2075 - Science Fiction, Like Earth

The Dying Sun And The Earth

The Sun is burning with higher intensity and it has entered its red phase, where it is producing its dying volumes of energy by combusting the last and rapidly depleting gas reserves. On Earth and the surrounding areas of the Solar System, there are abrupt emissions of heat flares that move like ripples of red, across the solar system. 

The Sun is dying, and every resident on Earth knows this, so do the Martians who established colonies on the Red Planet a few decades ago. The human settlers on Earth have moved underground, because the surface of the Earth is hot. But on Mars they have some respite. Nonetheless, with the death and dimming of the star that makes life possible on Earth and Mars, Humans are faced with the new challenge, to find a habitable planet or become extinct and die along with their dying star, the Sun!

It is a predicament like none other and humans have to choose now and choose well as well!

Maybe they can draw some inspiration from these lines composed by the famed poet : Mr. William Wordsworth.

“Though nothing can bring back the hour,

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower,

We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.”

And as of today, for humans on Earth, nothing remains behind, but the reality of the dying Sun, and with it the dying Earth as well. Yet there are few men and women who are not grieving, rather they are trying to find strength in whatever little remains behind. And for the human race, it is only science and technology that can rescue them from this plight, where their extirpation is inevitable, if they manage to make the best use of available resources and whatever time they have left, before the Sun breathes its last with that gigantic dying explosion, so immense that its heat wave will leave everything on Earth, almost in a singed state.

Most of the humans live underground and they have built these huge glass domes where they maintain heat, humidity, air content and quality, and regulate a lot of other elements along with artificial light that helps with the quick growth of plants: bearing fruits, vegetables and other crops. However, with the reign of the Sun coming to an end, the Earth will be ruled by an endless and permanent spell of darkness and a freeze that will send waves of chill across everything it comes in contact with. And then, artificial light and heat will not suffice for catalyzing photosynthetic reactions.

But human ingenuity like always has prevailed in this case as well. A century ago few marine botanists, had dived deep under the sea, where they discovered plant species thriving and producing green leaves, although they received zero light at those frightening depths, where only Poseidon dares to rule and wade freely.

They had extracted samples of these marine plants, and examined how they produce photosynthesis-like reactions in absence of light and how their chlorophyll is unique. It was then they had come across a rare compound found in these plants, that triggers photosynthesis even in absence of photon particles. And they had introduced this compound in plants growing on land; after almost thousand attempts they had succeeded in finding the right synthesis of this unique compound that worked very well with many plants that grow on land. They would not have achieved this breakthrough without using AI powered algorithms to manipulate this compound in all possible combinations, and then decide the most suitable ones for specific plant species that grow on land.

And once the sun has burnt all its gas reserves, and darkness spreads across the planet, the surviving human population will use these genetically modified crops to sustain them. 

In addition to this, they also have huge freezers where they have preserved cells of livestock and they use these cells to grow artificial meat. It is a sustainable and quite practical way to produce a healthy supply of protein that the human body needs to survive and lead a healthy life. Moreover, once you have savoured your beef steak, you can cut a piece of raw meat, and leave it aside, and when you have the urge or the need to consume meat again, you can regrow a huge chunk of beef, from this small piece of meat. They call it “Edible Meat Culturing” technique. With this innovation, humans will never run out of protein reserves. However, the scientists are still conducting research to ensure that there are no side effects and the human body is able to derive all the nutrients from this synthetically grown meat. 

And they warn that this should only be used when humans are left with no choice, and no means to produce organic meat and vegetables.

They are also working on finding ways to produce water and create light that carries every benefit of Sunlight. And almost every human, who lives underground has to stay in this dome with artificially produced sunlight for few hours every week.

Human innovation has not stopped and thus human progress has not halted. The Sun that is dying and generating unbearably hot heat flares, has not been able to intimidate human will. They are working day and night to change the course of destiny, theirs and that of the Earth as well.

But Ah! Should I say day and night?

Because now, with heat flares a common and frequent solar occurrence, it is difficult to distinguish between the day and the night.

So, it would be right to say, that the selfless scientists are not pursuing their scientific passions to only save their sons, daughters or their own families, but, they are working more than 20 hours to save humanity!

And this is what makes them the direct descendants of the Titans. The Gods who embedded in us the gene of curiosity, and when the Gods were sure, it shall lead them to us, back to the garden of Eden someday. They left Earth to attend to the affairs of their world. Or maybe the affairs of the universe, who knows.

But they left us with this wonder of all great wonders, “human curiosity!” As long as it seeks good and goodness, and it pursues human greatness, there is nothing wrong about seeking and knocking on the heavens door, and reside once again in that utopia from where we fell sometime ago. 

Sometime!

Yes you read it correctly. 

If we go by the cosmic clock, where time behaves differently, we have only spent a few years on Earth. And it is a fact few scientists jokingly use to remind each other, “ A life short lived does mean a lot, as long as it is well lived!” And it is this belief that has pushed them to achieve new milestones in scientific innovation, that too in the midst of a Doomsday like situation, where the sun is blasting heat waves so intense that the Earth looks like a charred planet. And only the black smut like formation expands far and wide.

Today, the human settlement that lives underground is facing a new threat. Their existing water resources are drying and whatever water is left, shall not be able to sustain them for too long.

So what shall they do now?

Well, hope presents itself in many forms. And with the meticulous research of scientists and their matchless patience, they have once again proven, “The haste of the fool is the slowest thing in the world!”

They have been patiently and away from the flashlight of fame, been working on few solutions keeping in mind the dying stages of the sun. When it will generate a lot of unbearable heat waves.

Cacti, is their solution!

They have modified a few edible cacti varieties with very high water content and increased the diameter of their thick and sun exposed outer layers, making them resistant to incredibly hot temperatures. They can even survive in 80 degrees of heat. And it is easy to tap water from them. Which is quite similar to tapping latex from rubber plants. 

The water drips as droplets and fills these small earthen pitchers overnight. And with earthen pitchers, there is no need to freeze or cool the water. Due to the porous nature of the earthen pitchers, the water stays naturally cool and fresh. The water content collected in these pitchers is then treated at an underground facility where they add few minerals to it and rendered fit for human consumption. 

In addition to this, the frozen water reserves on Mars are melting and Mars has become a leading supplier of fresh water for human settlements on Earth. This is teaching humans, interplanetary trade and commerce and it is redefining interplanetary politics. I think it is a precursor to the day when human species will be intergalactic in true sense, and humans will be able to harness energy from every star and every planet that lies in the trajectory of their intergalactic expansion. 

Now, you might be thinking that I am not thinking outside the box, I am thinking outside the reality. Well, sometimes to think outside the box, does mean thinking outside the reality. Where you are only supposed to follow the trail of your ceaseless curiosity, until it dashes against the deadend. That I call scientifically proven reality. Where the reign of proven reality begins because it eliminates every other known form of reality that intersects with this “proven reality.”

And in 2075, humanity will be at a stage where it will have mastered many instances of this proven reality, and it will be constantly intersecting with other and known forms of reality. It will be a time when humans will have to ask the right questions and to better address these questions in 2075, prudence lies in asking these important questions now.

And this is what my science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, aims to achieve via a highly engaging and exciting storyline. This science fiction novel explores how humans will experience love in 2075. It 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 ( They Loved in 2075 ) also aims at revealing why the man 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!

By writing this bold science fiction novel, I chose to be selfless; and I know I am not a scientist, but let me also admit, I have inherited the curiosity of Titans. And that I am sure about!

About yours, I shall let you decide!

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