Science Fiction Novels Source of Inspiration

 
Science Fiction Novels Source of Inspiration!

It has not rained for many years now, the land appears parched, air moves with a spell of desolation and sorrowfulness, and it paces forward as mini whirlwinds hurtling sand particles at everything that poses itself as an obstruction. The sun has turned hotter by a few degrees and its rays hardly touch the surface of the land, where we live, because of this thick veil of air laden with sand granules, and always rushing to and fro. As if it were a frantic beast marking its territory of nothingness, barrenness and lifelessness! 

This is my world, our world, and welcome to 2075! 

Where everything is the same, yet nothing feels the same because when you observe closely, actually nothing is the way it used to be: the sun has become hotter by few degrees, the size of leaves has reduced, there is scanty rainfall, deserts are claiming more territory every year, and lake Victoria along with other water bodies have dried up completely. 

It is the same Earth trying to cope with a completely different ecosystem that has made survival impossible for many lifeforms. Including the most intelligent of them all. The Humans.

Although, the species with average intelligence have had no role to play in leading the Earth to its brink of destruction, yet they suffer due to absolute negligence on part of the species placed as the protectors of this planet, and safeguard interests of everyone designed by the universe to live and share this planet with us. 

Unfortunately, everything appears to have gone awry and human callousness has led the planet Earth to its dying stage. Where neither humans nor less intelligent species can survive anymore. With every passing day, the planet that is dying, is attesting their fate, where as of now there is only one certainty, complete termination.

However, there is still hope. In spite of the fact that it has not rained for many years now, the landscape is totally barren. Yet, there are few people who see hope, and the hope has emerged from scientific observation of the existing ecosystem and few adaptations developed by many other species to cope with the rising temperatures and lack of water.

It sounds like science fiction, only that this time everything is real, the planet is our own Earth and the species at the verge of being wiped out completely, is not an alien species from some unknown planet. But it is us, the humans, who will lose everything if they do not act now and work towards reviving the lost forests and adopt advanced technology to reverse the negative effects of their reckless, and for many tangible reasons, purposeless development.

It is our reality, and not a vision of the future narrated in a science fiction novel. The fears are real, the threat posed to our own survival is real, climate change is real, global warming is real, and that is why many in the human community believe it is time to get real and tackle the problem head on, before it is too late.

And taking an inventive approach to solve this problem with the mindset of science fiction heroes, who always address the core problem with a scientific mindset and an attitude that is unafraid. Only then we can hope to breathe in the air of Earth, where everything is just like before and in perfect balance.

On the north end of the pole, there is a community of men and women working tirelessly to restore the lost ecosystem of planet Earth. This area still has some water but the area of dry land has shrunk dramatically due to rising water levels caused by the excessive melting of glaciers. 

Whereas it is a complete contrast in the equatorial regions where the heat of the sun continues to break every previous year’s record, the crops are failing, almost all fresh water bodies have dried up, there is scarcity of every resource necessary to sustain life, and to make things worse, oxygen concentration in the air has reduced and many humans along with many other species are finding it difficult to cope with these climatic changes.

In the midst of this chaos and hopelessness, few brave scientists and people willing to contribute something to the good change, have made few observations which they feel could help with the revival of Earth’s lost ecosystem, that possibly could sustain life again. 

These ideas are bold in the sense that they take scientific thinking to the next level, establishing our faith in indigenous human thinking that is only scared of one thing, inaction. And Saabir, who is a climate change enthusiast, proposes a few bold ideas to his community.

Amazon Forest. It is not science fiction, trust me, it is pure science.

According to Saabir and his team, there are many trees and plants in Amazonian forests ( whatever is left of the forest in 2075 ) that have developed broader and thicker leaves. Due to this adaptation they are able to produce 10 times more oxygen than other plants. And, in 2075, compared to other regions, Amazon forest receives better rainfall.

Saabir’s suggestion is to genetically engineer these plants, so that they can survive in desert-like conditions, where it is very hot with almost no annual rainfall. Once this genetic advantage has been achieved, it would make sense developing mini forests in these desert areas with primary forms of vegetation comprising these plants and trees. It might take time for these mini forests to flourish as independent biomes, but it will be an investment towards the future that will bear greater dividends for all life forms.

Cactus the new hope.

Saabir and his team have genetically modified a few cacti and introduced tomato genes in them, although it is still being experimented in their lab. The cacti taste exactly like tomatoes, with nutritive value more than that of tomatoes; and with some added minerals they are the new super food in making. They plan to cultivate tomatoes in the desert, with no need for water to keep them irrigated.

List of edible cacti

Sea food.

The seas and oceans have not dried up completely but there certainly is a pressure of global warming building on them as well. To overcome this problem, Saabir and his team have modified phytoplankton, capable of producing ten times more oxygen. And they have also increased their reproduction rate which has successfully contributed to increasing levels of oxygen.

They have also secured certain zones in these water bodies, where they harvest sea food e.g. fish, sea algae etc. And seafood comes with an advantage that they do not need to be irrigated by fresh water.

In areas where there are large deposits of algae and sea weed, they have developed dried algae and sea weed farms, where they stack layers of algae and sea weed , until it starts floating. Then they add some soil and it becomes an ideal farmland for growing vegetables that grow well in salt water e.g. broccoli, red onions, carrots etc. etc.

They appear to have somehow learnt about this technique from a place in India,  ( Kashmir ) where few farmers have mastered the art of developing floating vegetable gardens in lakes. An ideal way of vegetable farming that curtails the need for excessive use of water for irrigating the vegetables.

Vegetable gardens in the famous Dal Lake of Kashmir

Desert is the new green revolution!

