"Space, infinite expanses. The year is 2200, and these are the adventures of the starship Enterprise..." The series 'Star Trek' also became a legend because of its memorable intro. On September 8, 1966, the Enterprise flew across US screens for the first time - 55 years ago now. The date is now celebrated as the official 'Star Trek Day'.

Various achievements from a fictional 23rd century can already be seen in the first episode broadcast, 'The Man Trap' ('The Last of Its Kind'). Physicist and science fiction expert Sascha Vogel is now amazed at how much of this has already arrived in our world. The individual points are arranged according to the narrative thread of the first episode:

The flat screen

Even before the intro, an alien planet can be seen on an oversized screen on the bridge of the Enterprise. "That was revolutionary in the 1960s, but it's no longer a problem today," says Sascha Vogel, recalling the boom in flat-screen TVs during the 2006 World Cup. Megascreens are now standard at concerts or in soccer stadiums.

One year after the US broadcast of "The Man Trap", the then Vice Chancellor Willy Brandt gave the go-ahead for color television in West Germany in 1967. This meant that if there were televisions in German living rooms at that time, they were bulky tube sets.

Beaming

Next, the crew 'beams' to the planet shown on the flat screen. This refers to a type of teleportation in which the body is broken down into its individual parts and reassembled at the destination. "We have two fundamental problems here," explains Vogel. Firstly, the body consists of a huge number of atoms, which have to be transported as a quantity of information. Secondly: "It simply doesn't work," explains Vogel. There is no effect that destroys a particle and makes it reappear in a different place.

Shape-shifting

On the planet, the away crew led by Captain Kirk and ship's doctor Leonard McCoy encounter an alien creature that can adapt its appearance to the preferences of the respective observer. "This can be done digitally without any problems," says physicist Vogel, referring to so-called deepfakes, in which deceptively real alien faces can be put on people. However, according to the physicist, this is not possible in the real world for two reasons: firstly, thoughts would have to be read in order to know what the other person wants. And then the being would have to generate different masses and proportions when transforming into different people.

Tricoder

McCoy examines an inhabitant of the planet with a portable, multifunctional console that can also be used as a medical instrument. "It's not quite there yet, but it's only a matter of time," says Vogel. Examples include modern smart watches that can measure bodily functions such as pulse. Telemedicine, which is already used in 'Star Trek', is also interesting, says the physicist. Patient data is sent from the mobile device to the ship's computer.

From Communicator to Phaser

Communicator

Captain Kirk then pulls out an object that resembles a flip phone by today's standards. The crew could use this 'communicator' to communicate with each other. In this particular case, someone in the Enterprise's transporter room is instructed to beam up three people. In the 1960s, this was still utopia, but today almost every German has a mobile phone. "You can put a spoke in the wheel," explains Vogel. The golden era of smartphones even began with a model of the same name. The "Nokia 9000 Communicator" went on sale in 1996, almost exactly 30 years after the first "Star Trek" episode was broadcast.

Environmental sensors

Captain Kirk walks through a door that opens and closes automatically. While in the 1960s this still required some trickery, similar technology can now be found at the entrance to almost every supermarket. "It was revolutionary back then, but today individual components for it, such as the motion detector, are inexpensive," explains Vogel. In the series, Kirk also indicates in the elevator that he wants to go to the 'bridge'. This technology also already exists, says the physicist, citing voice control systems such as Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa.

Phasers

Although the phaser weapons dangling from Kirk and Co.'s belts repeatedly come into view, it is not a crew member who later fires the first shot. Professor Crater, who lives on the planet with the shape-shifting creature, fires a warning shot, destroying ruins on the surface. Are such mini laser weapons already feasible? "At this small size, that would be a huge energy problem," explains Vogel, referring to the gigantic laser weapons used by the US Navy.

McCoy and Kirk take out Professor Crater with a simple trick: One distracts him, the other puts him out of action with a shot. The 'phaser is set to stun', as they say in 'Star Trek'. Is that possible? It is not yet possible with a laser, says Vogel. However, he mentions as a possibility the 'Tasers' used by the police, for example, which can disable targets using electrical impulses.

Truth serum

Once in orbit on the Enterprise, Crater is to be administered a truth serum. The aim: to reveal which apparition the shape-shifting creature is hiding behind. Even the term sounds like hocus-pocus - and according to Sascha Vogel, it is. "There is no substance that lets you spontaneously tell the truth," explains the expert. However, there are substances and agents in our world that are designed to cloud our perception and lead us to testify in a daze. Vogel cites the drug LSD or the anesthetic thiopental, which has been used in interrogations, as examples.

Warp drive

Shortly before the end of the first episode, Kirk gives the order to go to 'warp 1' in order to leave the planet's orbit. The Star Trek wiki 'Memory Alpha' defines warp as 'faster than light speed'. According to Vogel, however, it is currently inconceivable that a spaceship could accelerate at this speed. He refers to Einstein's theory of relativity: "It is therefore not possible to be faster than light."