Azura Ice here reporting from the cockpit of my ship [No, I
don’t know what kind of a ship. It’s a sleek model with heated seats]. Radar,
my feline companion, rides on the back of my command chair, but he’s a bit
miffed at me right now. I forgot to put the shields up, so when a meteorite whizzed by,
he sort of...well...got his fur singed. He looks ridiculous with a char-coaled tail, but don’t tell him I said that. I’ll deny it.
Anyway, let's take a ride through space and chat.
[Glides in to Elatia's nearby space station and waits for D.L. Jackson
and Jessica E. Subject to board.]
Once we’re on our way, I broach the subject of sci-fi.
Science-fiction is, after all, based on science. However,
without imagination, there is no new science. Many tools and ideas
written in sci-fi years ago have come to pass. Take Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon published in 1865. It was
considered pure imagination, but 1969, a 104 years after the book was
published, man actually landed on the moon. Consider today’s weaponry
ranging from the splitting of the atom to sound and laser technology.
BOOM! Sizzle...poof! [Anyone know where I put the robotic broom?
There’s moon dust in the cockpit and ashes in the mess hall.]
As sci-fi authors, the very hint of conspiracy opens dozens
of doors we can step through with our plots. Then, if you add incredible
technology, you have a recipe for new inventions, new medicine and even new
weapons and doorways to alternate dimensions. What, in your opinions, is the
next thing in science-fiction to burst into reality or do you believe our
governments withhold new technology from us?
DL Jackson: Bionics. Actually the science has already
started to emerge. What's really neat is that scientists and doctors have
designed the prosthetic limbs to function based on the electrical impulses that
travel down nerves. The phantom limb syndrome that you often hear amputees talk
about is actually the disconnected nerves still getting signals from the brain.
Scientists apply pads that sense these electrical impulses from the brain and a
mini-computer inside the artificial limb takes that data and converts the
signal to motion. So the wearer of the bionic limb thinks and the electrical
impulse travels down the nerve all the way to where it is severed and then
viola, it is carried the rest of the way by technology. What happens if they build
a full body suit with built-in sensors. Would those with spinal injuries be
able to walk again, using the same technology? I know the blind are able to see
with it, the deaf can hear, and fingers open and close, wrists turn all by natural
thought.
Here's a fascinating article in National Geographic about this very
subject.http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/fischman-text/2
I actually have a heroine with a spinal injury in one of my
stories that uses such a suit. I think the next decade will have some amazing advances in
medical science.
Wow, D.L.! Bionics certainly
tantalizes the mind with possibilities, doesn’t it? I wonder if this particular
science will one day lead the way to cyborgs as they’re known in
science-fiction. However, placing a human mind in a synthetic body could also
create chaos in religious worlds. Would it be ethical? What lengths would some
people go to in order to live longer or even forever?
So, Jessica...what’s you’re
viewpoint on conspiracy and sci-fi technology?
Jessica E
Subject: I've believed for a long time that the government withholds information and new technologies from the people. Why? To prevent pandemonium and for our own safety.
As for headlines in the scientific community that are of interest to me right now, well, the whole idea of dark energy and dark matter is truly fascinating. And right now, labs all over the world are trying to figure out what dark energy is and prove whether or not dark matter exists. Two years ago when visiting Science North with my family, I watched a film at the Between the Stars Object Theatre about what the universe is made of. Scientists have only been able to measure 5% of the universe, and as it continues to expand at an increasing rate, they are starting to question their theories based on the information they know, including as Einstein’s Theory of Gravity.
And the empty space in outer space is no longer considered empty, consisting of dark energy and dark matter. But what is this stuff? Scientists have many hypotheses, and I wait anxiously to find out more about all the unknowns of space.
Here is a cool link:
http://www.sciencenorth.ca/science-north/exhibits/index.aspx?coll_id=9
Dark matter is something that has always frightened me. I
can only imagine what people are dabbling in it who should be behind bars. And
even those with good intentions often go astray and use something for their own
benefit. Science, even in science fiction, is a power of epic proportions.
Although science opens doors in a writer’s mind, what about the cold, hard
facts and know-how landing in the wrong hands? Scary stuff.
Thanks for taking a ride through the galaxy to chat with me,
ladies.
Well, dear readers, weigh in with your thoughts on today’s
topic!
