to sell you...

(3) I'm still waiting for replicated, lab-grown meat. Yes, I'll try it. And when it's good enough to pass for real meat, I'll switch to it. I'm all about ending animal suffering - but I do love a good steak. Such an ethical dilemma.

(4) The outtakes of Trek actors walking into doors because the stagehand didn't slide them open on time are hilarious. YouTube it. :)

(5) Especially here in Florida, where driving is more of a competitive sport.