Those kinds of questions about the nature and
limits of technology are a huge part of the fun of writing SFR. They are also a huge part of the challenge.
Because in this age of tremendous technological growth and change, we no sooner
construct an elaborate world full of shiny tech toys than some garage genius
has actually made it happen. Staying ahead of the tech game means running full
out all the time.
Just take a look at Greta’s
post on interstellar travel. A few years back, actually traveling to the
stars via warp drive or hyperdrive or jumping into a wormhole or whatever
seemed impossibly out of reach. Now, researchers are closing in on the
theoretical foundations for these crazy star-hopping ideas.
As few as ten or fifteen years ago, you could
find plenty of reputable scientists to say that Earth could be the only planet
capable of sustaining life in the galaxy. Then more powerful telescopes and
better analytics allowed us to find the first planet in that “Goldilocks” zone
just far enough and not too far from its parent star to allow the possibility
of liquid water (thus life as we know it). Then we found more planets. And
more. Now everyone agrees: there must be millions of Earth-like planets out
there. New technology has allowed us to recognize a new truth.
I’m not that old, but in my lifetime, I’ve
seen computers go from the size of a room, storing data on reels of metal tape,
to the size of an iPod or watch, storing data in a chip the size of a baby’s
fingernail. We’ve sent manned teams to the moon and back and established a
permanent presence in orbit around the Earth. We’ve sent probes to Mars and out
into the solar system and down into the depths of the oceans. We’ve made
Captain Kirk’s communicator and Dr. McCoy’s medical scanner everyday realities.
And don’t even get me started on movies and television!
Some of these things were predicted by SF
writers, many were not. Strangely, it seems the less bound by the “rules” of
prevailing science the writers were, the more accurate they were in their
predictions. The STAR TREK Original Series writers, creating without much
concern for how stuff really worked, were a gold mine of future technology
simply because they inspired young tech nerds to invent what they saw on
screen. (The inventor of the cell phone and the researchers working on warp
drive have all admitted that TREK was their inspiration.) Writers of the Golden
Age of science fiction took us to outer space without a thought as to how we
got there. Their readers took us to the moon with the U.S. space program.
Like Greta, I don’t worry too much about
whether the system I choose for interstellar travel (and communication and a
dozen other things) works given current
scientific knowledge. I take pains to make sure it is internally consistent and
logical, given the science I have posited for the world I have created. Who
knows? One day that world may exist. And
wouldn’t that be fun?
HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY, HUBBLE!
Speaking of technologies that changed our
view of the universe—25 years ago, a new kind of telescope was assembled in
orbit, beyond the interference of our atmosphere. The Hubble Space Telescope has
treated us to some spectacular images over the years, as well as quite a few
startling discoveries. Enjoy these images from the Hubble, courtesy of NASA!
Cheers, Donna
