# Is the Star Trek transporter inspired by The Fly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [October 30, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549 "2021-10-30T23:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2021, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/61 "2021-11-03T04:33:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He addressed it, but not very well. Like, when considering where the energy comes from when teleporting uphill, he never considered the answer “you have to put more energy into the teleporter to make that happen”. Yes, that always bothered me. Just like momentum would clearly be changed by the teleportation device itself, rather than assuming that the teleported object magically preserved its momentum when being teleported. After all, if your device is assembling the object that it’s teleported it’s also giving each particle the correct momentum, which means the device itself is exerting the needed force. Which explains why his “perpetual waterfall” device isn’t a perpetual motion machine. Unless the teleporter works by some other mechanism than the classic “assemble the teleported object bit by bit from atoms you have at hand”. Niven’s teleporters act as if they simply open a magic portal in space between two points. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/62 "2021-11-03T13:52:14Z")
The light-years range runcible teleporters in Neal Asher’s Polity books have to deal with different amounts of kenetic energy between different planets/locations in the galaxy. It is a key plot element in the first book. (If that buffer fails, the results are bad.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/63 "2021-11-03T16:41:11Z")
Niven did address it. Teleport with the Earth’s spin, and when you materialize at your destination you are thrown to the ceiling. Teleport against the Earth’s spin, and you are thrown to the floor. Teleport north or south, and you will be shoved horizontally. (Relative to the Earth, of course. Relative to you, the Earth at your destination is moving with a different vector.) He kind of handwaved vertical jumps, and posited that the change in gravitational potential energy might manifest as a change in thermal energy. Teleport uphill, you get colder. Teleport downhill, you get hotter. He assumed that as the technology improved, the teleportation machine itself would add or subtract energy and momentum to you to compensate for the difference in velocity between your starting point and your endpoint. He envisioned a giant mass, floating in the ocean, that would serve as a source of, or sink for, the energy and momentum that the teleporter needed to use to let you arrive at your destination, at rest with respect to your destination. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/64 "2021-11-03T16:46:53Z")
I think I may have gotten that backward , talking about eastward and westward jumps. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalWiz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digitalwiz/32/11331_2.png) [@DigitalWiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalWiz)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/65 "2022-06-24T11:36:30Z")
The Adventures of Superman - Season 5 - Episode 9: “The Phony Alibi” Professor Pepperwinkle invents a device to transport people and objects instantly through a telephone line. Criminals use the device to transmit themselves across the country after committing a crime so they will have an alibi. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/66 "2022-06-24T13:59:28Z")
Personal anecdote: my own first exposure to teleporters were the “evaporators” (elevators) in the “_Duck Dodgers in the 24 and a halfth Century_” cartoon (released 1953, 4 years before the original short story of _The Fly_) which was regularly running on TV in the mid-late 60s. _Then_ Star Trek. _Then_ many years later the prevous literature. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/67 "2022-06-24T14:18:49Z")
I remember that one. Supes needs to find a safe job for the professor - one that will keep him out of trouble. Interestingly, one of Niven’s teleportation stories was called The Alibi Machine ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/68 "2022-06-24T14:23:39Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Interestingly, one of Niven’s teleportation stories was called The Alibi Machine - If I’m remembering correctly, a minor detail was that first adopters were putting the transporters in their living rooms. Needless to say, burglary ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/69 "2022-06-24T14:32:00Z")
Yep. Rich folks were the early adopters too ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/70 "2022-06-24T14:48:36Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Personal anecdote: my own first exposure to teleporters were the “evaporators” (elevators) in the “_Duck Dodgers in the 24 and a halfth Century_” I always felt those used the same technology as the [Acme Disintegration Pistol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X2ALG9iGPg). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/71 "2022-06-24T14:48:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You’d expect that sort of tech to go horribly wrong. Any contaminant would go into what ever transported. In Star Trek, though, the transporters almost always work perfectly, perfectly replicating in one place what once existed in another. Anything that contaminates you at your arrival point contaminated you in exactly the same position at the departure point. It doesn’t make any difference to you. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/72 "2022-06-24T14:49:39Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > More pertinently, are you even the same person? If aceplace57 is beamed from the Enterprise to Planet X, is the reconstructed person aceplace57, or did we kill you in a most horrific manner and then simply build a new person with the same memories in another place? Hello, Dr. McCoy, how have you been? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/73 "2022-06-24T14:50:10Z")
