6 Sci-fi Technologies About to Change the World (part 2)

So last week we had talked about the Space Elevator and the De-extinction process. This time, I am going to introduce the sound waves extinguisher and the air touch technology as I promised. I specific put them in the same article because these two technologies already exist, so my order is from the technologies that may change the world in near future to the ones that are changing our world right now.


3. Sound waves' extinguisher

In 2015, Viet Tran and Seth Robertson, a team of two seniors engineering who majored in the George Mason University shocked the world when they published their self-made inventor. A brand new type of extinguisher which used low frequency sound waves to extinguish the fire.


The sound waves extinguisher and its creator :

Viet Tran(left) and Seth Robertson(right)

What Makes It Different From Others Traditional Fire Extinguisher?

We all know how danger it is when it comes to the firefighters to go into a blazing fire and save the victims. What’s worse, there are some kinds of fire that can't be put out with water, for example, some chemicals will react with water and release heat and flames. If someone tries to put out a fire like this with water, it would just increase the fire. So with the sound waves' extinguisher, we can keep firefighters safe when these machines put out a burning building. What’s more, we don’t have to waste a lot of water to extinguish fires anymore! How brilliant!

The machine put out fire started with alcohol :

4. Air Touch Technology (Virtual touch screen)

Virtual touch screen is a dream come true for any technology enthusiasts. I guess it had already appeared in at least a hundred different movies, and now it no longer fictional. Virtual touch screen was originally inspired by holography and after a decade of study, Microsoft finally unveiled an optical head-mounted display utilizing called "the Hololens". Users can display virtual objects through the optical head-mounted onto the visible environment around them.

How It Works?

After put on the optical head-mounted you will see a screen or keyboard floats in mid-air, and when you “touched” the mid-air by your finger, the signal will immediately transmits to the computer or mobile device.


Microsoft - the Hololens :

What Is the Advantage and Disadvantage of Using Virtual Touch Screen?

The privacy is guaranteed to have when you're using the air touch technology because nobody can't see your screen or keyboard in the virtual space and the user is the only one who can see it. But although it is really cool and convenience, it is advised that you should use the optical head-mounted indoors only. It is too dangerous to use it while you are walking outdoors because the screen in the mid-air may blocks your view and causes some serious accidents.

I will stop here and continue the topic next week. Next time, I'm going to introduce the Hoverbikes and the Personal Robot. Personally, I love the sound waves extinguisher. I think it may help the firefighters and the rescue workers a lot, otherwise their occupations always put them into an extremely high-risk situations and may die on the job anytime.


P/S : I just found out that Viet Tran, one of the creators of the sound waves extinguisher is a Vietnamese. I feel so proud right now!!!

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6 Sci-fi Technologies About to Change the World (part 1)

We've all come out of the theater wishing we had whatever incredible gadgets which the heroes have owned after watching a fantastic sci-fi movie. But have you ever thought of those sci-fi inventions could become science facts someday? In my opinion, there are 6 brilliant ideas that will change the world, and today I’m going to share with you 2 incredible inventions that are going to become reality in the near future.


1. Space Elevator

To build a space elevator, the cable component would need to be stronger and lighter than any material we have ever known. At present, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been identified as possibly being able to meet the strength requirement for a space elevator. Other materials like boron nitride nanotubes and diamond nano-threads are still under consideration. If the project works, the space elevator would be a tether to the earth surface and be extending into space. It would permit vehicles and human to travel along the cable from Earth directly into space. Space travel is no longer a dream.


Space elevator animation:

2. De-extinction

De-extinction is a process of using cloning as an option for bringing extinct species back to life. De-extinction are now underway to revive extinct species by extracting the DNA fragments and skin samples from specimens and fossils, then using their congeneric species as surrogate parents. The idea sounds great, but there are still some cases against species revival. Beth Shapiro, the famous evolutionary biologist is not optimistic about this process. She points out that "cloning" is a specific technique which cannot be accomplished without a living cell. The others group of scientists combat the process of de-extinction because they think it goes against the theory of evolution, that the extinct species were extinct for some reasons, human can not intervene the natural selection.

And there is a bad new for the Jurassic Park's fans, whether the process succeeds or not dinosaurs are not going to be revived.


De-extinction:

Because there are so many important points so I decided to separate the article into 3 part. Next time, I will introduce you the sound waves extinguisher and the air touch technology.


I hope you enjoyed.

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Why People Crazy about Astrology and Horoscope?

When I first came to Taiwan, I had noticed that the Taiwanese, especially the teenagers and the youth, have a strong belief that horoscope is used as a method of divination. In Taiwan, horoscope is so popular that I can almost see the information about it in every TV show! This is new for me because it's not that common in my homeland, so I did some research about it and why it is so popular.

Analysis of the Characteristics of Horoscope Signs:

The horoscope signs are considered to be pictorial representations of mythological figures (e.g. Pisces are Aphrodite and her son Eros' covers). The twelve signs are divided into four essential elements to which life would not be possible without : air, fire, water and earth. Each of these four elements has characteristics independent to each that the twelve horoscope signs are based upon. We have Aries, Leo and Sagittarius,which are as enthusiastic and aggressive as fire; Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are sensitive and emotional just like water; earth is stable and does not change, so do Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn; and Gemini, Libra, Aquarius as unpredictable as air.

