And so this module has come full circle and at the very last post for this very special module, I feel it would be only appropriate to consider Yali's Question, the first question posed in the first module that I had on my first day of my first year in SMU.
That is "Why is that you white people have so much cargo while we have so little?"
That question is essentially asking us why there is so much inequality in the world, a question that we have encountered countless times throughout this module and hence, I see fit that I should analyse the week's sessions which I thought were more pertinent in relation to this question.
Introduction to Technology and World Change
The first lesson when Professor Shahi first introduced the idea of technology to us, it was a startling concept. That the idea of technology was NOT about all the gadgetry that we had come to know but instead was about knowledge and how we apply it was something quite fascinating to me and that has underpinned the idea of technology that has been articulated throughout the lesson. Perhaps it is how the different countries have been applying the knowledge that they have that has led to the inequality throughout the world and the lack of expertise that they have due to them initially sticking to traditional methods and not opening their doors to others. This will change quite easily though because as Prof has often mentioned, people are best at copying and it is clear that it is a matter of time before people will be able to apply the knowledge that they have in ways similar to others once they see how others have applied their knowledge, something that is no doubt being greatly facilitated by globalisation.
Technology, Society and Global Dominance (Economic, Military, Cultural)
Global Dominance examined the different parts of a country that inequality could result due to that countries various social, political and economic factors. This is subject to the various countries and it is due to the countries particular practices that causes them to fall behind, such as having a falling star mindset. To alleviate inequality, it is about every country having the rising star mindset and this will inform their decisions such that they can choose to make decisions that are beneficial for their country's expansion instead of sticking to the old ways that hold them back.
Technology and Human Development
This part of the lesson focused on the Human Development Index and the United Nations Millenium Development Goals and how we can enable each person to live to his or hers fullest potential. I feel that this is about the measurement of the amount of inequality that currently exists in the world today. It also sets the standards that we should achieve to try and alleviate the issue of inequality and this will in turn give the countries an idea of the standards they have to meet and the steps they have to take to reduce inequality in their country and in relation to other countries.
Drivers of World Change
There are definitely many drivers of world change, from the political arena to social mindsets, to large corporations and environmental concerns. But the most important driver of world change ultimately is each and every person on Earth. There may be factors that cause us to change our minds about our choices but it is us who makes the change in choices. We must understand that if we ever want to alleviate inequality, it has to start from us. We cannot be sitting around waiting for the government or the corporations to do something about us. It is our voices that they respond to and we have to make a collective effort even in small ways to be the change we want to see in the world.
Change Management and Change Leadership
One of the most pertinent things I remember about this is that leadership is about trail-blazing and defining a new direction for people to follow while management is about working within this new direction to ensure that the leader's vision is carried out. I feel to alleviate inequality, it is necessary to have a leader that will come up with new ideas to bring the country forward, but at the same time it is important to have a group of people that is managing the development and ensuring that it is moving slowly and one should assess their own abilities to see which category they fall in and try to fulfil their role, this is especially for the government or any form of leadership.
ICT and World Change
ICT is one of the technologies that is most able to cause change and reduce inequality in the world in my opinion. In the Arab Spring revolution in 2011, it was social media that allowed the people to voice their common dissent with the then ruling government which emboldened them to work collectively to create change and reduce their perceived inequality. Also now firms can advertise on social media websites reducing much of the initially significant cost of advertising and giving even small and medium enterprises a way to market their products to a large audience. It is by capitalising on ICT that we will be able to spread messages of change and galvanise people into action to bring about change. Also it will be a platform which will showcase levels of development, around the world, between companies at the click of a button and this increased awareness is what will result in people learning from others and capitalise on their skills to improve themselves.
