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106 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2021 One area remotely possible is "Raise the shields, Mr. Chekov." Future inventions are possible, given some work on electromag- netic plasma fields. e earth's magnetic shield keeps out a large mass of the sun's radiation and forces, so maybe not too far off if we have another 200 plus years of development to catch up on. Many of the enterprise's futuristic inventions are, sorry to say, impossible, know- ing what we do today about the laws of phys- ics; but hey, who is to say a new Albert Ein- stein, 75 years from now, changes our thinking of the laws of physics in a massive way again? It has happened before. Looking at the printed circuits used by the first Star Trek TV shows are of interest. ey were clear, with internal traces and I would venture, had circuits inside. Rather rudimen- tary and not far off what we were manufac- turing in 1967, but of course, they performed many more functions than what we could back in the day. Society was still using tubes in their electronic devices at home, such as radios and televisions. I would have to believe that flex and embed- ded circuitry was theoretically used. e daily crew uniforms could measure and send infor- mation on body functions, a technology that we are advancing, and I suspect will exceed the show's outstanding imagination well before the star date 2234. Over the last 60 years, we have seen flex quickly grow with the invention of many new technologies. From its simplistic start as a sin- gle-sided print and etch, it has grown to 40 lay- ers of rigid and flexible circuits, proudly going where no circuit has gone before by spreading its arms to interconnect many different indi- vidual parts of the overall circuit. If you ever get the chance to see a camera's flex circuit all folded up with its many spiralia of arms, it is a wonder to behold. Where will flex be in another 220 years? I would guess it will be in much smaller traces, possibly of a super- conductor material. e flexible base material may become infused with low cost, man-made diamonds for super high heat conductivity. I can see in my crystal ball, integrated circuits small enough to be embedded right into the base material if Moore's law continues its path to the future. As flexible circuits are asked to do more, inventors will come to the design table, adding their special niche to the mix. Future electron- ics is all about smaller, thinner, and more tran- sistors per square nanometer. I know human's desire for creation, and more and more elec- tronics in their lives. Flex circuits will fill the technology gap until flex circuits are truly the invention that the future will need. Star Trek was important in more ways than just entertainment. It was a first to intention- ally feature a multinational cast during the height of a cold war. As well, Star Trek fea- tured the first interracial kiss. Having censors on set, trying to hold back a futuristic-thinking Roddenberry would be a tough job. Remem- ber, in 1966 America was struggling with its inability to integrate people of color properly and equally aer 300 years of failure. Unfortu- nately, even today, America is still struggling with its racial past. e show inspired many future inventors. One huge fan of the first shows was Steve Wozniak who credited watching Star Trek and attending Star Trek conventions in his youth as a source of inspiration for co-founding Apple One area remotely possible is "Raise the shields, Mr. Chekov." Future inventions are possible, given some work on electromagnetic plasma fields.