Nichelle Nichols has a lot to say about her life as Lt. Nyota Uhura on television’s Star Trek.

Star Trek was launched in 1966.  During that time the Civil Rights movement had really began to take hold.  Martin Luther King Junior was leading a boycott of the Alabama bus system and southern blacks were beginning to see some level of change.

When Nichols took the role on Star Trek she had no idea the level of history she was making for a black women in Hollywood.

Nichols told the Huffington Post,

“It didn’t hit me at the time until somebody told me. I splashed onto the TV screen at a propitious historical moment. Black people were marching all over the South. Dr. King was leading people to freedom, and here I was, in the 23rd century, fourth in command of the Enterprise.”

Nichols went on to tell the HuffPost what was going on in the country when she took the role,

“Oh, man, there were parts of the South that wouldn’t show ‘Star Trek’ because this was an African American woman in a powerful position, and she wasn’t a maid or tap dancer.”

While she was filming episodes of Star Trek she said she never faced any adversity on set but she did when she was forced to use a separate gate from the white actors.

“That’s right. There were instances where I was turned away from entering the studio at the walk-on gate, and I had to go all the way around to the front gate, sign-in and come back. A guard on the set told me I had no right being there — that they had replaced a blue-eyed blonde with me. I went through crap, man. Racism was alive and rampant there. Some people said I wasn’t good enough, saying things like, ‘I don’t know how you got this role.’ And they kept waiting for me to complain and raise hell about it, but I decided to ignore it. I never went to Gene [Roddenberry] about it.”

She even said that the show photographer was a racist on the set.

But it all change3d when she had the first interracial kiss ever with Captain Kirk.  This had never been seen before on American Television sets.

Do you think Nichelle Nichols was a groundbreaking figure?

Watch an interview with Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols on Having First Televised Interacial Kiss on Star Trek [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The two were caught in a very intense lip lock recently and a source at E! Entertainment says the two have recently begun dating and telling family and friends.

Cooper has been linked to Jennifer Lopez (JLO) in recent reports also, but those turned out to be false.

Saldana’s representatives have been denying for weeks that there is anything going on between the two, but the rumors have persisted and the couple has been seen at quite a lot of events together lately.

Saldana and Cooper have most recently been spotted skiing together in the Rockies.

Saldana has most recently been in the news because she announced via Twitter that she had ended her 11 year engagement to Star Trek star Keith Britton.  They also issues a joint statement that although they would not be together romantically anymore they remained partners on a joint fashion venture.  The two have supposedly split amicably.

Attempts to contact both Saldana’s and Cooper’s agents have been unsuccessful .

Zoe Saldana was one of the stars of James Cameron’s Avitar and is a huge star among Latino crowds as well.  Cooper is best known for his appearances in the Hangover Series.

Are Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper a couple?

Zoe Saldana has a New Man, Hangover II Star Bradley Cooper is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s a sad day for Trekkers everywhere as Star Trek star Leonard Nimoy has officially announced his retirement from the Star Trek convention circuit.

Mr. Spock made his first appearance on the Star Trek series in September 1996 and now at 80-years-old Nimoy says the 45th anniversary celebration in Chicago will likely be his last.

Thanking his fans for all of the wonderful years he formed his famous Vulcan sign as fans paid tribute to their star by holding up signs that read:

“We love you Leonard! Live long & prosper.”

Leonard Nimoy made his return to TV on FOX’s hit show Fringe but in April 2010 he announced that he would retire from acting and subsequently left the show.

NiMoy also recently appeared in the music video for the Bruno Mars hit “Lazy Song” for which he poked fun at fellow Star Trek cast member William Shatner for his spokesman role at Priceline.

With less Star Trek actors appearing at conventions on a yearly basis it will be interesting to see how the shows carry on in the future.

Here’s Nimoy in The Lazy Song:

Are you sad to see Leonard Nimoy walking away from Star Trek conventions after all these years.

Leonard Nimoy Attends Final Star Trek Convention is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a startling turn of events, William Shatner, the man who made his name playing Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek, prefers Star Trek to Star Wars.

In a video (below) released last week by the actor, he dismisses the Star Wars movies as “special effects, ILM [Lucasfilm visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic] at its best.” He went on to call Star Wars “derivative” of Star Trek, which he argued dealt with human principles and philosophical questions.

In a slightly less serious part of his argument, Shatner also claimed Star Trek had prettier actresses. He did admit, however, that he’d have run off with Princess Leia, a sentiment every red-blooded male born in the last century would agree with.

