What if?

When I was writing my second book From Phobos To Mars  I had a lot of questions in mind about weight, mass and gravity. I had read about light gravity effects and how the 1/3 Mars gravity would cause bone and muscle loss for Martian colonists, so for my books, I invented a type of space suit they would wear that would make up for the light gravity. For instance if a person weighed 125 lbs on Earth - they would only weigh about 41 lbs on Mars - so therefore the heavy suit would need to weigh about 84 lbs.  I called these suits Heavy's for short. The confusion for me is mass which creates gravity, yet a heavy gold bar without much mass can also create gravity. Let's just say for a few nights, I went into a rabbit hole doing research on how gravity could be increased on Mars which would take a heavy bombardment of meteors and other implausible ideas. Eventually I just said to myself "somehow" a suit would have to be done. I had also invented the idea of a simple cotton undergarment called "Greys" and two more suits—one for surface missions (for pressure and air with a bubble helmet) and another which was a medium grade (Coat) for daily wear inside the colony - and that each suit would be component based to fit each other. When I thought about Heavies, I sort of imagined them to be somehow dense, but stretchy and porous like neoprene foam, used for wet suits. (Boots could also help, but they're not the only answer because just slinging on heavy boots would restrict your movement and be too bulky. Plus it wouldn't help your arms or torso much - it would only result in a daily workout for your legs.)

At some point I wanted to see if a physicist might be willing to give me some feedback, but that idea proved to be more difficult than I thought. Eventually I found a few sites hosted by physicists, where anyone was free to ask a scientific question. However — one of the physicists clearly stated  - I will NOT answer any what if questions. I broke down with burst of laughter at this message because of course my question was a what if.  All of my questions are what ifs.  What if colonists were on Mars? Would it help if they wore heavy suits to weight them down? I could only imagine if I asked, that this scientist would burst into a hysterical fit or something. (I told you no what ifs!) But eventually, I did get an answer from someone. He said yes he thought it would work. I sent him my book as a thank-you. 

To hold the title of a "futurist" is a bit of a mystery. You can't get a formal education in it, or any sort of certifications, so if you have the title  "futurist" it's a rare distinction. I wouldn't say I'm a futurist but you are to a degree, when you are a science fiction writer, building worlds that float around Venus or thinking about how a small colony of around 1500 people could survive on Mars. 

The experience I had, even as small as it was, lead me to believe sci-fi writers and scientists are a little like Bonnie and Clyde. Especially when science fiction writers and film makers hire scientific consultants. For instance Scientist Kip Thorne was hired as a consultant for the movie Interstellar. Kip advised the director Christopher Nolan how light would be captured at the edge of a black hole. If you saw the film, it looks like a ring of light. 

I also came across a Canadian writer who was acting as a consultant for the Canadian military and I felt both impressed but also uneasy by that information. What was supposed to be an entertaining genre, had actually spurred the military. I can't find the article anymore but it might have had to do with France’s Defence Innovation Agency who hired between four and five writers to form a “Red Team” that came up with scenarios of disruption. Weird but true. 

There's even a group of science fiction authors who contribute, to an institute called SIGMA — the self-described “science fiction think tank” — which has aimed to provide insights and technical expertise for the U.S. government since 1992.

Actually there's been a number of inventions  inspired by science fiction. Like Star Treks' Chief medical officer — Bones —who had this little hypospray shot gadget that instantly healed anyone on the Enterprise ship with a quick "injection". It was a device with no needles that delivered a cure painlessly, through the skin. Should it surprise us that in 2012, MIT released an updated design for the "hypospray" which can be programmed for many uses, and inject drugs at the speed of sound?

The United States also utilized the help of science fiction writers like authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle who established the Citizens’ Advisory Council on National Space Policy during the Reagan administration. Off the subject a little but I actually met author Larry Niven a few years ago at a book signing. 

There's a lot of information about futurists if you look into it but I can't finish this blog unless I mention Syd Mead. Mead was a futurist and visual artist who worked on Bladerunner, and Tron. Mead had an industrial design background that helped him think up advanced technologies. 

Before he created concepts of futuristic worlds, he worked on designs for Ford and illustrated catalogues for companies like United States Steel. He also designed products for Philips and drafted architectural renderings for Intercontinental Hotels and other firms. BTW his ideas also helped shape 

Elysium and Tomorrowland. 

There was a strange Futurist Manifesto, published in 1909, which reads: 

We will sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and boldness …We will extol aggressive movement, feverish insomnia, the double-quick step, the somersault, the box on the ear, fisticuffs. We will declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty-the beauty of speed. A racing motor-car, its frame adorned with great pipes like snakes with explosive breath-a roaring motor-car that seems to run on shrapnel is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.

I don't endorse the philosophy behind the movement, but it seems poetic that the two worlds of art and science can form great ideas. I get the feeling we'll need them both to survive a better future — especially if we have a few good futurists that ask "what if" questions and someone to give them an answer.