Imagine you are standing in a single room in your house and then in the blink of an eye you're standing in a totally different room. And you do this without moving even a single muscle. I know it sounds ridiculous but, hey, we're still in the twentieth century. In the year 2009, this will be just another way of getting around.

Some of you may now know what I am talking about and some will not have a clue. Let me refresh your memory a bit. Several years back a movie entitled The Fly was put out . This movie showed a scientist creating a device in which any object, whether it be human or inanimate, was placed into a machine. With a simple push of a button, the object inside would disappear and then appear in another machine. Basically, you enter the machine, and press a button. Simple enough, right?

It is not until a moment or so later that the process begins to get difficult. The machine "vaporizes" you into a mist of cells, performing a complete analysis of your entire body; every drop of blood, every strand of DNA is scanned. It then transports you, atom by atom, to the destination you desire.

There are, in fact, many non-believers among scientists right now. They say that to transport a body in any form is impossible. I would say that the scientists of the 90's are just too lazy to go forward with the research of transporting matter from one destination to another.

Not only will this transportation method be relatively fun, it could also be an inexpensive journey, and a lot less trouble then flying coach to your destination. Some may become uneasy about traveling by matter transporter because of the potential side affects. There is no need to worry; the next ten years will see a lot of testing and I assure you all the bugs will be worked out. No one will ever become ill; no travelers will ever lose their memories or feel in any way that they are not the same as when they entered the device at the original location.

Imagine the history books: "For many years (ten to be exact) controversies have surrounded the transporter and what it means to be transported. Many people refused to have anything to do with transporters and efforts were made to outlaw them. Public debates went on for years. Logical, ethical and religious arguments were provided on both sides, but with inconclusive results...."

Contrary to what a Hallowe'en episode of the Simpsons claimed--Homer bought a transporter for thirty-five cents--a transporter will cost a bit, but will be well worth it. That is, until the hand-held version hits the market.

(c) Adam Evans 1999
All rights remain with the author.