Speaking of transporters, which we have been:

The real tribute to James “Scotty” Doohan, 39 light-years after he first saved the USS Enterprise’s heinie (and did it many times over), is that it’s now almost impossible to have a boyfriend or husband who can’t do a somewhat reasonable impression of Doohan’s famously stressed-out burr: “We’ve got nuh powrrrr, Cap’n!” Or “She cannuh take much moor.”

The Washington Post offers a nice appreciation of James Doohan, best and perhaps only known for his portrayal of Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott on Star Trek, who died yesterday. Among his many shipboard responsibilities was, of course, the operation and maintenance of the transporters, making sure that their mysterious “pattern buffers” prevented the kinds of accidents that we have been discussing here.

Scotty, it seems, has beamed up for the last time. Farewell, Commander Scott.