The science behind it
I had the most delightful opportunity to talk to a book discussion group in Denver. The women asked astute questions that allowed me to describe the interface between present scientific inquiry and my fictional universe in 2088.
The first question was about the extenders, introduced in an intimate evening between Trev and Avery. The extender will come out of the research helping victims of spinal injuries. THe device that interfaces between brain and nerves/muscles will eventually give us a completely operational dildo-one with full sensation.
We also talked a bit about hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, a process of infusing chemicals and water into porous land in order to release and capture natural gas. The problems derive from both the chemicals and the displacement of the gas. Earthquakes and landslides may be a desvastating consequence of fracking, but the long-range effect of the chemicals is absolutely deadly. Poisoning the water supply, the vegetation, the stock animals that eat the vegetation and the humans that eat the vegetation and animals will turn great swaths of previously arable land into a wasteland. It is not over-reaching to imagine that countries that poison their own land will become dependent on other countries for water and produce. The water and food producing countries will be able to price their products at will because the other countries don't have the luxury of foregoing potable water and edible food.
The capacity to grow many select cuts of meat from a small biopsy of a living cow, chicken, pig or lamb is fairly likely in the coming century. A segment of NPR discussed present work at growing hamburger in a hydroponic-like medium.
Closely related to the food application is the medical one. Within this centural I believe we will be able to grow additional hearts, livers, kidneys, etc. from stem cells with the right messenger-RNA.
Travel at light speed? Maybe not, but propulsion capable of approaching the speed of light will allow us to look at planets. The closest plant identified thus far is about 10.5 light years from Earth. It's plausible that a habitable one may lie withint 120 light years of Earth.
Brain implants to help us with foreign languages are probably within the future I will live to see. We study language acquisition related to cognitive development of children and cognitive loss related to strokes. I believe implants will help us bridge gaps so that language acquisition occurs more quickly with the help of an implant.
And finally longevity: as we learn more about what depletes and diminishes in the aging of a cell,organ, or organism, we will be more able to subvert those effects. It seems very likely that medical research will extend human life by a hefty factor during the coming decades.
Thank you, Denver readers, for the opportunity to discuss the science behind the fiction. I deeply appreciated your encouragement and support as I begin Chapter 12 in the second novel of the Tierra del Fuego, Colony Ship series.
The first question was about the extenders, introduced in an intimate evening between Trev and Avery. The extender will come out of the research helping victims of spinal injuries. THe device that interfaces between brain and nerves/muscles will eventually give us a completely operational dildo-one with full sensation.
We also talked a bit about hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, a process of infusing chemicals and water into porous land in order to release and capture natural gas. The problems derive from both the chemicals and the displacement of the gas. Earthquakes and landslides may be a desvastating consequence of fracking, but the long-range effect of the chemicals is absolutely deadly. Poisoning the water supply, the vegetation, the stock animals that eat the vegetation and the humans that eat the vegetation and animals will turn great swaths of previously arable land into a wasteland. It is not over-reaching to imagine that countries that poison their own land will become dependent on other countries for water and produce. The water and food producing countries will be able to price their products at will because the other countries don't have the luxury of foregoing potable water and edible food.
The capacity to grow many select cuts of meat from a small biopsy of a living cow, chicken, pig or lamb is fairly likely in the coming century. A segment of NPR discussed present work at growing hamburger in a hydroponic-like medium.
Closely related to the food application is the medical one. Within this centural I believe we will be able to grow additional hearts, livers, kidneys, etc. from stem cells with the right messenger-RNA.
Travel at light speed? Maybe not, but propulsion capable of approaching the speed of light will allow us to look at planets. The closest plant identified thus far is about 10.5 light years from Earth. It's plausible that a habitable one may lie withint 120 light years of Earth.
Brain implants to help us with foreign languages are probably within the future I will live to see. We study language acquisition related to cognitive development of children and cognitive loss related to strokes. I believe implants will help us bridge gaps so that language acquisition occurs more quickly with the help of an implant.
And finally longevity: as we learn more about what depletes and diminishes in the aging of a cell,organ, or organism, we will be more able to subvert those effects. It seems very likely that medical research will extend human life by a hefty factor during the coming decades.
Thank you, Denver readers, for the opportunity to discuss the science behind the fiction. I deeply appreciated your encouragement and support as I begin Chapter 12 in the second novel of the Tierra del Fuego, Colony Ship series.
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