Published Dec 3, 2019
This Month in Trek: Celebrating a Happy Treksgiving
StarTrek.com's monthly roundup of the best mentions, writing, art, and fan contributions to the Star Trek fandom.
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Each month, StarTrek.com scours the internet for the best mentions, writing, art, crafting, and all-around creative endeavors from the global Star Trek community. Our picks for November include scientific advancements, sights from Burning Man, one very special engagement, and more!
We're starting with the happiest news of the month. Our best wishes go out to Anthony Rapp (Discovery's Paul Stamets) who got engaged to his longtime boyfriend, now fiancé, Ken. Congratulations!
So something happened tonight. I asked Ken if he would marry me and he said yes. I am so very happy and I’m so very thrilled to share this news. pic.twitter.com/2T65DLhSmd
— Anthony Rapp (@albinokid) November 10, 2019
The holiday spirit jumped out when Sonequa Martin-Green's first Christmas rom-com dropped on Netflix on November 28th. If you're going through Michael Burnham or Discovery withdrawal, check out her starring role in Holiday Rush.
We've published numerous stories on the site about the ways Star Trek has influenced, changed, and even saved the lives of fans over the past half-century. Over at The Guardian, Trek watchers explained via interview how the show "helped them boldly go on, when they wanted to give up." One of the most touching stories came from Anastacia Davies, who benefitted from the generosity of fellow Star Trek fans when her relationship and living situation turned dangerous.
My boyfriend didn’t understand that for me the convention was a social experience as much as the chance to see stars. When we went together I ended up missing my group activities, and in time he got jealous.
It was always a difficult relationship, but I’d decided to make the most of it. When we moved in together, though, he grew more hostile than ever. Sleeping in separate rooms, I would hear him coming home late at night slamming doors. He was so angry I began to fear for my safety, knowing he had a gun in the house.
One night, I tweeted that I had locked my door out of fear. Several followers told me to get out, but renting a place of my own was financially impossible. Then someone suggested a crowdfunder. More than 150 Trekkies rushed to my aid, many of them total strangers. I felt like I’d sent out a distress call and an armada of Starships had come to my rescue.
There's no better example of the depth of community and care within the Trek fanbase than stories like these.
In scientific news, CNN reveals that researchers have debuted an artificial skin that allows robots and AIs to feel the sensation of touch. Sound familiar? While it doesn't look as lifelike as the skin Data was once granted by the Borg Queen, it's still an exciting development and one that will actually make robots safer for scientists and others to work with!
Robots are able to exert forces that could seriously injure a human being, so employers need to ensure they are aware of their surroundings and able to navigate around people.
"Touch enables safe robot operation, by detecting contact with unseen obstacles and giving the possibility to apply the correct force for achieving a task, without damaging objects, people and the robot itself," Chiara Bartolozzi, a robotics expert at the Italian Institute of Technology, independent of the research, tells CNN Business.
We have one, very simple question: Did you save us a piece?!
I made a Star Trek-themed pumpkin pie! ?#StarTrek#piepic.twitter.com/fCKL25Onj1
— Carey Millsap Spears (@equuscholar) November 27, 2019
Nerdist introduced us to Cory Mervis-Bocskor, a Star Trek fan who also happens to love Burning Man. Like many fans, he managed to combine his Trek enthusiasm with his burning passion for the annual festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. His recreation of an Enterprise shuttle made from a Ford minivan wasn't street legal (darn!), but it was certainly fine for Burning Man. He used a trailer to cart it out to the desert in 2014 where it delighted attendees, and it can still be spotted around!
Finally, our friends in Ticonderoga, NY at the Star Trek Original Series Set Tourhosted their annual "Treksgiving" event with the captain himself, William Shatner. Over the weekend Shatner gave tours of the set, sat for Q&A sessions on the bridge, posed for photograph and autograph sessions, and hosted a turkey dinner complete with all the traditional trimmings.Take a look at some of the festivities below!
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