Professor says "Star Trek" not all that far off

As the town of Riverside today celebrates being the “future birthplace” ofCaptain James Kirk, a Drake University professor is debating the possibilitysome things in “Star Trek” could become reality. Physics & astronomyprofessor Tony Marston says “warp drive” engines would be tough to build.Marston says even if we could build a spaceship that could go that fast,there’d be the matter of where to go with it. He says the universe is muchmore immense than the television show makes it seem.Marston gave a presentation on the Des Moines campus last night called “Is’Star Trek’ Possible?” Some things are already a reality — space stations,C-D players, laptop computers and laser weapons. He says the transporterused on the Enterprise is a work of pure fiction. It takes people orobjects, transforms them into energy, sends them to another point andre-materializes them.Another consolation from Marston, the communicator Captain Kirk used in’Star Trek’ looks very much like the modern cellular phone.