Biobusiness Revolution: Healthcare and the Biomedical Sciences
Healthcare and the Biomedical Sciences is another avenue of technology that can level the playing field. Making healthcare accessible to people around the world is one of the main factors that can help alleviate inequality because people will not be plagued by easily curable or preventable illnesses that we have now developed vaccines for. Telemedicine for example can also be used by doctors to see patients in inaccessible areas that may be far from the main town and they would be able to diagnose the patient and provide them with the necessary medicine rather than having them travel all the way to the town and aggravate their condition in the process. As such one of the main aims of healthcare technology is not only to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis, procedures and ensure that each patient has the best healthcare service, it is also about making it accessible to as many people as possible so that each person can benefit from it and live their life to the fullest.
Biobusiness Revolution 2: Agriculture and the Environment: Past, Present, Future
One of the closest topics to my heart and one of the main divisive factors between the rich and the poor is the amount of food that they have. Just like healthcare, it is not enough to come up with ideas such as the genetically modified food that can increase yields. It is equally important to ensure that this food is available for all and is accessible to the poorest people who need it the most. This is why I think that under this section, what I find is extremely important in facilitating ability to obtain the money to purchase food is that of microfinance. With microfinance, people without collateral would still be able to purchase the high yielding variety seeds to increase the yield and health of their produce and this will make their produce more marketable, helping them to break out of the cycle of poverty and start to be self-sustainable without the need or having a minimal need for extra funds. Of course this needs to be well managed. However, if it is implemented well, these people will be able to generate their own income and hence reducing inequality and closing the rich-poor divide that is seen in the world today.
Energy and World Change
The way forward for energy is definitely sustainable energy. Countries that embrace this idea and work on ways in which they can move their energy production towards renewable energy resources will definitely benefit as they will be the ones that will have developed their technologies to extract sustainable energy to the extent where it can be patented and sold to other countries, gaining them an advantage while the rest of the countries deal with the sky-rocketing prices of the currently available sources of energy such as that of oil. This advantage is clearly what will lead to the inequality stated by Yali or could bridge the gap for the poorer countries who take initiative to move ahead.
Emerging and Future Technologies
This was by far my favourite part of the whole technology and world change module. It really showcased the variety of technologies that could be possible in the future from underwater cities to flying cars and jetpacks, and opened my mind to a myriad of possibilities. What I can see is that these will be the new technologies that will bring the advantages to the people who are able to see the potential in these technologies and tap on their uses quickly and this will once again define the comparative advantage that these people will have over others which will once again lead to or accentuate inequality.
Technology Assessment and Forecasting; Developing a Framework for what comes next
This aspect of technology is a part of technology that is highly arbitary and inaccurate because there is no way of affirming whether the prediction is correct or how much the actual outcome will deviate from what is predicted due to numerous factors working together to produce the desired outcome. Hence, it will require countries to refine their forecasting processes such that they will be sure which of the technologies will be most relevant to them in the future which will enable them to keep up with the other countries. This will be the factor that could lead to inequality in the future.
Overall Course Ratings
I would rate this TWC module a 9.5/10. Professor Shahi has definitely provided a different perspective to me on various world issues which enlightened me and the course as a whole gave me a chance to explore areas that I would not have otherwise thought of going into such as future technologies and I found the results of my research to be very enriching. I had the benefit of making some of my closest friends this semester in my TWC class whom I still stay close to and my classmates were all very participative making class discussions an intellectual process filled with interesting new ideas. I truly enjoyed my TWC journey and if I had a choice I would go through it all over again.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Technology and World Change Lesson 12 ( Group Presentations 2)
"Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification" -Martin H Fischer
Today's quote of the day was from someone I have never heard of before and his quote was introduced in the previous lesson. After spending the last week doing the finishing touches on my group's blog however, I realised the power of his statement and it rang through as we were preparing for our presentation which we had this week. Through our research, we were learning, we were acquiring knowledge, we were piling up facts but then we had to decide what was the most important things that we thought people should learn based on what we had found out. We had to think about what we were learning and draw insight from what we read and project implications from what we knew and we had to put that in a webpage that was accessible and visually attractive to people and that was when I felt we acquired wisdom in simplifying what we knew for other people to understand, for other people to learn from.
There were 5 group presentations today as the last presentation from the previous week was brought forward to this week.