Fire Signs:

Aries (3/21 - 4/20) : confident, enthusiastic, intolerant

Leo (7/23- 8/22) : leaders, friendly, attention-seekers

Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21) : positive, honest, short temper

Water Signs:

 

Cancer (06/21 - 07/22) :  reserved, eccentric, shut to criticism
Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21) : mind-readers, ambitious,  jealous
Pisces (02/20 - 03/20) :  romantic, artistic, unrealistic

Earth Signs:

Taurus (4/21 - 5/20) : reliable, patient, stubborn

Virgo (8/23 - 9/22) : analytical, practical, perfectionists

Capricorn (12/22 - 01/19) : focused, snobbish, materialistic

Air Signs:

Gemini (5/21 - 6/20) : talkative, adventurous, flexible
Libra (9/23 - 10/22) : creative, diplomatic, easy-going

Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18) : entertaining, rebellious, erratic



Why Do So Many People Believe in Astrology?

Do you think people's personalities are affected by their zodiac sign? Or the characteristics of signs just represent you at some specific moment in life? Actually, although there is no evidence to prove that astrology is a science, there are still a lot of people believe astrology is scientific. What's more, most of people don't think that believing in astrology or horoscope is as harmless as the scientists' warning. In my opinion, it's fine as long as you see horoscope as a leisure activity, but try not to judge a person by his or her horoscope signs because everyone is unique. We don't have any two people with the same signs that is exactly the same.



I hope you enjoyed.

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Master Piece of High-fantasy : The Lord of the Rings

Author : J. R. R. Tolkien

Predecessor : The Hobbit

Directed by : Peter Jackson

Starring : Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen

The Fellowship of the Ring

You may haven't watched it yet, but you definitely heard about it. Considered to be one of the biggest and the most successful sci-fi movie projects even has in the history of the Hollywood movie industry,The Lord of the Rings series are actually based on one of the best-selling epic novel ever The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Three parts of the series, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003) won 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations. Epic, special effects, incredible creatures, wars, and the battles between good and evil are all you can find in this fantasy world of Middle-earth.

posters of the series

Since it was a very well-known movie series (I guess), instead of telling you the story line I'll share some of my personal opinions on it.

Racial relations - good and evil :

According to the films, there are many races exist in Middle-earth besides human. Since they all have different lifestyles, the Middle-earth people were divided into two groups.We have ainur, hobbits, eagles, giants, huorns, elves, men, dwarves, ents, river-maids and tom bombadil on the side of good. And balrogs, barrow-wights, the dead, dragons, goblins,men, orcs, ringwraiths, spiders, trolls, vampires, wargs, werewolves on the evil side. So we have men on both good and evil side because men are considered to be the most changeable races in the story. 

Legolas(right) and Gimli(left) have a poor start at the beginning

The relationships of elves and dwarves definitely is the most dramatic one in Tolkien's stories. The relationship between these two races totally changes after Thingol (character of King of Doriath), the Elf-lords, was murdered by dwarves. That's why the two members of the fellowship, Legolas(elf) and Gimli(dwarf) hate each other right from the beginning. But even with a poor start they begin to know each other gradually during the trip. The strife between their races soon broke up and they become such close friends.

The Ring - the represent of one's desire :

In the series, all the characters are struggling from the temptation to keep the One Ring for themselves, which will give them the supreme power of the darkness. Instead of using the power of light, they succumbed to use the dark power and lost their determinations to destroy the One Ring. But things always turn out badly after they succumbed their own desires. Like the king of Gondo, Isildur, who refused to destroy the One Ring after he defeated Sauron, the evil king. He died when he put on the One Ring and tried to escape away from his enemies while he and his army are being trapped, but the ring betrayed him by growing bigger and slipping away from his finger. And Gollum, who used to be a normal hobbit turned into an ugly neurotic creature after he became the owner of the ring. 

Gollum used to be a normal hobbit named Sméagol before he was corrupted by the One Ring. He kept the ring for nearly 500 years and died when he tried to seize it from Frodo and fell into the lava.

What make a hero - the determined heart:

In the series, there is a case show us how the different choices can make a person become a hero or a villain when they being put into the same situation, it is when Gandalf refused Saruman suggest to keep the One Ring. We have Saruman, who succumbed to fight Sharon by using the dark powers, and Gandalf, who found out how danger the ring was and even more determined to destroy it. When Saruman inducing Gandalf that he could take the Ring for himself and being refused by Gandalf, it really make a big difference between them.

The grey wizard and the white wizard used to be close friend

Spectacular special effects:

The lights and special effects from the entire movie trilogy is a visual feast. The Lord of the Rings series actually won 4 Academy Awards for it visuals effects and art direction! There are a lot of battles and fights in the movie and I was so impressed by the scene of the final battle. It's so spectacular! I love all the magic, the dragon and the armies. It actually was one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

The final battle:

Some others scene from the movie:

I hope you enjoyed it.

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