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And Future Technological Innovation |
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Space
Exploration and Settlement
Exploration and settlement of
the solar system and other star systems in the galaxy is
important
for the human race for the following reasons. Many new
opportunities
and
benefits would be gained such as new travel experiences; new places to
live; enhanced
scientific knowledge; and almost unlimited resources and wealth. No one
would
be poor if the wealth was distributed equitably. Earth's life would
also spread throughout
the galaxy, and new places to protect earth's species
and natural environments would be found. People might also come in
contact alien life
forms during their travels.
Mars should be explored
and settled first. The moon is closer, but mars has the most earth
like surface and atmosphere
and is probably the easiest planet
to terraform. Exploring and settling mars will get us out there. It
will give us the incentive and technology to explore and settle
the rest of the solar system and eventually the other star systems.
The
moon could be used as a launch pad to get us to mars. In time, the
moon could be terraformed into an earth like world also. Making the
moon habitable with oceans and a breathable atmosphere would be
difficult because water and atmospheric gases are rare on the moon.
We would most likely get water and gases from the comets in the outer
rim of the solar system. We would need to use ultra strong
transparent tent(s) on the moon's surface to contain the lunar
atmosphere because the moon's low gravity is not strong enough to
keep it from drifting away. In time we may use one large tent to
enclose all of the lunar atmosphere.
Settlers
would travel to new solar systems in rotating wheel or cylinder
shaped space ships that use ion drives for acceleration. The space
ships would be seed ships that contain large samples of earth's
biodiversity for terraforming new worlds. The centrifugal forces
from
the rotations would produce artificial gravities that reduce the harmful effects
of weightlessness.
Ion drives would accelerate the
ships towards the speed of light with large amounts of energy
supplied by matter/antimatter reactions. The large relativistic
effects near light speed would shorten the settlers’ travel
times
and distances. The settlers would be able to reach new star systems
within their lifetimes.
After
the settlers arrive at their new homes, they would use the star
systems' resources to build more ships and/or pressurized atmospheric
tent settlements on the planets, moons, and other orbiting bodies.
The settlers would live in the ships and settlements temporarily
until they terraform one or more of the system's planets and/or
moons, or they would live in them permanently. They would also use
the ships to explore and settle other star systems. Even if they find
alien life forms occupying star systems that they wish to colonize,
they
could move elsewhere to any of the many unoccupied star systems in the
galaxy.
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Airships:
New Blimps, Dirigibles and Hybrids
It
is
back to the future
with airships. Airships are on the cusp of returning to our skies.
Soon we could see airship cruise liners sailing over the Amazon rain
forest, Sahara desert, Siberia's boreal forest, Canada's boreal
forest, the polar regions, and many other places. Industry could also
use airships to move heavy materials where roads are not practical.
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Energy
Technology
New
green energy technology
would enable us to use solar, wind, and hydrogen energy more
efficiently, economically and environmentally than petroleum.
Solar energy could also be microwaved from solar space platforms to
locations on earth. Nuclear fusion if it is ever developed, would
generate energy with much less radiation production than nuclear
fission. Green
energy would replace our rapidly dwindling petroleum
resources. The exploration, development and use of gas and oil is a
major cause of atmospheric greenhouse warming and environmental
damage to our ecosystems and wilderness areas.
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Anti-Ageing Medical Advances
Medical
technology is moving
forward in anti-ageing research. Old cells can be turned into young
stem cells with the potential to reverse ageing. Stem cells can
also be turned into different kinds of cells and tissues that can
replace old or damaged ones. Before anti-ageing technology can be
effective, there must be better control over stem cells tendency
to become cancerous.
The
relationship between
diet and ageing is another key element of anti-ageing research. When
a healthy low calorie diet was tested on a number of animal species,
their diseases decreased and life spans increased. Finding the causal
relationship between anti-ageing and low calorie consumption may
provide a way to increase health and lifespan without the necessity
of dieting.
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Computers
and Robotics
Quantum computers may
soon
be available. They will be much faster than current computers because
they can do all computations simultaneously. Simultaneous computations
are possible
because the computers create simultaneous
superpositions of all possible solutions or states for all
computations. Current digital computers can only do one computation
at a time.
Robots
are becoming an
integral part of our lives. Robots are being used more often in
communication, industry, medicine, transportation, and space
exploration. The Japanese are building robots that are capable of
walking like people. NASA is exploring the surface of mars with
wheeled mars rovers. They were inspired by the Russian Lunokhod Lunar
exploration program that put wheeled robots on the moon in 1970 and
1973.
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Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
is
starting
to produce very small submicroscopic and molecular sized machines,
components and structural materials. Improved computer chips and
nanotubes are two products of this technology.
Nanoparticles are being developed that can clean up contaminated
water and soil; form
coatings on walls and windows that automatically clean themselves;
and form solar cell coatings that can be painted on to almost any
structure.
Nanoparticles can
also diagnose multiple diseases; locate cancer cells; and deliver
large
amounts of chemotherapy chemicals directly to those cells while
avoiding healthy tissues. This improves the cancer patient's chances
of recovery and significantly reduces the chemotherapy side affects.
Medical nanomachine symbiotes could eventually be inserted into our
bodies to prevent disease and increase longevity.
Carbon fibre nanotubes
are being developed that may eventually be as strong
and hard as diamond but still retain the flexibility of fibre. These
fibres would be stronger but lighter than steel. Nanotube cables
would be strong enough to suspend future space elevators over the
earth and other planets. Automobiles built out of nanocarbon diamond
sheets would be exceptionally strong and weigh very little.
Nanotechnology may someday produce industrial components and complete
machines that are built by nanomachine seeds that self assemble in
vats of dissolved raw materials.
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Links to
dinosaur garden plants, basic construction and carpentry techniques and
peace river farmland and boreal forest.
Copyright
© Ronald Hunter, 2005 to 2011. All rights reserved.
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