Can Matter Be Converted to Energy Without Extreme Heat?

[Whitestar]

In the excellent book entitled, “The Physics of Star Trek” by Lawerence Krauss, states that in order to convert matter into energy, one must heat it up to 1000 billion degrees!


1) If we were to accept the premise of the show, would heating the crew members up to 1000 billion degrees be necessary in order to convert them into energy?


2) Is there another way to theorically convert matter into energy without heating it up to such high temperatures?

 

[mathman]

Nuclear reactors (fission now and fusion in the future?) convert matter into energy. Matter-antimatter reaction (used in Star Trek) converts 100% of matter into energy.

Fusion powers the sun and its interior temperature is in the millions, not billions.