Thursday 27 November 2014

Underwater City???

I just found this article that basically explains how a futuristic underwater city is already in the works.

The entry made by Ifuckinglovescience is called: Plans for a futuristic Atlantis-style underwater city unveiled.

Supposedly a company in Japan thinks that it will take 15 years for the resources they need to be readily available, and will take 5 years to build. With the growing population on land, they believe this will alleviate the problem (because we still need land resources, and because some places are uninhabitable).

I love this idea.... but at the same time i don't love this idea. :| CONFLICTED! While i would give to live under the sea, i have a few major concerns.

Pros:
- It's reverse Sea World. I'm willing to live in an air tank surrounded by fish. instead of going to a sea park, I'd theoretically be living with sea life and enjoying them in their natural habitat!
- Life long dream of mine to live under the sea *o*
- technically you wouldn't be stopping or solving population growth, but instead of moving people to another planet and destroying that one, we can stay here... and supposedly it's "GREEN." green energy? :o for reals? no coal or gas or oil?
"The idea is to be as green as possible, so the scientists envisage using microbes called methanogens to convert CO2 captured from the surface into methane, which will serve as a major source of power. A string of generators on the spiral will also create energy using differences in seawater temperatures, a process known as ocean thermal energy conversion. The city will also be equipped with fish farms for food and a desalination plant for drinking water."
- they also have farms for food and highspeed internet.
you can view more on the official Shimizu corp website.



BLUE GARDEN Grand EntranceBLUE GARDEN Atrium
BLUE GARDEN deep sea promenadeBLUE GARDEN Central Plaza



Cons:
- i'm seriously doubting how "green" it's really supposed to be. are we destroying life on the sea floor for this? judging from the below diagram, how will this be built without putting debris in the ocean? WHERE in the ocean will this be built?

Construction process

- what if everyone dies if this structure collapses? how far are we from the nearest land?
- this is freaking expensive... how are you obtaining your resources?
"...it won’t come cheap, and has a hefty price tag of three trillion yen ($25 billion), which Shimizu hopes to bring in from the government and private industry."
Where are you getting this money from? how is the japanese government obtaining this money? (hopefully not from the taiji dolphin hunts and the dolphin trades...)
- what fish farms? at the rate we're consuming seafood, won't they be extinct in the next few years? is it sustainable?
- there's a bunch of ways to solve overpopulation. for example, 19 kids and counting anyone? is that necessary? one or two children are ok, but stop giving unnecessary births, we don't need any more humans on the planet :|
- what are you going to do about natural disasters like tectonic plates shifting and earthquakes? what about underwater volcanoes?
- where will our human waste go? how will you manage our waste?


There's a load of things to consider. Super excited but also super terrified at the same time.

Monday 3 November 2014

The Gods of Atlantis

I bought this book over 3 years ago but i never got around to it until recently. I've already made it to the half way mark, and it's been pretty slow. but as it progresses you learn about the different theories about the creation myths and flood myths. It also involves the Nazi regime and the swastika as part of the sub plot.

Basically a marine archaeologist discovers Atlantis and he gets caught up i a fight for power with the chinese and german mafia bosses.

I'm a little intrigued so far because i have always believed that all the myths and stories were in one way or another came from the same source. for example in all creation myths, there's always mention of the great flood, and the only flood we know about that nearly wiped out humans was Atlantis. Since this book was a work of fiction, they decided to combine the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Holy Bible into one: they made Noah an old world shaman who practiced animal and human blood sacrifice and his shaman name was Utanapishtim. (Both Noah and Uta napishtim created large ships and housed animals to prepare for the great flood). They made his brother Enlil (shaman name Gilgamesh) a "new world priest" and he and his followers became "Human Gods" to be worshipped.

Mind was blown. I ca't give too much away, but if you like the muddling of myths, fictional history, and action, i suggest you pick up this novel and read it.