The groups presented on the topics of
Today's quote of the day was from someone I have never heard of before and his quote was introduced in the previous lesson. After spending the last week doing the finishing touches on my group's blog however, I realised the power of his statement and it rang through as we were preparing for our presentation which we had this week. Through our research, we were learning, we were acquiring knowledge, we were piling up facts but then we had to decide what was the most important things that we thought people should learn based on what we had found out. We had to think about what we were learning and draw insight from what we read and project implications from what we knew and we had to put that in a webpage that was accessible and visually attractive to people and that was when I felt we acquired wisdom in simplifying what we knew for other people to understand, for other people to learn from.
There were 5 group presentations today as the last presentation from the previous week was brought forward to this week.
The groups presented on the topics of
- Mind controlled prosthetics
- Transhumanism
- Genetically Modified food
- Advertising and sex
- Virtual Reality
Mind Controlled Prosthetics
Presentation
I found their presentation to be rather interesting as they interjected the presentation with rather quirky hand signs that helped us to visualise what they were saying with more clarity. This included crushing a water bottle to show the proposed strength of such mind controlled prosthetics that could not be controlled. I found their website to be very neatly organised as well.
Content
I found their content to be rather informative and I especially liked their inspiration section where they showed what inspired their idea for their project which I thought was quite good as they were sharing their inspiration with others which drew people to be more passionate about their ideas. I think that in the future, mind-controlled prosthetics will definitely become a part of the lives of the disabled because it will give them more jurisdiction over their own actions and it will help them fell more normal again and integrate more smoothly into society. However for thees mind-controlled to be fully effective there may need to be surgery done to incorporate these equipment into the people's heads which could have very harmful side effects on health and there needs to be more refining of such procedures before it can be successfully implemented on a wide scale.
Presentation
I found their presentation to be rather interesting as they interjected the presentation with rather quirky hand signs that helped us to visualise what they were saying with more clarity. This included crushing a water bottle to show the proposed strength of such mind controlled prosthetics that could not be controlled. I found their website to be very neatly organised as well.
Content
I found their content to be rather informative and I especially liked their inspiration section where they showed what inspired their idea for their project which I thought was quite good as they were sharing their inspiration with others which drew people to be more passionate about their ideas. I think that in the future, mind-controlled prosthetics will definitely become a part of the lives of the disabled because it will give them more jurisdiction over their own actions and it will help them fell more normal again and integrate more smoothly into society. However for thees mind-controlled to be fully effective there may need to be surgery done to incorporate these equipment into the people's heads which could have very harmful side effects on health and there needs to be more refining of such procedures before it can be successfully implemented on a wide scale.
Transhumanism
Presentation
I quite liked their presentation of their website as it had clear headers and well-organised sections with the rather metallic feel which I felt suited their theme on transhumanism.
Content
I found their content to be rather wide-ranging but there was one idea that I felt could be better addressed which was the possible effects in having transhumanism on its overall impact on society. As we know such technology would be expensive and it is likely that only the rich will be able to afford such high level technology. As such, due to the difficulty of the poorer people in obtaining the necessary technology to improve themselves, they will become sub-standard humans and this will be like the creation of another race completely. This could be very damaging as it would be divisive in society and will continually oppress these people without the transhuman characteristics as even if they were to revolt, they could be easily subdued with the people with their transhuman characteristics due to their transhumanism. This is a problem that is not easy to solve should we go the way of transhumanism and should be a pointer that the group seeks to provide some solutions to.
Presentation
I quite liked their presentation of their website as it had clear headers and well-organised sections with the rather metallic feel which I felt suited their theme on transhumanism.
Content
I found their content to be rather wide-ranging but there was one idea that I felt could be better addressed which was the possible effects in having transhumanism on its overall impact on society. As we know such technology would be expensive and it is likely that only the rich will be able to afford such high level technology. As such, due to the difficulty of the poorer people in obtaining the necessary technology to improve themselves, they will become sub-standard humans and this will be like the creation of another race completely. This could be very damaging as it would be divisive in society and will continually oppress these people without the transhuman characteristics as even if they were to revolt, they could be easily subdued with the people with their transhuman characteristics due to their transhumanism. This is a problem that is not easy to solve should we go the way of transhumanism and should be a pointer that the group seeks to provide some solutions to.
