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Google Doodle pays homage to 'Star Trek'

By Nancy Blair, USA TODAY
Updated

The Google homepage is paying homage to iconic sci-fi series Star Trek today with an interactive doodle in honor of the 46th anniversary of the first episode of the show.

You'll find the letters in the ordinarily spare Google logo all tricked out as Trekkie characters. With just a pair of ears, Google's "G" becomes Spock. And oh, is that Kirk's distinctive haircut on that "o"?

You can head over to Google now to check it out. It's an interactive story with a few different scenes. You can click around for little facets of the show that are fan favorites.

The doodle is actually live a little early — the 46th anniversary is on Saturday. Since the doodle starts appearing in other parts of the world before it does in the U.S. (as the calendar turns) Google decided to give folks in the U.S. the chance to play with it on Friday.

Star Trek seemed like a perfect fit for a doodle, says Ryan Germick, Google's chief doodler. "It has something iconic culturally, it's smart, it's fun and it had a progressive message with all of its diversity. And it is a wonderland for nerder-y and geekdom, which is something we revel in at Google."

The doodle team worked with CBS in order to incorporate some of the original sound effects from the show. The storyline is meant to evoke a specific episode, though Google engineer Doug Simpkinson is quick to note that "of course, we are not 100% faithful to the plot."

Readers, beam yourselves up and check it out.

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