10 Biggest Technological Advances That Changed The Star Trek Universe

As much as everyone loves the characters and alien adventures of Star Trek, one of the biggest staples of the series are its technological advancements. They often set the scene for the entire franchise, showing off the futuristic reality of their universe. However, the tech is also often used to set up stellar character moments and even full-out plots.

How many times did the wackiest of fascinating hijinks happen on the holodeck?

Whether it's a little device connecting all the languages of the galaxy or deceptive war tactics, Star Trek tech is iconic. Here are the 10 biggest technological advances that changed the Star Trek universe.

10 Holograms

Between holodecks and general holographic technology, holograms revolutionized recreational activity and subsidizing Starfleet crew. Now, people could have a relaxing time at the beach without having to leave the ship. Or they could interact directly with their favorite stories (shout out to Data's fantastic Sherlock Holmes adventures).

And when it comes to smaller ships like Rios' La Sirena, it makes it possible to run such a little vessel with minimal staff. After all, the official crew is Rios and his several hologram programs. All of which are apparently standard now, by the way.

9 Universal Translators

Traveling the galaxy before the universal translator would've been practically impossible. Even just seeing the somewhat working prototype in Enterprise was stressful. It was way too easy to say something wrong and offend or even start all-out confrontations with people.

Once they got their translator perfected, it really opened up the doors for Starfleet. They could communicate with almost any race they encountered, becoming friends and allies with more peoples than ever before. It made going where no one has gone before a real, feasible goal.

8 Warp Drive

The first advanced technology that changed everything for the Star Trek universe was Zefram Cochrane's warp drive. With this tech in their grasp, humanity had its first contact ever with non-earthlings. Zefram himself said the first hello to the Vulcan race.

While it took decades to improve warp drive, eventually reaching the infamous warp 9, just a little taste of warp capabilities changed everything. In making long-term space travel an option, period, Earth was never the same again - culturally, technologically, or historically.

7 Transporters

Until transporters, people always used shuttlecraft to travel from ship to ship. It just seemed like the obvious way to do things. That is until people learned how to do matter-transference safely. Transporters have saved Star Trek characters from countless dangerous situations that a shuttle couldn't have salvaged.

While the transporter has its own dangers (see Barclay's transporter particle worm and the several people lost in transporter accidents), it did make sudden evacs a possibility. Now, starships could save their people in seconds and bring them back at the same time.

6 Mycillium Drive

Even though no other ships were fitted with this drive after Discovery, it did change space travel as people know it. Risky as its processes and abilities can be, the Mycillium Drive can get a ship almost anywhere navigable in an absurdly short time-frame. Whether used for exploration, travel, or war, it's got a lot more power behind it than most other species can handle (and main engineer, Stamets, knows that).

On one hand, it's silly Starfleet didn't try again. The drive was a very powerful tool. However, on the other, given its risks, unique problems, and accidental trips into different dimensions? No wonder Starfleet preferred to pretend Discovery didn't happen.

5 Time Travel

There's a reason the Department of Temporal Investigations exists. Time travel causes a lot of havoc in the Star Trek universe, resulting in just as much good as it does complete chaos. Whether it's time crystals, Red Angels, time watches, or good old time ships, Star Trek has done so many different versions of the same messy, fascinating concept.

Just like the situations, there are equal amounts of great time travel episodes as there are horrible ones. So, in a meta sense, time travel has a big influence on Star Trek as a show, too.

4 Replicators

Before replicators were a thing, Starfleet had to work a lot harder to feed its people. On-ship chefs, tons of provisions, a variety of food to make sure everyone had a balanced diet... there was a lot of extra hassle. Replicators put less stress on the ship to find food, have designated staff, or carry extra cargo just for eating.

Like Seven of Nine/The Doctor showed the wonders of it with that infamous cheesecake, there's so much more variety and choice when it comes to replicators. Sure, downed replicators are messy and hilarious, but they really revolutionized deep space travel.

3 Advanced Cosmetic Surgery

While it's less of a concern for Starfleet, the advanced cosmetic surgery capabilities of the future are the backbone for a lot of secret organizations. See the Tal Shiar, The Obsidian Order, or the older version of the Klingon High Council. Cosmetic surgery was how they turned their own people into other humanoids to infiltrate rival governments. From there, they could learn as much as possible without causing a stir.

That's how Ash Tyler AKA Voq joined the Discovery, or how Seska joined the Maquis.

However, sometimes Starfleet used the tool to investigate cultures on the brink of warp and see how ready they are for first contact.

2 Communicators

When it comes to flying across space, transmitting between ships, and talking from planet to bridge, communicators are key parts of Starfleet's systems. Even just around the ship, the crew uses them to get a hold of one another. Just like phones are vital to us, their communicators are game-changing methods of contact and coordination.

And even in the earlier days of Star Trek, communicators were basically flip phones. Their evolution into badges and smaller devices made them even more effective on alien planets and in alien situations. Without communicators, nothing would coordinate as well as it does.

1 Cloaking Devices

While Starfleet itself doesn't employ cloaking device technology often (see the exception of The Defiant), other races do. The Romulans and Klingons are known for their cloaking devices. Sure, Klingons use them more for sneak attacks, and Romulans use them for surveillance, but still. The ability has made both races very fearsome foes. It has also made it hard for The Federation to keep an eye on them, and thus fully ascertain the breadth of their influence and knowledge.

Anyone who has a very effective cloaking device technology generally has an edge over the other species, especially when it comes to space combat. It makes a big impact on how everyone interacts with the space around them (especially if there's a high chance of a cloak in the area).

Source: screenrant.com