Star Trek

The Best Ways To Honor The 50th Anniversary Of Star Trek

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of space opera’s grandest and most ambitious media series. But will Star Trek have a 50th birthday in keeping with its proud heritage? Here are a bunch of ways that we hope Star Trek’s birthday gets celebrated. Top image by Sam Woolley Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary was a pretty…

How Product Placement Took Over Science Fiction, From E.T. To Star Trek

These days, product placement is an accepted part of science fiction. We’re used to seeing big brands splashed all over every TV show and movie about aliens or the future. But it wasn’t always this way. Here’s the quick-and-very-dirty history of how on-screen advertising became a science fiction mainstay. Science fiction helped to invent product…

The Trouble With Star Trek Transporters

Being a Trekkie for many years, I’m used to the cyclical fictional debates of whether a Klingon Bird-of-Prey would handedly defeat a Romulan Warbird. Don’t even get me started on Kirk versus Picard. But The Nerdist’s “Because Science” YouTube segment asks an interesting question: if you teleport somewhere, are you technically the same person on…

Why Star Trek: Voyager Meant The World To Me

Twenty years ago today, Star Trek: Voyager premiered. Of the five live-action Star Trek series, Voyager is not the best. If you were ranking them, Voyager and Enterprise would probably duke it out for last place. But none of that matters, because Star Trek: Voyager meant everything to me as a child. I didn’t actually…

Juries Of The Future May View Crime Scenes Via “Forensic Holodecks” 

Is the Oculus Rift headset poised to become a game-changer in the courtroom, offering juries a way to evaluate evidence in greater detail than ever before? According to new research, “forensic holodecks” (yep, that’s a Star Trek reference) that reconstruct crime scenes could soon become valuable courtroom tools. New Scientist reports: Over the last few…

Watch Deleted Scenes From Star Trek:TNG‘s First Trip To Klingon Capital

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Sins of the Father” took Captain Picard to Qo’noS, the Klingon homeworld, for the first time, but a few moments ended up on the cutting room floor. The folks at TrekCore have recovered a workprint, revealing those moments for the very first time. TrekCore has gotten a look…

Boldly Organize Your Files Where No One Has Organized Before

It doesn’t take much to convince a Star Trek fan to buy some Trek-related merchandise, but even non-Trekkies are going to find these fun paper clips hard to pass by. For $20 (available sometime in July) this Trek-themed tin includes 20 paper clips shaped like the Starfleet delta insignia, and 20 paper clips shaped like…

Why Don’t Star Trek’s Spaceships Have Seat Belts?

It would seem like a simple enough idea: If you’re cruising along at warp speed through an unknown quadrant of space, it might not be such a bad idea to buckle up. So why didn’t Starfleet equip their ships with seat belts? Did they simply not need them, or is the actual explanation much more…

Top 10 Biggest Design Flaws In The U.S.S. Enterprise

Star Trek broke new ground by having a spaceship without fins and rockets, and by consulting with the RAND Corp. on its design. And the Enterprise is indeed a beauty. But the Federation’s coolest starship isn’t flawless, by any means. Here are the 10 biggest design flaws in the U.S.S. Enterprise. Image by Sam Woolley…

How the Smithsonian Is Restoring the Original USS Enterprise Model 

The USS Enterprise is, in popular imagination, a futuristic spaceship. The actual USS Enterprise model used on the Star Trek show is, in reality, a 50-year-old creaker that has endured at least one misguided new paint job. The Smithsonian is hard at work restoring the model, though, and they’ve even got the National Zoo’s vet…

The original Enterprise model from Star Trek is undergoing renovations before being moved to main entrance of the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. You can read an interview with the conservator leading the preservation project, Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, at Trek Core.

Coulson’s SHIELD Agents Arrive In The Real Marvel Universe Tomorrow

Given that tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, it shouldn’t be surprising that there are barely any comics being released this week. There are a few exceptions, however — none of which should excite you more than SHIELD #1, which finally brings the TV show’s team to the Marvel comic-verse. • Abigail and the Snowman #1…

Who Would Win in an All-Out Battle: Star Wars or Star Trek?

A classic debate! Good or Evil? Chocolate or Strawberry? Star Trek or Star Wars (excluding the Death Star)? But unlike those timeless questions this one really does seem to have a compelling answer. And its not what the majority seem to think. A few necessary caveats (take heed ye trolls): 1) Although it (should) hardly…

This Week’s TV: A Goofy Medieval Musical From Tangled‘s Songwriters

It’s the week that we ring in the new year with endless TV marathons (while resolving only to watch the best TV in 2015). But we’ve also got a new show coming out this week, a musical about true love and revenge from a legendary Disney composer, and his lyricist collaborator on Tangled. Today Breaking…

Do We Finally Know What The Star Wars Spin-Off Movie Will Be About?

Plus, read a possible description of Max van Sydow’s Force Awakens character. Roberto Orci talks clears up some Star Trek rumors, Mark Ruffalo hints at a big mistake from Bruce Banner in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Robert Kirkman trolls us with a possible huge death in The Walking Dead. Spoilers now! Top image: Star…

What’s The Dumbest Idea For A Star Trek Movie You Can Come Up With?

So the new Star Trek movie finally has a director (Justin Lin) and a release date (July 8, 2016). We’re all terrified it’s going to be kind of rushed, and maybe kind of dumb. But what’s the worst that could happen? I bet we can come up with something. What’s the absolute dumbest Star Trek…

Will Gotham‘s Next Supervillain Arc Feature The Riddler?

Emily Blunt explains why Into the Woods was changed from stage to screen. James Gunn gives the definitive answer about a Guardians of the Galaxy/Avengers crossover. The Walking Dead spinoff gets its female lead. And are we close to seeing an Ant-Man trailer? Spoilers now! Top image: Gotham Into the Woods Emily Blunt talked about…

Star Trek‘s New Director Is Fast and Furious’ Justin Lin

Deadline‘s reporting (and The Hollywood Reporter’s confirmed) that Paramount’s found its replacement for Roberto Orci: Justin Lin, best known for a bunch of the Fast and Furious movies. Oh, and Community’s “Modern Warfare.” Lin’s name was on the list of five candidates that emerged after rumors that Edgar Wright was being eyed died down. He…

The Underlying Assumption That’s Necessary For Every Star Trek Mission

There are a lot of things you have to simply accept (like teleporters and faster than light travel) in the Star Trek universe. But there’s also an underlying assumption in the show that has less to do with technology and more to do with its characters — and it’s been hiding in plain sight the…

Gingerbread Enterprise Boldly Goes Where No Biscuit Has Gone Before

Sorry, Gingerbread Serenity – your reign as première gingerbread starship may have come to an end, because this biscuity, holidays-themed U.S.S. Enterprise is pretty damn amazing. The beautiful Constitution Class bit of baking comes from Blackmarket Bakery in CA, who created it to display in their Costa Mesa store window. It’s a spectacular bit of…