Interstellar space flight may have been poo-poo'd on by astrophysicists this week, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little pseudo space-faring fun with this first-of-its-kind RC Star Trek Enterprise. Due to arrive in May 2009, the US$80 foam flyer is controlled via a vintage Star Trek touchscreen communicator (Captain James T. Kirk womanising is not necessary, but recommended).

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It's clearly "Star Trek Comes Nearly True" time, first with the life-signs detector, and now a tiny NMR machine that's effectively v1.0 of the medical tricorder. Scientists at Harvard Medical School have come up with a neat way to coat bacteria and viruses with nanoparticles, and have simultaneously shrunk all the detector electronics for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy into a 2mm-square chip. Their prototype device uses a microfluidics network and eight of these chips inside magnetic coils to detect specific nanoparticles: future versions will use more and be portable. It's apparently 800 times more sensitive than standard NMR machines, and is able to detect just 10 bacteria in a single sample. Beep Beep. [New Scientist]

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A team of US and UK scientists have invented a portable scanner that may be useful in the hunt for life on Mars. And it sounds a whole lot like a Star Trek tricorder: it uses a beam of ultraviolet laser light and detects fluorescence from organic molecules, so it works remotely and doesn't damage samples. Under simulated-Mars conditions, they've used it to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (found on comets, thought to be building-blocks of life) in masses as small as 1.5 micrograms. Plus they think the tech could be adapted to be rugged and fitted onto a future Mars rover. Just wait for the handheld version, and for an astronaut to start going "widdlywee..." as they stomp around Mars. [Eurekalert via IO9]

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If you ever watched an episode of Star Trek and wondered when we were going to finally get our hands on some cool medical gadgets like the tricorder, you will be happy to know that a primitive version already exists. Researchers knew that current medical scanners were too bulky and expensive to reach their full potential. So, in order to remedy the situation, they developed a simple portable scanner that can be plugged into a standard mobile phone. The phones would send the raw data to remote processors, which would interpret that data and relay it as a image that is viewable on the mobile phone screen.

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This replica medical tricorder from Star Trek TOS is hugely detailed and looks pretty much like the "real" thing. It even comes with the removable scanner thingy. Plus it's got light and sound effects built-in, so you won't have to hold it over alien flu victims and whisper "widdlyweep... widdlyweep..." Mind you, I'm pretty sure that's what Bones used to do anyway— he never seemed to know exactly what was wrong with people, did he? With one of these and a bit of carpentry to construct one of those beds with the heart-monitor thing that went "thum... thum...," you could reenact the Enterprise medical scene of your choosing. Available soon for US$39.95. [Geekalerts]

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Forget the iPhone, real gadgetphiles carry a tricorder. You never know when some damsel in distress is going to need a lighting quick ruling on whether her Miata is made of Duranium or Tritanium. This life-altering, limited-edition diagnostic tool, complete with authentic sounds from the Voyager and DS9 series, can be yours for US$349.99—although at second glance, didn't they abolish money in the Star Trek universe? Maybe this thing should be free. [Entertainment Earth]

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