Beam me up?

A free evening lecture series in Tempe next week is aiming to apply physics to the final frontier and decide what is and isn't possible.

On Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m., Dr. Lawrence Krauss will host a free public lecture called "Beyond the Star Trek Universe" at the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway. The discussion will focus on how much of the popular science-fiction series is technically possible given our current understanding of science.

In addition to Krauss, Armin Shimerman will make an appearance at the speech. Shimerman is an actor, perhaps best-known for his role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Quark, an alien of the Ferengi race.

“It will be presented as a bit of fun and entertainment as much as educational,” said Dr. Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist at Arizona State University.

“Beyond the Star Trek Universe” is being put on by a foundation Davies’ came to ASU to start: The Beyond Center. The center’s mission is to answer the big questions - what existed prior to the Big Bang, whether time travel is possible and what everything is made of.

“Beyond the Star Trek Universe” is the inaugural event in what Davies hopes will be an annual tradition.

“We want to take a particular sci-fi them, be it time travel, warp drives or teleportation - and ask, 'Can it all be done?’”

The notions Krauss will discuss are not as far-fetched as they may seem, Davies noted, even if Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry may not have known that at the time.

“The people who wrote the Star Trek series didn’t pay much attention and just figured out what looks good in fiction,” he said. “Dr. Krauss looks at it and says, 'Well, maybe it’s not that far out.’

“We’re not going to be beaming up people, but 'beaming up’ single protons is now part of our current technology.”

Indeed, “quantum teleportation” is no more fiction than is genetics. In 2002 a team of Australian physicists successfully teleported a laser beam; in 2004 a team of German and American physicists successfully teleported molecules of calcium and beryllium respectively. The atoms and subatomic particles were only transported a few millimeters away in each case, but research continues.

If the above sounds complicated, even in its simplified form, it’s because it is. But Davies stressed that lecture attendees can leave their advanced degree in quantum mechanics at home.

“It’s really pushed to people who don’t have a background in science,” Davies said. “We designed this specifically for a younger demographic.”

Krauss is a highly regarded professor of physics and professor of astronomy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and is also the author of the book The Physics of Star Trek. He’s also regarded as a witty and entertaining lecturer, capable of translating the technical tongue of theoretical physics into plain English.

“He’s a great speaker, very humorous; a very good communicator with a lot of charm,” Davies said. “We’ll start out with a few clips of Star Trek to set the scene, then Armin Shimerman will talk about what it’s like playing a non-human. Then Krauss will come out.”

After the lecture, a question-and-answer session will be staged to allow dialogue between the audience, the actor and the physicist.

“I’m approaching this as, 'Let’s not take any of this stuff too seriously,’” Davies said. “But I think people will be amazed to learn what’s already possible; what could be fact instead of fiction.”

Although the lecture is free, reservations are required. For information or to reserve a spot, visit http://beyond.asu.edu/register.html.

And if you go, make sure to don your best Starfleet gear.

“We’re hoping people will come dressed in costumes,” Davies said. “I’ll hand out prizes for best-dressed.”