Tuesday, May 27, 2014

First Contact: Aliens and Humans Meet for the First Time


One of the most popular topics of sci-fi, first contact has 'happened' in so many ways that it's scary to think about. It is normally a massive spaceship that arrives above Earth, and we puny humans find out that there's an alien race out there that is super highly advanced and has been traveling the universe for thousands of years, and the race itself is actually millions of years old. But what most sci-fi authors and directors don't take into consideration is the thought that we humans might be the ones who find another alien civilization that's less advanced than us. Oh humans, in your ever 'smart' ways. But maybe, we'll be traveling in space and come across an alien search party doing the exact same thing as us. Highly unlikely, but you never know.



In many movies, there are massive agencies completely devoted to alien contact, and keeping aliens from interfering with most innocent, mindless humans. Some examples of this are: the Men in Black, Torchwood, and the famed Area 51, which is a real compound in Nevada, but no one really knows what goes on there. Some people believe some things. I guess that I'll let them.



How first contact might happen is unknown. It's been guessed, theorized, and imagined by thousands of people. I like to think that it's peaceful, possibly when it happens we will have already made contact with the aliens and they send a peace party and we begin teaching them things, they begin teaching us things. The theories and ideas get more and more outrageous as more and more information and stories are fed into the imagination. But who knows, maybe one or two of them will be confirmed. I guess we'll find out one day.



We may or may not have first contact when it's all over. And we may or may not be obliterated, or raided, or some disease unleashed among us. If we survive first contact, then the bounds of the human mind and ideas will be expanded almost exponentially. And we will be exposed to a universe that is like no other, shown the track of space and time. It will be the most important event in human history. In the end, first contact will be a crucial part of the human race and its history, although there may not be a first contact ever. I guess that we'll theorize and guess about it forever. Thanks, Aidan.

Friday, May 2, 2014

The Buildings of the Future

Most people assume that the future will be filled with 500-story skyscrapers decked in white metal curved beams and gigantic glass banks that make up the massive walls. However fantastical this may seem, information and technology are saying that some of those stereotypes and dreams just might be possible. I'm not gonna give any of those fairly random predictions on when this might happen, but there is considerable evidence to prove that it's possible. Other things might be possible, as well. I, for one, love architecture, so studying this has been fascinating, fun, and satisfying for me. Strangely, I really almost no longer have the aspiration, but at one point in my life I wanted to be architect. Because of this, I am naturally fascinated by designs and ideas of buildings that might be possible in both the near and distant future. There are theories, designs, and ideas for gardens, space stations, ecosystems in space, spaceships, skyscrapers, factories, hospitals, houses, honestly, there isn't space here to fit it all. Many of the designs are eco-friendly, made for efficiency, and are beautiful, sometimes almost positively sparkling.



An idea that I have thought of are buildings separated into certain zones, much like the zoning in existence today. There could be industrial, residential, and commercial zones, all in one building! In the future, more zone types might be possible, or maybe even zones could coexist. Perhaps commercial in the bottom of the building, so as to be readily accessible from the street without the constant hum of elevators or other inter-level transportation through the residential levels, which would be next so as to have a peaceful environment in the middle of chaos, then industrial near the top to be nearest the transportation which would be at the top of the tower, along with government. This would be to allow non-used materials to be shipped away to other factories and production places that would use the materials, and allow workers, or possibly just maintenance and management to pass through easily and without bugging the residential levels again, which would be below the industrial levels. Agricultural might be there too, to provide farms and gardens with easy access to much needed supplies, and minimize the need for a larger area that would provide cargo transportation. And perhaps you could drag in a research zone here, maybe slide in a recreational zone there. And it would be smart to plop some security levels down every once in a while. You might as well add a military center, while you're at it. In the end, you could have a fully and independently functioning society in one skyscraper, albeit it massive.



But there could also be cities neatly and perfectly organized in massive zones. A city lined in perfectly square blocks. Zones in nine-to-sixteen-block sections. Buildings would be set up right next to each other looking very similar to each other and serving similar purposes to each other, all in their appropriate zones. It would be one of my dreams, seeing as how I have OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. It makes me want to put everything into a symmetrical and neat order and guard it jealously. Don't get me wrong, I like originality. But sometimes... Another idea is the crater-scrapers, an idea that in a catastrophe such as an asteroid impact, we would fill the craters with skyscrapers. That and other ideas promote eco-friendly and efficient buildings with inexpensive but durable and smart construction. But that's for another day, a future day. Thanks, Aidan.