From 1966, Shatner played Kirk in the Star Trek TV series, the animated series, and numerous films, returning to act in the franchise again and again before the character’s death in 1994′s Star Trek Generations. His loyalties are perhaps understandable.

Personally, I’m going to sit on the fence for this one, because (a) fanboys and fangirls scare me and (b) I feel pretty lukewarm about both franchises. I know, I know, as an ’80s child (just) I’m supposed to say Star Wars made me the person I am today, but I was always indifferent. But hey, which do you prefer, dear reader?

In other news, can you believe Shatner turned 80 this year? Looking at this video, the dude ages well.

William Shatner: Star Trek Better Than Star Wars [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

In 2009, J.J. Abrams revitalized the Star Trek franchise with the highest grossing Trek movie to date. Star Trek pulled in $257 million in the United States and $385 million worldwide. So why would you change a winning formula?

J.J. Abrams will be returning to direct Star Trek 2. Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock) Karl Urban(Bones), John Cho (Sulu), and Zoe Saldana (Uhura), will all be returning for the sequel as well. And according to Airlockalpha, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who penned the 2009 Star Trek script, will write the latest installment in the sci-fi franchise.

According to Screen Rant, pre-production on the new Star Trek film has already begun. The shooting script is supposed to be ready by the end of the month and Abrams will start principle photography this Winter. A release date hasn’t been made official yet, but most Trekkies are looking toward a 2013 summer release.

Abrams was always expected to return to the director’s chair for the second Star Trek, but the Mission Impossible III director sure made Trekkies nervous by not making anything official until this week.

Now that the director is all set, Star Trek fans can now focus their worry on things like movie plot. Who will be the new villain in “Star Trek 2?” Kurtzman and Orci have said that they won’t remake any of the original Star Trek movies, but that’s about all that is known about the new plot.

Will you see the new “Star Trek?” Will William Shatner make a cameo?

J.J. Abrams to Direct New ‘Star Trek’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Although Netflix hasn’t confirmed the dates yet word has come out that Trekkies will be in their glory starting July 1st as the original Star Trek, in HD, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise will hit Netflix’s Watch Instantly queue.

Then on October 1st we’ll see the addition of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 will be joining its brethren.

However it’snot all good news as this will be happening in the U.S. only. In other words no Star Trek goodness for Canadian members of the video streaming service.

via Engadget

Netflix shows some serious Star Trek love is a post from: The Inquisitr

I personally think that the last Star Trek reboot was a really good movie and well worth being a part of the Star Trek franchise and as we all know there is a sequel in the work but what you may not know is that there is a contest happening that let’s you enter your design for the next Starship Enterprise.

According to a post on Geekosystem the site Star Trek Online has announced the contest that starting December 9th will let you submit your designs for the next Enterprise.

One lucky winner will have their idea made into an actual in-game ship.  What’s most intriguing is the implication that this will make their design canonical.

Cryptic’s announcement states that they are working with CBS to offer the contest, which begs the question: is the new design going to be used in a future Star Trek movie?

Winners will receive a gamut of prizes running from an Alienware laptop to a simple copy of Star Trek Online, kind of making the contest of more interest to non-players than players.

Calling All Star Trek Fans – Your Chance To Design The Next Enterprise is a post from: The Inquisitr

We see all kinds of models of the famous USS Enterprise from Star Trek but I’m betting that not many of you would have considered creating a remote controlled submarine version.

However that is just what the wacky model builders at Yokosuka Dry Docks did and we have video proof of it. I wonder what they could do if they were bored.

via Neatorama

Wow, this is a USS Enterprise I never would have expected is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Most Epic Picture Ever is a post from: The Inquisitr

The hoodie is called “Traditional Greeting” and can be yours for only $40. You can buy the hoodie at Threadless.

Vulcan Hoodie – This Is Pure Genius is a post from: The Inquisitr

Old School Star Trek And Modern Music Mashup is a post from: The Inquisitr

There are a lot of people who draw direct parallels between the mobile phones we use today to the Star Trek communicator. Much the same has happened with the tricorder and certain apps that you can use on things like the iPhone and will probably extend to the new iPad.

Sure there are still a lot of things on shows like Star Trek, and other well known science fiction shows or movies, that are far fetched but it looks like one more of those items might actually becoming a modern medical tool.

Anyone who has watch Star Trek will be familiar with the fancy laser like medical device that was used to magically heal wounds. Well it seems that such a tool might actually be just right around the corner if the post over at the Wired Danger Room blog is any indication.