I agree with him. Also, wouldn’t it HURT? It’s literally pulling you apart. Wouldn’t it feel like being dissolved in acid? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/74 "2022-06-24T14:55:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@Andy\_L](#): > > > > Interestingly, one of Niven’s teleportation stories was called The Alibi Machine - > > If I’m remembering correctly, a minor detail was that first adopters were putting the transporters in their living rooms. Needless to say, burglary ensued. And even murder; you can beam in and surprise someone. The trick is getting away, as the “booth” is disabled immediately as a security feature. With a remote home in the mountains (where the police are able to beam in right away), this can be a problem… … and the end of the story has a nice twist where it’s the criminal’s mind that trips him up, not the technology. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/75 "2022-06-24T15:10:24Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I always felt those used the same technology as the [Acme Disintegration Pistol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X2ALG9iGPg). And, more important, the Acme Integrating Pistol [https://www.google.com/search?q=acme+integrating+pistol&rlz=1C1EJFC\_enUS908US908&sxsrf=ALiCzsYZ9yv4zXzw9AiEu307x7G07iZsgA:1656083171102&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&vet=1&fir=HF0M3SWpzuX6zM%252CDYYBAAYB2xDQlM%252C\_%253Bnq2p1HF1-MG\_zM%252C\_fcnhqSGZiAZ1M%252C\_%253BSS9LMMDN3VUehM%252Civ-GHK\_Yj9gt4M%252C\_%253Bw9toJMrKjJbsoM%252CDYYBAAYB2xDQlM%252C\_%253BJ2wa36Jz0\_pNOM%252C5e3u6o5Qu30\_KM%252C\_%253B51QI3pDD3VujEM%252CRHWIFKFYX0QzfM%252C\_%253B5CV9o4NAH7MEdM%252CpdjIkvFSzs1T1M%252C\_%253BP0GT3nnNmhVORM%252C\_fcnhqSGZiAZ1M%252C\_%253BYBARepl01\_I-7M%252C05b5GyP86kLiMM%252C\_%253BJMi3ll4C8Do8ZM%252CpjLUdJvwftqWbM%252C\_%253BNOWzrpl2MggtNM%252CasRjGaykzgRqfM%252C\_%253Bhj9o\_X0HkJ8CWM%252CUyeAU8eqrsS7GM%252C\_%253BisXMMaZ6ABvhlM%252C3UP0AZHYfePEeM%252C\_%253Bi7sU3mOWod9cLM%252CGYc1tWIxVAQbBM%252C\_&usg=AI4\_-kSTKDCYWQTYi4NezeGlDm7ri\_-qMQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiitobJrsb4AhXCjokEHYy\_BWIQ9QF6BAgOEAE](https://www.google.com/search?q=acme+integrating+pistol&rlz=1C1EJFC_enUS908US908&sxsrf=ALiCzsYZ9yv4zXzw9AiEu307x7G07iZsgA:1656083171102&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&vet=1&fir=HF0M3SWpzuX6zM%252CDYYBAAYB2xDQlM%252C_%253Bnq2p1HF1-MG_zM%252C_fcnhqSGZiAZ1M%252C_%253BSS9LMMDN3VUehM%252Civ-GHK_Yj9gt4M%252C_%253Bw9toJMrKjJbsoM%252CDYYBAAYB2xDQlM%252C_%253BJ2wa36Jz0_pNOM%252C5e3u6o5Qu30_KM%252C_%253B51QI3pDD3VujEM%252CRHWIFKFYX0QzfM%252C_%253B5CV9o4NAH7MEdM%252CpdjIkvFSzs1T1M%252C_%253BP0GT3nnNmhVORM%252C_fcnhqSGZiAZ1M%252C_%253BYBARepl01_I-7M%252C05b5GyP86kLiMM%252C_%253BJMi3ll4C8Do8ZM%252CpjLUdJvwftqWbM%252C_%253BNOWzrpl2MggtNM%252CasRjGaykzgRqfM%252C_%253Bhj9o_X0HkJ8CWM%252CUyeAU8eqrsS7GM%252C_%253BisXMMaZ6ABvhlM%252C3UP0AZHYfePEeM%252C_%253Bi7sU3mOWod9cLM%252CGYc1tWIxVAQbBM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSTKDCYWQTYi4NezeGlDm7ri_-qMQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiitobJrsb4AhXCjokEHYy_BWIQ9QF6BAgOEAE) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/76 "2022-06-24T15:10:42Z")
My guess is that it’s pulling apart everything simultaneously, including your nervous system, so there is no way to feel it. I’ll say that the whole concept of the transporter in Star Trek is really creepy though. I wonder if someone will invent a tiny wormhole device as an alternative. “I’d rather walk through a door than be chopped into tiny pieces, slid through a mail slot, and stitched back together thank you very much.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/77 "2022-06-24T15:14:50Z")
.Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials had the teleporter concept and in at least one episode of Buck Rogers the teleporter was shown. [This article about teleportation](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jun/12/teleportation-will-it-ever-be-a-possibility) has a picture of the Buck Rogers teleporter and a still from The Fly as well. I imagined that in Star Trek there were limitations to the transporter that required using shuttle craft but the show kept finding ways to expand teleporter range. Then in the first movie we see the teleporter not working right, perhaps the chances of a failure increase with distance. OTOH why assume shuttle craft never have crash landings either. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/78 "2022-06-24T15:46:40Z")
The really weird Trek episode as regards the transporter is TNG’s “Realm of Fear,” in which Barclay remains conscious and able to see things (and eventually even grasp things) within “the matter stream” during transport. It almost feels like the writer of that episode didn’t quite understand how the transporter was supposed to work, and was thinking of it more like the “passing through a wormhole” idea. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549/79 "2022-06-27T02:55:25Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > By the power of teleporting over the internet, I just looked up Fred Jane’s\* novel _To Venus in Five Seconds_. > > \*author of Jane’s Fighting Ships, etc. > > Reading a few pages, it looks like great fun. It’s written in a very light-hearted way. > > [https://archive.org/details/ToVenusInFiveSeconds/page/n7/mode/2up](https://archive.org/details/ToVenusInFiveSeconds/page/n7/mode/2up) Pretty entertaining story. H. Rider Haggard meets P. G. Wodehouse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-star-trek-transporter-inspired-by-the-fly/953549.md?page=3)