Beam Me Out, Scotty.

There are a lot of fun gadgets in the world of Star Trek. I'm sure anyone who is even remotely familiar with the show will find something on it that they wish they had. Whether it's a phaser, to do away with your enemies leaving nothing behind but some sub atomic particles, or something to fulfill all of your sick sexual desires, like the holodeck, there is something there that appeals to all of us.

I have always been intrigued by the Transporter Beam. Not for the possibilities of travel, or its power to cure all the damage being done to the earth by our present means of transportation, but more for the accidents. Who knows what's going to happen when you trust a computer (which, by the way only has three sliding faders on it) to keep track of every atom that makes up your body?

There have been a few slight problems caused by transporter malfunction. Captain Kirk was divided into two versions of himself, one evil, the other a mama's boy. One episode had the landing party transported to an alternate universe where Spock had a beard and the skirts for the female crew members were even shorter. Imagine that! Even shorter! But what about death by transporter, this scenario contains a strange paradox for me.

When you are killed in a transporter accident you simply don't materialize on the other end. Your atoms are scattered to the wind like the seeds of a dandelion. So I guess that means your dead. But aren't you in that state for a moment during every transport you do. Most crew members log hours and hours in transport over their careers, so were they dead during that time?

You could be listed as missing, except they kind of know where you are and there is no way of getting you back, so isn't that like death? And what if you are religious? How long does God wait for your transport to end before declaring you dead, and welcoming you into the Kingdom of Heaven or where ever it is you are expecting to go? You know, come to think of it, the transporter would be great for suicide cases, just climb in and disappear. Anyway if such a thing ever existed it would probably just be used as a weapon. I'll end here.