It seems that because of a DARPA request for proposals regarding instant injury repair using adult stem cells we are hearing about a project from researchers, Irene Kockevar, Robert Redmond, and dermatologist Sandy Tsao, at the Massachusetts General Hospital involving nano-technology and the quick healing of wounds using lasers.

They’ve successfully tried out the nano-sutures in lab experiments and a clinical trial of 31 patients in need of skin incisions.

The process would replace the sutures and staples traditionally used to repair wounded skin. Instead of being sealed up with a needle and thread, a patient’s wound would be coated in a dye, then exposed to green light for 2-3 minutes. The dye absorbs the light and catalyzes molecular bonds between the tissue’s collagen.

The bonds instantly create a seal that’s water-tight, which prevents inflammation or risk of infection, and speeds up the formation of scar tissue.

“It’s so simple, but such an improvement on current processes, and that’s what’s really remarkable,” Kochevar told Danger Room of the process, which uses a hand-held laser device that’s about a foot long and a few inches wide.

Penetrating eye wounds, like shrapnel injuries, could also benefit from a patch version of the treatment. A biological membrane stained with dye would be applied over the eye, and quickly sealed using the laser until a war-fighter could undergo more intensive surgery.

“We’re so close to these processes being used,” Kochevar said. “But FDA approval is still a real hurdle.”

Source: Wired: Danger Room

Beyond superficial wound healing the team is also looking for additional funding to expand the research to cover more invasive types of wounds and surgeries.

Once more science fiction comes to life in medicine is a post from: The Inquisitr

Take the video from the new JJ Abrams Star Trek and throw in the soundtrack from the original A-Team television show and you have what has to be one of the best mash-ups around – well at least for the next week or so.

hat tip to My Modern Metropolois

A-Team Star Trek mash-up – all kinds of awesomeness is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’m all for finding new delivery methods for multimedia, but seriously? A 4GB Starfleet insignia USB Drive? It’s one of the strangest, yet oddly “geek sheik” ways I’ve seen for delivering a DVD to the masses.

The USB drives are individually numbered which should send thousands of Trekkers on a scavenger hunt for the USB Drive numbered “one.”

The drives are DRM protected, however it can run on up to 5 registered devices and users can burn the movie to a DVD for more practical playback.

The special edition releases are $29 each, of course that price can’t replace the bragging rights Trekkers will have over their “friends” in their mom’s basement. [Gizmodo]

New Star Trek Movie Gets Really Geeky USB Solution is a post from: The Inquisitr

To apply for the Star Trek Online Beta register and fill out a short survey. The lucky participants will be randomly drawn and can join the Star Trek Online Closed Beta at the end of the year.

I’m not sure if this will be as big as Star Wars The Old Republic, but it deserves a chance.

Star Trek Online now taking closed beta applications is a post from: The Inquisitr

Female Trekkie: she’s the one at the convention who has had sex.

Female Trekkie is a post from: The Inquisitr

Almost a month before Wolverine hit the movie theaters a workprint copy of the movie was “leaked” onto the Web. It was a copy that was half finished as far as the special effects were concerned with green screens and wire framed character models visible for all the world to see. The great fight scene at the top of the nuclear reactor was more stickman like drawing that anything to do with the actors. In the end it was an incomplete movie that really only left the majority of those that watched it wanting to see the real thing.

In contrast Star Trek made it to the theater without a hitch and not a single “leak” to be found on the web. There were no FBI agents busting down doors and seizing servers or freelance reviewers losing their jobs because they reviewed something that they shouldn’t have. Everything was above board and unlike Wolverine the Star Trek movie became the darling of the weekend critics; which will last until the next great movie hits.

On one hand you have a great action movie without any pretentions of greatness getting panned and making movie executives fall all over themselves crying about how piracy was going to ruin the movie. On the other side of the coin you have a movie that made it to the theater with movie executives pleased as punch that they had kept those nasty criminal pirates from ruining yet another movie.

As we make our way through the weeks following the big weekend releases of both movies we have some serious dollar figures that obviously will show that those terrible pirate must have ruin the success of Wolverine while letting Star Trek surge ahead. There is only one problem with that assumption – it’s full of crap.

On opening weekend box office dollar figures we have  the following:

• Wolverine earned more than $85 million
• Star Trek netted $75 million

So there you have it folks. The movie that caused the most uproar over piracy in recent time actually earned more money than the other hot movie that garnered critic praise and not a peep about piracy. In the process an ISP data host lost millions of dollars and had their reputation severely impacted. As well a long time FOX freelance movie reviewer has lost his livelihood. All because of the pirating of an incomplete film that ended up earning more money on opening weekend box office that the golden boy movie.

