Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Hope everyone is doing well.

Let me to start by stating this particular discussion is being made purely for the sake of shits-n-giggles. Fun and entertainment is the goal here. It was inspired by the "Atheist Religion" discussion that was posted by TRbizness back around April of 2016. During that discussion there was talk of immortality and the transference of human consciousness into cyborgs. Being a bit of a sci-fi geek, that naturally piqued my interest and brought to mind a few books I have read and movies I have seen related to such matters. Then it made me think, "Hmmm.... Here is a chance to have folks stretch out their imaginations a little." And here we are.

Basically, if you have read a book or seen a movie/show depicting some type of futuristic high-tech equipment or devices that seem beyond plausibility, drag those bad-boys out here to be bombarded with ridicule and picked apart like a carcass on the Sahara. If you have a cool idea for a super-snazzy invention (real or imaginary), display it here for the masses so that we may openly mock your absurd contrivance with our superior intellect and snotty attitudes. (All in good fun, of course. In good taste, though? Ehhhhh.... Optional, I suppose.)

Again, I would like to stress this is for amusement only. Therefore, whacky and bizarre speculations and concepts are not only allowed, they are encouraged. So, in keeping with my discussion header, let's kick off this venture with a look at what it would take to make a real life Star Trek transporter.

Aside from the obvious complications of instantly vaporizing a human body and then restoring same body to a specific point potentially several hundred miles away, we must consider how we get the actual mind/consciousness to follow. (Now THERE'S some fun speculation.) Here's a little tip to get you on the right track: There is a favorite book of mine I discovered a few years ago called "The Physics of Star Trek" by Lawrence M. Krauss. In it he takes all the futuristic technology from the show (warp drive, holodecks, force shields, and so forth) and discusses how plausible it is with today's technology, and then speculates the possibility of our technology eventually advancing enough to make those devices a reality. It is a truly enjoyable read if you like that kind of stuff. Oh, and in the interest of helping to seed more ideas for debate, I suggest the "Old Man's War" series of books by John Scalzi (it deals quite heavily with mind/consciousness transferring), the movie "Bicentennial Man", and the books "Armada" and "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline (We are damn-near already at the level of technology depicted in his books, by the way.) Anyway, enough of my blabbering. Looking forward to seeing where this leads. Have fun, all.