Genetically Modified Food
Presentation
This was the group who's website i found the most visually eye catching very neatly defined sections with beautiful pictures and rather nice buttons. I also liked the effort they made in doing a short skit at the start to show the difference between a farmer who had access to genetically modified food and those who did not.
Content
Their content was rather clear and quite detailed going into the three aspects of biotechnology, agriculture and food preservation and the implications of each. One problem that I think that they could have expanded more on though was the idea of the socio-economic divide that exists. I understand that they were trying to show how the technology developed in relation to improving food quality and distribution was beneficial in help spreading the food more accessible to the masses. That said, I felt that they could have explained more about how these technology would be made more affordable such that less developed countries could leverage on this technology to reap its benefits. Personally, I feel that microfinancing is one of the possible answers to this problem as these will provide the loans to people who do not have the collateral to borrow the requisite funds to purchase these technology that will increase their yield. Although I admit this is not the be all and end all solution, it will definitely go a long way in helping them to break out of the poverty cycle.
Presentation
This was the group who's website i found the most visually eye catching very neatly defined sections with beautiful pictures and rather nice buttons. I also liked the effort they made in doing a short skit at the start to show the difference between a farmer who had access to genetically modified food and those who did not.
Content
Their content was rather clear and quite detailed going into the three aspects of biotechnology, agriculture and food preservation and the implications of each. One problem that I think that they could have expanded more on though was the idea of the socio-economic divide that exists. I understand that they were trying to show how the technology developed in relation to improving food quality and distribution was beneficial in help spreading the food more accessible to the masses. That said, I felt that they could have explained more about how these technology would be made more affordable such that less developed countries could leverage on this technology to reap its benefits. Personally, I feel that microfinancing is one of the possible answers to this problem as these will provide the loans to people who do not have the collateral to borrow the requisite funds to purchase these technology that will increase their yield. Although I admit this is not the be all and end all solution, it will definitely go a long way in helping them to break out of the poverty cycle.
Advertising and Sex
Presentation
I found that the theme that they applied to their website really brought out the idea that they were trying to bring out and the pictures that they selected were judicious in emphasising each of the points that they made.
Content
I looked briefly at their website before they presented and initially I could not think of a possible connection between their topic and technology. This all came to light when they presented and explained how technology was as defined as Professor Shahi the knowlege that we acquire and how we use it. Here they were trying to draw a link between understanding the technology of advertising. They were exploring how sex was a tool of advertising used to further this technology which I felt was a rather novel and unique way of looking at the topic.
It was centred on the fundamental idea of what technology was and despite us being quite amazed by the various new gadgetry that was introduced throughout the whole module, it was a timely reminder that no matter how much we think technology is about the amazing new developments in devices, there is always the basic principle of technology being that of knowledge and how we apply the knowledge that we have and that will remain the basis of how we will move forward with technology in the future.
Presentation
I found that the theme that they applied to their website really brought out the idea that they were trying to bring out and the pictures that they selected were judicious in emphasising each of the points that they made.
Content
I looked briefly at their website before they presented and initially I could not think of a possible connection between their topic and technology. This all came to light when they presented and explained how technology was as defined as Professor Shahi the knowlege that we acquire and how we use it. Here they were trying to draw a link between understanding the technology of advertising. They were exploring how sex was a tool of advertising used to further this technology which I felt was a rather novel and unique way of looking at the topic.
It was centred on the fundamental idea of what technology was and despite us being quite amazed by the various new gadgetry that was introduced throughout the whole module, it was a timely reminder that no matter how much we think technology is about the amazing new developments in devices, there is always the basic principle of technology being that of knowledge and how we apply the knowledge that we have and that will remain the basis of how we will move forward with technology in the future.