Dates, for long, have been considered super food by the ancient tribes in the Arabian peninsula. It contains high concentrations of the safest form of sugar along with rich minerals and nutrients. Saabir and his team have cross bred different varieties of dates, to produce dates that have higher yield with larger concentrations of minerals that are essential for the proper functioning of the human body.

They have prepared a secret syrup shot, developed from extracting liquid date concentrate with  coffee flavour, mixed with a balanced amount of cashew milk. This drink is thought to revolutionise the energy drink concept due to its endless benefits and 100% organic processing cycle. Saabir and his team are still working on its taste and other enhancements.

The ship of the desert is the new ship of hope!

With growing heat and dwindling annual rainfall, maintaining livestock that puts direct pressure on vegetation and water, it was quite innovative on part of Saabir and his team to introduce their community to camel milk cheese , camel milk and camel meat that is considered to be the leanest and healthiest of all meats. Moreover, Saabir’s team also found that camel milk contains very low sugar and fat content, therefore making it ideal for good health. 

Based on their many years of research they have cross bred camels to produce one of the healthiest breeds of camels that can survive extreme desert conditions.

Sea shores are the seas of new food revolution!

In India, coconut trees have always been priced, just like petroleum, every part of the coconut is put to use and nothing is wasted. Tender coconut water has the most prolific profile of minerals and vitamins found to occur naturally in any fruit based water. 

Coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils. Coir obtained from coconut husk is used to develop super compressed bricks that can withstand any pressure. And with the addition of a few secret materials, Saabir and his team have developed a new type of reenforcement agent, that binds with coconut husk and turns it harder than rock. With this they have been able to develop one of the most eco-friendly construction materials known to humankind. But more research is needed to make it durable and less prone to erosion.

In 2075, Saabir and his community of nature lovers and believers of hope, have undertaken many adventurous projects, where scientific thinking is pushed to its extreme, and it appears they have succeeded in developing few solutions which even Gods shall envy. But they have kept them a secret , because they do not want these technologies to be misused by power hungry corporations, who are yet to make an open commitment towards restoration of Earth’s ecosystem.

Unlike Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, BMW, AUDI, TATA, Brambles Ltd. IKEA Schneider and other business giants who are investing in reversing the effects of Global Warming and Climate Change.

Few of their top technological secrets comprise:

1- Central heating system where no inorganic means of energy are needed.

2- Regulating human body temperature to auto adapt based on external stimuli ( in this case hot or cold temperatures ) via gene modification. This is a revolutionary concept for many reasons. And you as a reader are free to bear your flight of imagination and explore them all in the horizon of your mind.

3- They have developed smart houses and cities, where there is zero carbon footprint and the waste generated by every household is net zero percent. Moreover, these smart cities breathe like a living thing. And this is where their concept of smart city is truly smart and ahead by 100 years.

4- Generating water from thin air, as if it were magic. Yes that is correct. Saabir and his team have surprised their community members by being able to generate fresh water from a technology that is very basic, but delivers accurate output, in the form of H2O, that is actually water fit for drinking.

5- They are now working on something they call “Precision Geometry coupled with Algebra” to develop transportation systems that need very less fuel to travel from point A to point B. This is so fascinating that one is forced to think, it is a concept from science fiction.

Well, this was Saabir in 2075 dealing with the reality of Earth and seeking inspiration from science fiction novels, to build the smart cities of the next century. Where everything will be different, because the Sun will be hotter by a few degrees and we all know that it is a fact that we cannot escape. No matter how hard we tried. This will be the reality our future generation will be facing in 2075. And as well wishers and guardians of our race, it is upto us to act now and save the future where we all have to live and survive alongside the ecosystem that will exist then.

We cannot wait for evolution to play its role of the saviour, because evolution as we all know, is a very slow process, and evolution has one bad habit, it is based on the process of natural selection, which always selects the fittest. By the time it has shortlisted the fittest human that can withstand rising temperatures, it might be too late for the rest of us.

Do you want to take that risk? I shall leave that upto you.

But be rest assured that I will not wait for evolution, I will rather find Saabir and his community and work with them, to be a part of the new revolution, the revolution of scientific thinking, and change of attitude towards Global Warming and Climate Change.

Because I have learned from a few sources, that Saabir and his team are now working on understanding the biological processes of Salamander fish, which remain frozen for 6 months, and then come to life, as if by means of some miracle. I want to see what they are thinking when it comes to replicating their sleep endorsed metabolism during the long hibernation spell, which lasts more than 6 months.

Moreover, I was so excited by these innovative ideas of Saabir, that I introduced him as the main character in my science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, where he plays the role of a lover who passionately loves his beautiful girlfriend, and also bears the responsibility of saving his and his girlfriend’s clan from extinction.

They Loved in 2075, leads the reader to a point where he/she is compelled to ask a few questions: How will humans experience love in 2075? This science fiction novel navigates through the possibility of men and women falling in love with machines, without knowing they are robots imitating human emotions. Will you still dare to fall in love in 2075 or will you strive to tell the difference between a human lover and a robotic lover?

This Sci-fi novel tells the story of a man who falls in love with a real woman in 2075. And how he struggles to feel human and keep his emotional composition intact.

This Sci-fi story also aims at revealing why Saabir chose to love a real woman and not a never ageing and always beautiful woman with synthetic feelings. In 2075, this might be a choice we all will have to make. Especially our children!

And in 2023, if we cannot do much about Global Warming, we all can easily do one thing, read science fiction novels, which convey a strong and meaningful message, and motivate the reader to realise that the Earth needs our help. And the Science Fiction Novel, They Loved in 2075 exactly does this!