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'Star Trek' phaser rifle sells for $231k

Never underestimate the purchasing power of a "Star Trek" fan.

Beverly Hills, Calif., auction house Julien's has sold -- for a whopping $231,000 -- a one-of-a-kind "Star Trek" phaser rifle wielded by William Shatner in the second pilot episode (and some publicity stills) for the iconic late-'60s sci-fi TV series. Aside from obtaining the weapon and its original case, the winner of the auction also received an original schematic and associated letters signed by Gene Roddenberry and other "Star Trek" producers.

If you're wondering what's so special about this mock rifle, well, in 1965, "Star Trek" series creator Roddenberry had to impress NBC after network executives told him the first pilot needed more of an action-packed adventure vibe. What would any enterprising creative genius do in that situation? Outfit your Captain with a bigger gun, of course! … Read more

Crave Ep. 115: First look at the feature-packed iKazoo

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On this week's Crave, we take a first look a gadget that truly blows, an optical game controller that looks like a kazoo. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield gives us some more cooking tips from space. And Hotello is a hotel room in a box. Sounds uncomfortable, no? All that and more on this week's episode. … Read more

LED quadrotors form 'Star Trek' logo over London

I can't say I'm a fan of the "Star Trek" reboot, preferring the days when the franchise was so bad it was good, but I have to admire this marketing stunt for "Into Darkness."

We've seen LED quadrotor displays before, and there's no denying that lighting up the night sky with small flying machines has enormous potential.

Ars Electronica Futurelab, the same outfit that illuminated the skies over Linz, Austria, last year, launched 30 quadrotors near London's Tower Bridge and flew in a formation that any Trekkie would salute.… Read more

'Star Trek' inspires BlackBerry founder to launch quantum fund

BlackBerry co-founder and former CEO Mike Lazaridis has veered from mobile devices and set his sights on quantum technology.

This technology is so fascinating to him that he and fellow BlackBerry co-founder Doug Fregin have launched a $100 million investment fund, called Quantum Valley Investments, to work on commercial applications for breakthroughs in quantum science, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But, what exactly are breakthroughs in quantum science?

According to Lazaridis, one need look no further than Star Trek.

"There's this buzz around the world that this quantum information science is starting to bear fruit," Lazaridis … Read more

Gandalf to officiate at Captain Picard's wedding

Few actors have gathered as much geek street cred as Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, with credits for "Star Trek," "The Lord of the Rings," and "X-Men" between them. Now, there's news of a crossover most of us didn't see coming: McKellen says he will officiate at Stewart's upcoming nuptials.

Let's savor this for a moment. Gandalf will be officiating Captain Picard's wedding. Magneto will be helping Professor Xavier get hitched. I know it's too much to hope they'll do it in costume, but a gal can dream. I'm imagining McKellen in a Magneto costume with a Gandalf hat and beard, while Stewart dons a "Star Trek" uniform and sits in a clear plastic wheelchair (just in case Magneto decides to act up).… Read more

'Star Trek' computer inspires future of Google search

AUSTIN, Texas--At Google, the future of search looks an awful lot like something out of one of the iconic science fiction franchises of the past.

At least that's the impression given by Google's Amit Singhal when he was interviewed on-stage by Guy Kawasaki at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin recently.

No matter how much Kawasaki prodded Singhal for insights into the inner workings of Google's algorithms, the senior vice president of search seemed far more interested in talking about his apparent obsession with the computer from "Star Trek."

"For those of you who have never watched an episode of 'Star Trek,' please go do that," Singhal implored the audience at one point.… Read more

'Trek' visions unite at Beam Me Up art expo

When "Star Trek" hit television screens nearly 47 years ago, little could series creator Gene Roddenberry have imagined he'd created a science fiction phenomenon still celebrated to this day. A recent exhibit of "Trek" art called Beam Me Up in downtown L.A.'s Q Pop gallery brought together 80 artists who shared their unique interpretation of Roddenberry's vision (and its various spinoffs). You can even buy some of the artwork if it's still available.

Our gallery below highlights a handful of art from the exposition, which concluded earlier this month after a multiweek run. With works ranging from a bright neon Spock to larger-than-life Picard playing a flute on top of the Enterprise, there's probably a little bit of something for everyone. … Read more

President Obama is not the Jedi you're looking for

As just about everyone knows by now, President Obama got the entire Internet in a tizzy this morning by seemingly mixing up "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" references and trying to pass them off as a clever "Star Wars" line.

It's been much reported that, speaking about his negotiations with Republicans over budget reform, he complained that he can't perform a "Jedi mind meld." Cue a million anguished Twitter users in outrage, jokingly insisting on impeaching the president over his inability to remember that the line is actually "Jedi … Read more

Trekkies conquer contest to name Pluto moons

Earlier this month, astronomer Mark Showalter and the SETI Institute asked the Internet to help name two Plutonian moons. The results are in after 450,324 votes from around the world on the Web site Pluto Rocks.

Pending authorization from the International Astronomical Union, the new names for Pluto's smallest moons -- currently called P4 and P5 -- could end up changing to Cerberus and Vulcan.… Read more

Surprise! 'Star Trek' gold shirts more deadly than red shirts

It's not easy being a "Star Trek" extra. I can only imagine the cold sweats and terror you'd feel if the wardrobe manager handed you a fresh red shirt from the rack. Your chance of making it through the episode just took a dive. Or did it? New mathematical calculations show that the redshirt death rate may not be as dire as we thought.

Matthew Barsalou breaks down the numbers for Significance Magazine. He sticks with the original series and starts by looking at the casualty rates for the different uniform colors across all three seasons.… Read more