Virtual Reality
My group was the last to present. We really enjoyed making the video that represented virtual reality with one of my groupmates leaving the classroom and then appearing in the video as well as passing a piece of paper by scanning it through the screen such that it would be replicated in the virtual world. I personally find the virtual world a very exciting topic and one that can be said to be at the cutting edge of technology especially with its current developments with the IKEA application that can replicate their furniture into your home, saving you the trouble of going down to IKEA yourself each time you want a new piece of furniture as well as the application called LAYAR that allows you to read information on a poster that can only be seen when holding your device with the application over the image on the screen. It was a technology which holds several exciting possibilities especially in the area of education and increasing safety in the use of other technologies and I was proud to have the opportunity to share our findings with the class.
This marked the end of our TWC journey which I will be reviewing in the next post.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
This marked the end of our TWC journey which I will be reviewing in the next post.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
Technology and World Change Lesson 11 (Group Presentations 1)
"You know more than you think you know just as you know less than you want to know."-Oscar Wilde
This quote by the famous author was an interesting starting point as we launched into the two weeks that were dedicated to group presentations this week. It suggested that we actually have more knowledge than we think we do but yet at the same time we only know as much as we allow ourselves to know. This was a pertinent reminder as we hurtled through the world's future, looking at ideas ranging from futuristic buildings to virtual reality and it was humbling to see the amount of information that my classmates had amasssed on the different topics and their analysis of its implications. Their webpages gave me a taste of the possibility of knowledge that exists out there untapped and also gave me a lot of insight and left me in wonder about the world in the future and how we might solve any problems that might be surface due to these technological developments.
The groups presented on
Content
This quote by the famous author was an interesting starting point as we launched into the two weeks that were dedicated to group presentations this week. It suggested that we actually have more knowledge than we think we do but yet at the same time we only know as much as we allow ourselves to know. This was a pertinent reminder as we hurtled through the world's future, looking at ideas ranging from futuristic buildings to virtual reality and it was humbling to see the amount of information that my classmates had amasssed on the different topics and their analysis of its implications. Their webpages gave me a taste of the possibility of knowledge that exists out there untapped and also gave me a lot of insight and left me in wonder about the world in the future and how we might solve any problems that might be surface due to these technological developments.
The groups presented on
- Futuristic Buildings
- Renewable Energy
- Nanotechnology
Futuristic Buildings
Presentation
Presentation
This was the first group to present and they literally started with a bang when they popped a popper to add effect to their revealing of their model of a futuristic building. I must commend them on the effort that they put in to build their model of what they wanted out of a futuristic building because it was very detailed complete with real fish swimming in a makeshift sea which was meant to show how their building was adaptable under water and in times of disasters.
Content
I found their presentation to be rather thought-provoking because it started me thinking about what I would want in my future home. I would definitely like a smart home like they suggested where everything is preprogrammed with your preferences such as the environment being pre-set to a certain temperature. One thing that I would like to equip my home with would be the ability to transport. One day I would like to make my home able to fly so that I would be able to just lift off and move when I wanted to travel. This could have rather severe consequences on land ownership and much legislation relating to land law would have to be adapted and changed if such a home was really to be created. This law could look into the effects on whether movable objects could still have ownership over the land that they were placed if they spent most of the time stationary.
This would also have environmental implications as much energy would be needed to power such houses and the transport of such houses. There may also not be sufficient space for the houses to pilot around whether it would be air space or otherwise and this may lead to congestion and a considerable number of accidents. There may also be effects on the stability of such housing.
Also, logistically it would be quite impossible because any building would then be able to move off at any one time as and when they wished with complete disregard for the interests of the people inside and the people who want to enter the building. Imagine if the university could suddenly fly off to another country at will, it would make attending classes a nightmare. In the interests of sensibility, it would be wise to have some limits on the timings at which the buildings could move, where they could move to and who could be allowed to pilot them.
In the future, there may even be a need for a building transportation licence to be able to pilot your own house and everyone would need to have a personal teleportation device to be able to get to school on time. Learning across borders indeed!
