Continuing from my previous forecast and using "Water" as its use in space and how we utilize it, I have related it to the words "Other" and "Planets". As the puzzle pieces begin to fit and organic growth of inter-related terms I am focused on finding their relations.
Other: Abbi posed a great question in how will we transport water in space. This poses a really big issue as it's heavy and very costly to transport. So I had to find another way. I started with asknature.org and found a lipid membrane that was being used to filter dirt and toxins out of water. That in turn led me to Water Gen, a company that makes water out of air by acting as a filtration and purifier unit that can be use in vehicles or stationary locations. It was developed by a company in Israel and has the govener from California putting money into the project. Considering both areas deal with drought and especially California right now, this makes perfect sense.
Other: Abbi posed a great question in how will we transport water in space. This poses a really big issue as it's heavy and very costly to transport. So I had to find another way. I started with asknature.org and found a lipid membrane that was being used to filter dirt and toxins out of water. That in turn led me to Water Gen, a company that makes water out of air by acting as a filtration and purifier unit that can be use in vehicles or stationary locations. It was developed by a company in Israel and has the govener from California putting money into the project. Considering both areas deal with drought and especially California right now, this makes perfect sense.
Planets: Since transportation of water is a very spendy and tricky issue we need to look for sources outside of planet Earth. This brought me to search for "water in space" and I was very surprised with what I found. To start with the big one, scientist have discovered the oldest, largest body of water in the solar system near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact it's right by the black hole at the center. The force of the black hole sucking matter in also causes massive amounts of energy to come through that forces certain atoms to combine. In this case it created and continues to make a giant water vapor cloud nearby. This cloud is 12 billion years old and contains enough water to fill 140 trillion planets. That's fantastic but not close enough to be helpful. However there are 23 spots in our solor system with water in some form or another. Enceladus a moon of Saturn has gysers that spew 1,000 tons of water every hour.
What I forecast is that we will combine what Water Gen is doing and create water fuel stations in locations within our solar system for us to be able to travel around. We will also convert space only vehicles with water powered engines to replace fossil fuel ones. There will be planetary ships that are attached and can depart to the surface for exploration on planets, asteroids, and meteors.
References and links
Biomimcry to start the research path
Nasa story on the oldest biggest lake in our Galaxy
Similar story as the Nasa one but easier to read
Water from thin air, Water Gen
23 places in our solar system with water
Videos
Enceladus
Water Gen company movie
Vehicle that runs on water
Global Impact:
Knowing that there is an abundance of water outside our planet will drive to more space exploration and more colonization on planets and moons. This will change from a global stance to a solar stance. Billions of people working together for a common goal and no one starves anymore. Droughts are combated with alien water and Earth thrives.
National Impact:
We are no longer the leaders in the technology needed to make this forecast happen, however we have the drive to improve the technology and the capacity to work with other countries to make it happen. Combatting drought and unsafe we will pioneer humanitarian aide at a fraction of it's current cost.
Local/Personal Impact:
The further I move along with the forecasts the more they turn from outlandish ideologies and end up looking like a very feasible future within my lifetime. In my house we try to not waste water and understand that we are very priviledged to have access to clean treated water for free. However as the fossil fuels begin to dry up so does freshwater. I think we need to focus on seeing these forecasts to fruition if we want to survive as a species.
Negative Impact: How will we hurt our solar system by mining the water out of them. Could that affect how the moons orbit their corresponding planets?
Positive Impact: Fixing the world's lack of freshwater and wiping out drought. Maybe even stopping land erosion by halting the expansion of the world's deserts.
Short Term: Improving filteration and purifying systems and being able to make that process cheaper.
Medium Term: Dropping our reliance on fossil fuels and use recycled water to run our machines
Long Term: Expansion into space, become Star Trek for real!
Just for fun I give you Foo Fighers: I am a river
Questions:
How would we bring water back down to Earth if transportation is so bulky and costly?
What is another way to reclaim water from space or water vapor clouds?
If we are extracting water from other sources, what is the impact to the solar system from taking water our of these other sources?
Tech: Space Tech, Social Tech, Bio Tech, Engineering Tech
Brought to you by Scott Werner
I think Earth's water problem is largely about access and distribution. Introducing an extra supply of water — the same problem would still remain. Could we even guarantee that water is distributed equitably and used for the most necessary purposes?
ReplyDeleteAs far as other ways to reclaim water, I talked about rainwater harvesting and natural landscaping for water retention. If we stop runoff, we stop a lot of water pollution. If we harvest the rain, we protect ourselves from water shortages.
I would check out Ana Sophia's post about the water packet blob like things - that has got me thinking. Also, I was watching something today that was saying that the water we would find on the moon would be an excellent resource. I wonder if we starting getting moons to follow us or comets into space travel with us for water harvesting....
ReplyDeleteThe idea of harvesting water from space is crazy. But, great ideas usually come from crazy ideas. I do agree, that the transporting of it could pose an enormous challenge.
ReplyDelete