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TOWARD A SCIENCE OF SUSTAINABILITY
Consider for a moment that 500,000 days ago, nearly all human beings lived in huts and caves, using fire, wood, and stone to fashion daily living. Today many people still do, but the privileged among us can explore the planet, flying through the atmosphere above the continents watching live TV with e-commerce piped to individual reclining seats. Human beings can vacation on the ocean in ships the size of towns, some soon to have their own zip code, or race over the surface of the land in precision machines manufactured by the millions each year, all able to be guided by satellites orbiting the planet powered by light from the sun. We have used our knowledge to send living humans to the nearest cosmic shore, safely cocooned in portable atmospheres, televise the landing of their space canoe for the world's eyes to witness live, and we brought these bravest of explorers back to their homes safely, just 30 years ago. How humbling it was to see our blue-green cosmic reef from above, for the first time. We now stand in awe of images of the births and deaths of stars and galaxies, brought from Hubble's telescopic eye to us through the wafer-thin computer screens made possible by the semiconductor. Over a period of just a few thousand days, we have deployed a communications network around the globe, for all people and machines to use to communicate with each other, reinventing economics, culture, governance, and education. Soon, the sum total of recorded knowledge can be explored through a portal in the palm of a child's hand, an untethered device that will speak and understand spoken words. And in the view of many, the most remarkable wonders science has presented to us across history invite us to explore new wonders hinged to a revolution of human spirit and ethics. The challenges facing civilization are as profound as our opportunities. We are running out of fuels, pure water, space to live, clean air to breathe, and natural life to enjoy naturally. Forests continue to disappear, animals on land and in the sea are becoming extinct, weather patterns are shifting, ancient cultures are vanishing, and people in cities are losing touch with nature. Remembering that the billions of computers running the infrastructure of modern civilization today, and the Internet now connecting them, exist because of an unexpected physics discovery 54 years ago, let us step just one more discovery beyond the limits of the physics of the 1920s. Explore with me a hypothetical future. Imagine that a new generation of breakthrough science succeeds in the research and development presently underway. Consider a vision of the human civilization that could evolve between 2001 and 2005. Imagine that we discover by 2005 a breakthrough in energy generation-devices that produce electricity with almost no fuel, cost, or waste. Imagine limitless conversion of seawater to fresh water by 2015. Imagine that by 2025 we no longer need an electricity grid. Imagine a green Africa with a vibrant society of human and natural life in 2051. Imagine that people discover by 2010 the mechanism by which matter gravitates together, and by 2015 we begin manufacturing a new array of transportation platforms-vessels whose means of motion are as magical in appearance to us as the lifting wing and engine of a Boeing 747 would have appeared to Isaac Newton. Imagine a pollution-free atmosphere by 2030. Imagine a permanent end to the growing snarls of freeway traffic by 2040. Imagine a society that recognizes a human right to move about as freely as the goods of its economy-across any border, any time. Imagine a transportation vehicle that can take you into Space, propelled by a field of force, long before 2051. Imagine living in architectures and voyaging in vessels whose span of capabilities you've seen only on Star Trek. Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? In fact, this is precisely the kind of future vision emerging from the implications of some of the best physics research underway in the world today. Research into such remarkable possibilities began many years ago by talented scientists and engineers around the world. Many of the most experienced among them began quiet collaboration three years ago, and have now publicly joined forces, bringing essential collaboration to a very challenging set of research and development projects, a collaboration that we hope can soon extend to engage complementary teams around the world.
Their mission is about the possibility of sharing technologies one day that can reverse environmental decline, end starvation and poverty, and make wars over water a horror of the past. Their mission is about scientific knowledge that shouldn't be owned by a commercial corporation. Their mission is about the possibility that we will be able to explore the Milky Way galaxy in an interstellar spacecraft within your lifetime. Their mission is about helping to enable a renewal of human civilization, and nature as a whole.
Are we certain that the discoveries we are seeking are possible? No. Will there be disappointments and unexpected turns along the way? Yes. But based upon what world-class scientists are learning after years of study, we believe these discoveries are likely to be made. With that in mind, imagine the costs of failing to try. Joseph P. Firmage is founder and chairman of Motion Sciences Organization (http://www.motionsciences.com/), an advanced physics research and development organization supporting an international network of scientists and institutions, pioneering together breakthrough technologies for 21st century life. |
