Leonard Nimoy played the iconic Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series. The actor became a pop cultural icon for his nuanced and dead-pan portrayal of the Vulcan first commander aboard the USS Enterprise. Along with William Shatner’s Captain James Kirk, Spock became one of the most recognized pop culture characters.
Star Trek was set years in the future and several of the futuristic gadgets used in the show seem all too familiar now. While the real world lacks a beamer (for now), Leonard Nimoy had another key Vulcan technology as a dream to be realized. However, the legendary actor passed away in 2015.
Leonard Nimoy’s dream Star Trek tech remains unfulfilled
The Star Trek franchise is set years in the future, at a time when manned space exploration is possible and interplanetary relations exist. Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future included not just equality and professionalism, but also plenty of interesting tech that did all things impossible with breakneck speed.
Many of the innovations in Star Trek have seen real-life counterparts. Be it cell phones or tractor beams, many have come into being at least an intermediate level. However, star Leonard Nimoy’s dream of turning one key Vulcan technology into reality was never fulfilled in his lifetime and is yet to be invented (not for the lack of trying).
When asked what was the one piece of technology from Star Trek that he wished to see in reality, Leonard Nimoy told Star Trek.com,
Well, I’d love to be able to do a mind meld. That would be very helpful.
Mind meld is a process where a telepathic link is established between two beings, allowing both to see and experience the thoughts of each other. This piece of Vulcan technology has been explored in many Star Trek episodes, including the original series, Voyager, The Next Generation, and Picard.
Leonard Nimoy identified many of the real-life counterparts of Star Trek technology
While linking two brains together to form a singular mind that experiences each others’ thought process is still a long way ahead, several attempts have been made to remove the fiction in science-fiction. In 2015, NBC News reported that scientists had managed to link two animal brains and form ‘brainets’, that could solve problems as a team.
However, several other Star Trek techs have a real-life counterpart. Be it smartphones or telepresence, several of the show’s important technological advancements have already become reality and it might not be too long before traveling at warp speed becomes easily accessible too (via Side Show).
Leonard Nimoy, himself, pointed out some of the technology from the show that made it to real life in an interview,
[Early] cell phones were like communicators. There are the tablets, iPads, and all of that, and they have so much of the information that we used to get on the tricorder. And we’re awfully close to a lot of those items that were so wonderfully imaginative 40, 45 years ago. They’re in the culture now.
While the star could not see mind meld to become a reality in his lifetime as he passed away in 2015, it might not be too far off in the future for such technologies to come to fruition.
Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire