Star Trek: What Did George Takei Do For Solar Roadway Tech?
Thanks to Star Trek actor George Takei, a North Idaho couple is finding out just what social media power is all about in the latest story this week to make fans wonder just how far away the future really is.
Takei isn’t just any celebrity, mind you. Star Trek fans aside, the 77 year old star has a considerable social media presence with over 8 million people following him across various platforms. The economic power of such a vast media profile became evident this past week, when Takei got wind of Scott and Julie Brusaw, and their plan to put “star” power to work in a very different way.
The Brusaws are the founders of Solar Roadways inc., a Sagle, Idaho company that aims to develop technology to transform America’s roadways and sidewalks into energy generating solar platforms. According to the Washington Times, the company launched an Indiegogo campaign to crowd-fund the Star Trek style tech on April 21st, to an outpouring of internet support and media attention. Two days later, on April 23rd, the star affectionately known to his followers as “Uncle George” got involved, tweeting his support for the company:
“Solar Frickin’ Roadways”–I like the sound of that. Worth a look. Dare to dream, I say. https://t.co/cpnogIgeo8
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 23, 2014
In the vast network of the internet, apparently all it takes are mobilized Star Trek fans to get things done. The Brusaws saw their project funded the very next day after Takei’s tweet, raising over $1.4 million from 33,000 contributors.
Takei isn’t the only Star Trek actor in the news lately for his crowd-funding prowess, however. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Levar Burton, who played Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, recently launched a Kickstarter program to resurrect his show, Reading Rainbow, which went off the air in 2006. The project surpassed even the wildest of expectations, surpassing its goal of $1 million in a single day. The generosity of Star Trek and Reading Rainbow fans notably brought Burton to tears.
While the Brusaw’s innovation may seem like something out of Star Trek itself, it’s not the only piece of advanced tech drawing comparisons to the iconic show this week. As The Inquisitr previously noted, physicists at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands made headlines when they announced that they had managed to successfully send quantum information between two electrons ten feet apart. The achievement was widely compared to Star Trek’s matter “transporter” device. Space X CEO Elon Musk, meanwhile, unveiled his company’s much anticipated Dragon V2 spacecraft this week, as CNN reported.
With solar roadways, teleportation, spaceships, and even medical tech reminiscent of Star Trek all making headlines in the same week, it seems as if a world previously relegated to science fiction is suddenly at our doorstep. Which part of such a Star Trek style future would most excite The Inqusitr’s readers?
[Image via Inc.com]
