10 Biggest Advancements In Star Trek History
Here are a few major scientific achievements that led to the utopian future of Star Trek.
Star Trek has introduced us to tons of fascinating tech. Nearly every background prop and starship component serves a clear purpose.
The technology of Trek is where a lot of the wonder of the franchise comes from. Some tech is inspiring because it seems so realistic that it could actually exist in the future. Some of them (like mobile phones, video chatting, and iPads), have already made it into the real world. Other devices like replicators are just interesting because of how ridiculously utopian they are.
With the introduction of the new 32nd century tech in Star Trek: Discovery like programmable matter, detachable nacelles, and tricom badges, it's clear that humanity's scientific progress shows no signs of stopping, so let's take a look at the most incredible and life-altering scientific advancements in Trek history. It should also be noted that the Vulcans had invented most of the devices on this list decades before humanity, but refused to hand them over. They didn't want humanity to become dependent on them.
10. Artificial Gravity
Most fans don't know that Starfleet's artificial gravity technology was actually reverse engineered from recovered alien tech.
In the Animated Series episode The Slaver Weapon, we learned that an ancient species known as the Slavers once ruled most of the galaxy a billion years before the 23rd century. The only remnants of their society that remained in the 23rd century were mysterious 'stasis boxes' found randomly across the galaxy. These boxes contained technology that once belonged to the Slavers, including what Spock referred to as a 'flying belt'. He explained that this device helped Earth find the key to creating an artificial gravity field. Once the Humans learned the flying belt worked, they were able to incorporate the tech into their vessels.
It was never explained how artificial gravity functions, but we know that it's generated by 'gravity plating' all throughout a vessel's interior.
Earth-like gravity is extremely important for Humans. Spending too much time in a zero-G environment can really harm our bodies, so artificial gravity was completely necessary for long-term space missions.