This would also have environmental implications as much energy would be needed to power such houses and the transport of such houses. There may also not be sufficient space for the houses to pilot around whether it would be air space or otherwise and this may lead to congestion and a considerable number of accidents. There may also be effects on the stability of such housing.
Also, logistically it would be quite impossible because any building would then be able to move off at any one time as and when they wished with complete disregard for the interests of the people inside and the people who want to enter the building. Imagine if the university could suddenly fly off to another country at will, it would make attending classes a nightmare. In the interests of sensibility, it would be wise to have some limits on the timings at which the buildings could move, where they could move to and who could be allowed to pilot them.
In the future, there may even be a need for a building transportation licence to be able to pilot your own house and everyone would need to have a personal teleportation device to be able to get to school on time. Learning across borders indeed!
Renewable Energy
Presentation
I found that their website was rather wordy and a bit devoid of photos but it was rather nicely laid out which was somewhat easy to read.
Content
I found their content to be very comprehensive and liked how they looked at the case studies of the uses of renewable energy of the countries around the world but felt that they could have organised their content better such as by putting clear headings as it was rather confusing after a while.
Presentation
I found that their website was rather wordy and a bit devoid of photos but it was rather nicely laid out which was somewhat easy to read.
Content
I found their content to be very comprehensive and liked how they looked at the case studies of the uses of renewable energy of the countries around the world but felt that they could have organised their content better such as by putting clear headings as it was rather confusing after a while.
Nanotechnology
Presentation
I liked the presentation of this website the best compared to all the other websites that I had seen and would see subsequently as I am writing this blogpost in retrospect and not in real time. The photos were well chosen and some of them were animated so they moved as you read the text. I felt that their 3D image of the microscopic view of nanotechnology was very realistic and added an added touch of professionalism to their website as well as drew the viewer in to explore the other parts of their website.
Moreover, their cover picture that could turn around and split itself into different parts when clicked reflected the divisible nature of nanotechnology and really impressed me when I visited their website.
Content
I felt their analysis of the implications to be very in depth and thorough and that gave me a lot of insight into the uses of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology can be used in contact lenses to enable it to have the same functions as the Google Glass and be able to have the function of virtual reality. Another use of nanotechnology could be its introduction in everything from nuts and bolts to bottle caps which could see the shift of even the simplest of devices to becoming intelligent and smart. For example, a bottle cap could unscrew itself when heat from a person's hand is applied to it for a stipulated period of time. This could lead to the automisation of our whole world as we know it. However, this may lead to items acting of their own free will and may not be able to be controlled if their machinery is spoilt which may have harmful consequences.
I will be looking at the next 5 group presentations in the next blogpost.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
Presentation
I liked the presentation of this website the best compared to all the other websites that I had seen and would see subsequently as I am writing this blogpost in retrospect and not in real time. The photos were well chosen and some of them were animated so they moved as you read the text. I felt that their 3D image of the microscopic view of nanotechnology was very realistic and added an added touch of professionalism to their website as well as drew the viewer in to explore the other parts of their website.
Moreover, their cover picture that could turn around and split itself into different parts when clicked reflected the divisible nature of nanotechnology and really impressed me when I visited their website.
Content
I felt their analysis of the implications to be very in depth and thorough and that gave me a lot of insight into the uses of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology can be used in contact lenses to enable it to have the same functions as the Google Glass and be able to have the function of virtual reality. Another use of nanotechnology could be its introduction in everything from nuts and bolts to bottle caps which could see the shift of even the simplest of devices to becoming intelligent and smart. For example, a bottle cap could unscrew itself when heat from a person's hand is applied to it for a stipulated period of time. This could lead to the automisation of our whole world as we know it. However, this may lead to items acting of their own free will and may not be able to be controlled if their machinery is spoilt which may have harmful consequences.
I will be looking at the next 5 group presentations in the next blogpost.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Technology and World Change Lesson 10
"It is said that the present is pregnant with the future."-Voltaire
This quote is one that I find most vivid and a rather accurate depiction of the future. Today's lesson was about understanding the future from trends that we have in the present and developing a framework moving forward as to how we would go about predicting the future. There was some discussion about the aspects of the framework and some of the challenges that we would face with the accuracy of such a method as well as its social, political and economic implications.
