Almost fifty years after Captain Kirk first took the U.S.S. Enterprise on a voyage to explore strange new worlds, the Star Trek universe is more expansive than ever. It's been the subject of serious study by political scientists, sociologists, even religion researchers — a sign of how deeply influential the show and its ideas have become. Star Trek posits a world in which hunger, war and poverty have been eliminated — a utopia that isn't just free from want, but also free from capitalism and even currency.