BBC Technology News - Magnetic Shields

Science really does follow science fiction. Now all we need to do is wait 15 years to fully develop the technology...and another 50 years for World War 3 so we can get Warp drive.

OK, it's high time you all learned the truth... Gene Roddenberry wasn't writting sience fiction with Star Trek as he is/was/will be a time traveller from the 30th century Federation!!!!!

To get semi-serious, NASA's "shields" are a bit different from the Star Trek thing. They are just magnetic fields that keep away the deadly ultrarelativistic protons etc... However, many things from the Star Trek mythos have already been created (I'll provide links as soon I find some time to track everything down):
Before reading this remember when the TOS was created...
1) Tricorders for medical use (they exist but they are rather primitive and very expensive for now)
2) Combadges (it is just a packed cell phone really)
3) Transportation (just atoms for the time being and not like in ST - only the quantum state is transported due to the infamous no-cloning theorem in Quantum Mechanics)
4) Hand held phasers (laser pointers for 10$, cannot kill but it's a good start )
5) Warp drive theory (this was already discussed in a another thread but there a several serious scientific papers on the subject)

Need I go on?

Funny,I had the same idea before I herd about this.

The earth's magnetic field shields us from radiation,and alot of other things.So why could'nt it protect a ship,or space station?