Interesting Observations/Ideas
One of the interesting observations and ideas I had from the session was the video about Steve Tighe on how strategic foresight is the next business frontier. Here he actually suggested there may not be a need to use historical data to interpret the future and it would be better to work back from the future to help the company innovate and function better. He also pointed out that in fact working from the present forces them to see all the stumbling blocks which would in turn make them fail. This is following the ideology of thinking of problems and how to solve them rather than looking just at the situation and thinking of how to improve the current situation.
Another interesting observation that I had was that of gaming as a viable solution for technology forecasting which I did not think was even possible to begin with. Gaming can be used to simulate the entire possible future world and then it can be used to assess what will changing a certain factor or variable lead to. However, this may not be 100% accurate because any model is only as accurate as the numbers and formula that is used to generate it and as this is based on projections it may not be completely accurate.
Key Takeaways
One of my key takeaways was that of the drivers for technology assessment and forecasting.
I have included it here for reference along with some explanations for the various key points.
Drivers for Technology Assessment and Forecasting
Issues for discussion
One of the issues I felt could be raised for discussion would be how accurate such predictions could be even based on the amount of information that we amassed related to the topic, as a result of singularity, there could be new information being produced everyday which would change the way the prediction would be as it would have to be constantly recalculated in light of the new information. Moreover, there are numerous other factors that could affect the final result between now and the time in which the prediction can verified which would substantially question the accuracy of such predictions.
Another issue which I felt could be raised for discussion would be that of which of the methods used in predictions could be said to be the most effective in producing the most accurate prediction? It is definite that the different methods must be used in conjunction and a decision is made on the totality of the evidence but it is also necessary to evaluate the various methods of predictions to see which one is the most useful to refine the method of predictions to that of the most streamlined and accurate prediction framework possible.
Responses to the presentations
I had my individual presentation this week and it was very enjoyable to be able to share my ideas on Technological forecasting and its impacts with the class. I would like to thank the class for being such a great audience and for participating in the mini experiment that I tried to conduct at the beginning of my presentation. I thought that the implications on the social, political drivers and emerging technologies were the most exciting parts of the article and I was glad to be able to present that to the class.
My classmate and groupmate LingZhen also raised a question which was whether we thought that 1 degree celsius increase in the global temperature levels could really affect the world. As the world is made up of a lot of intricate interconnecting processes are are all interdependent, any slight change in any one of this processes could cause a wide-ranging effect much less a whole 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures. This means that every little thing that we do can have a very large contributory effect to the world at large and it is important to think of how we can minimise our environmental impact and ecological footprint as much as possible.
Personal ratings for the session
When I heard that this was to be my presentation topic I was intially quite confused because I had no idea of what the topic entailed. It seemed very wide and all encompassing which made it quite difficult to find a jumping off point. After going through my research and through this lesson with Professor Shahi I was amazed and enlightened as to the extent to which the future could be predicted and the ideas on how to structure a prediction. I would definitely like to try planning my own prediction in the future. I found this lesson very enlightening which will go a long way in helping me structure my own prediction for the technology of the future.
I would rate this lesson an 8/10.
Next week, we will be going through the presentations that the different groups have prepared on future technologies on their webpage. This definitely promises to provide a different persepctive to the way I look at the world today and my projections for its future and using the frameworks that I have learnt today, I am excited to see how next week's lesson will be.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
This quote is one that I find most vivid and a rather accurate depiction of the future. Today's lesson was about understanding the future from trends that we have in the present and developing a framework moving forward as to how we would go about predicting the future. There was some discussion about the aspects of the framework and some of the challenges that we would face with the accuracy of such a method as well as its social, political and economic implications.
