Heisenberg compensator: Difference between revisions
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When asked "How do the Heisenberg compensators work?" by [[Time magazine]] on 28th November 1994, [[Michael Okuda]], technical advisor on Star Trek, famously responded, "They work just fine, thank you." |
When asked "How do the Heisenberg compensators work?" by [[Time magazine]] on 28th November 1994, [[Michael Okuda]], technical advisor on Star Trek, famously responded, "They work just fine, thank you." |
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It might be argued that one can have either the working device or the explanation for how the device works, but not both to a high level of precision. |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 04:06, 4 December 2006
In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Heisenberg compensators are part of the transporter system.
A Star Trek matter transporter is presumed to operate by reading the precise quantum state of every particle making up the person to be transported, breaking down that person from their component matter into energy, "beaming" that energy to the desired location, and recombining this energy back into their component matter according to the information gleaned when the precise quantum state was read. However, in quantum physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states (in general terms) that one cannot know the quantum state of a subatomic particle to arbitrary precision. Therefore, matter transportation in this way should be impossible.
Luckily, by Star Trek's 24th century, this is no longer a problem, thanks to the use of Heisenberg compensators. It is unclear how exactly the Heisenberg compensators work. It is, of course, possible that they do not actually tell you the precise statistics of each particle; they could just compensate for not being able to know them.
When asked "How do the Heisenberg compensators work?" by Time magazine on 28th November 1994, Michael Okuda, technical advisor on Star Trek, famously responded, "They work just fine, thank you."