Someone care to tell me exactly how piracy is hurting the movie industry?

Wolverine, Star Trek and how piracy destroyed them both is a post from: The Inquisitr

Star Trek was the #1 movie at the box office, earning $76.5 million in its opening weekend.

Paramount Pictures estimated the Star Trek movie would make about $50 million for the weekend, but strong reviews and online buzz helped carry it past the estimates by more than 50%. The latest in the Star Trek movie franchise made $72.5 million from Friday to Sunday, plus $4 million in pre-midnight screenings Thursday, Paramount said Saturday, including a record $8.2 million in IMAX showings.

Star Trek hit the mark with moviegoers by appealing to younger viewers who may not have been familiar with the original 1960′s TV series in that there was lots of background material on the characters, yet veteran Trekkies were impressed by how much of the essence of the series was included. People liked it so much that it recieved 96 percent positive reviews on the critical Rotten Tomatoes Web site.

Star Trek Movie Tops Box Office

With Star Trek in the lead, here are the top 10 movies at the box office this weekend:

1. Star Trek – $76.5 million

2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – $27 million

3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past – $10.45 million

4. Obsessed – $6.6 million

5. 17 Again – $4.4 million

6. Next Day Air – $4 million

7. The Soloist – $3.6 million

8. Monsters vs. Aliens – $3.4 million

9. Earth – $2.5 million

10. Hannah Montana: The Movie – $2.4 million

You can see our review of the Star Trek movie here and more Star Trek info here.

Star Trek Tops Box Office with $76.5M Opening Weekend is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’m sorry to say, that one night of sleep didn’t change that at all. With a 96% review at Rotten Tomatoes and 8.4 on IMDB I’m confident it will make about $92 million at the box office this weekend.

“Set your phasers to stunning.”

The awesomsauce: You don’t have to be a Trekkie to watch this movie. You don’t need to know anything about the Star Trek universe, characters or technology. You’ll miss some references (I noticed a few lines from “Wrath of Khan”) and some Kirk-Spock moments, but that’s details. The story is great, the jokes hilarious and the special effects are very well made without been too unreal.

The actors are spot on. Especially Zachary Quinto (who probably is used to playing emotionless on Heroes) nails Spock. You don’t see Sylar (bad guy from TV-series Heroes), you see Spock in him. Chris Pine makes a great James T. Kirk. In a few scenes you can actually see him make some of the classic Kirk faces and movements. I think he has spent many hours watching William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk. The same goes for Karl Urban. His Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is simply brilliant. I can see DeForest Kelley’s Bones immediately and of course you get a “Dammit I’m a doctor not a *something*”-line.

JJ Abrams succesfully reboots the Star Trek franchise!

The less good: I’m not going to waste many letters on this. If you are a hardcore Trekkie I’m sure you don’t like the engine room of the USS Enterprise. The warp drive looks like something from gas/hydro plant, but c’mon that doesn’t change the awesomeness of this movie. I did miss one thing. The classic Star Trek theme. When you see the Star Trek logo/badge you always expect it, but soundtrack composer Michael Giacchino has a surprise up his sleeve. You can actually recognize a few classic notes from time to time. (and yes the classic theme can be heard later on in the movie)

To sum up: This movie brought several tears of coolness I’ve only experienced a few times before (as Superman rescued Lois Lane in the plane, so good to hear  the Superman theme again or when I heard the Indy theme in Indy 4). Go this the Star Trek movie and you’ll feel just like me – JJ Abrams; we want to see this crew’s next space adventure ASAP!

I give it 10 out of 10, just because I’m still thinking of this movie.

*UPDATE* Star Trek made $72.5 million in North American ticket sales in its first weekend. Not enough to beat Wolverine’s $85 million record last weekend, but I doubt Star Trek will drop 68% next weekend as Wolverine did this weekend.

Star Trek review – No spoilers is a post from: The Inquisitr

There are all kinds of people who would consider themselves to be die-hard fans of everything Star Trek, even though others might have different words used to describe them. They go to all the Star Trek conferences decked out in their best Star Trek clothes. They can probably recite every line from every show. They will get into heated battles over which was the best series and just how much of an idiot Shatner is and Picard is the best USS Enterprise captain bar none.

However they all pale in comparison to Tony Alleyne. Not happy with just wearing the best Star Trek costume around he also has turned his apartment in Hinckley, Leicestershire England into the coolest homage to Star Trek. As you can see from the photo above and the ones below he hasn’t missed a trick.

[hat tip to My Modern Metropolis]

This is what you call a serious Star Trek addiction is a post from: The Inquisitr