Interesting Observations/Ideas
One of the interesting observations and ideas I had from the session was the video about Steve Tighe on how strategic foresight is the next business frontier. Here he actually suggested there may not be a need to use historical data to interpret the future and it would be better to work back from the future to help the company innovate and function better. He also pointed out that in fact working from the present forces them to see all the stumbling blocks which would in turn make them fail. This is following the ideology of thinking of problems and how to solve them rather than looking just at the situation and thinking of how to improve the current situation.
Another interesting observation that I had was that of gaming as a viable solution for technology forecasting which I did not think was even possible to begin with. Gaming can be used to simulate the entire possible future world and then it can be used to assess what will changing a certain factor or variable lead to. However, this may not be 100% accurate because any model is only as accurate as the numbers and formula that is used to generate it and as this is based on projections it may not be completely accurate.
Key Takeaways
One of my key takeaways was that of the drivers for technology assessment and forecasting.
I have included it here for reference along with some explanations for the various key points.
Drivers for Technology Assessment and Forecasting
- Exponential growth in the range of new technologies with potential world changing significance
- The need to gain an understanding of what kinds of change a new technology innovation might bring – in economic, social, ethical/legal, environmental and other terms
- The need to prioritize in deciding whether and when to invest in research and development of new innovations and technologies
- The need to prioritize, given limited resources, on whether and when to implement and use new innovations and technologies – especially in developing countries. (The time and resources at your disposal is important, if limited cash and time; short term is good. Otherwise, long term investments is good.)
Another key takeaway that I had was that of the difficulty in prioritisation. It may be important to develop future technologies to stay ahead but it may not be feasible to spend important resources on developing future technology which we have no idea of its success when there are many more pressing problems that we are facing currently such as world hunger and the lack of access to clean water and sanitation in some of the poorest countries in the world. It is also not wise to completely not look into future technology as this will cause the country to fall behind. It is about finding that balance, something that may be essentially difficult to achieve.
Issues for discussion
One of the issues I felt could be raised for discussion would be how accurate such predictions could be even based on the amount of information that we amassed related to the topic, as a result of singularity, there could be new information being produced everyday which would change the way the prediction would be as it would have to be constantly recalculated in light of the new information. Moreover, there are numerous other factors that could affect the final result between now and the time in which the prediction can verified which would substantially question the accuracy of such predictions.
Another issue which I felt could be raised for discussion would be that of which of the methods used in predictions could be said to be the most effective in producing the most accurate prediction? It is definite that the different methods must be used in conjunction and a decision is made on the totality of the evidence but it is also necessary to evaluate the various methods of predictions to see which one is the most useful to refine the method of predictions to that of the most streamlined and accurate prediction framework possible.
Responses to the presentations
I had my individual presentation this week and it was very enjoyable to be able to share my ideas on Technological forecasting and its impacts with the class. I would like to thank the class for being such a great audience and for participating in the mini experiment that I tried to conduct at the beginning of my presentation. I thought that the implications on the social, political drivers and emerging technologies were the most exciting parts of the article and I was glad to be able to present that to the class.
My classmate and groupmate LingZhen also raised a question which was whether we thought that 1 degree celsius increase in the global temperature levels could really affect the world. As the world is made up of a lot of intricate interconnecting processes are are all interdependent, any slight change in any one of this processes could cause a wide-ranging effect much less a whole 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures. This means that every little thing that we do can have a very large contributory effect to the world at large and it is important to think of how we can minimise our environmental impact and ecological footprint as much as possible.
Personal ratings for the session
When I heard that this was to be my presentation topic I was intially quite confused because I had no idea of what the topic entailed. It seemed very wide and all encompassing which made it quite difficult to find a jumping off point. After going through my research and through this lesson with Professor Shahi I was amazed and enlightened as to the extent to which the future could be predicted and the ideas on how to structure a prediction. I would definitely like to try planning my own prediction in the future. I found this lesson very enlightening which will go a long way in helping me structure my own prediction for the technology of the future.
I would rate this lesson an 8/10.
Next week, we will be going through the presentations that the different groups have prepared on future technologies on their webpage. This definitely promises to provide a different persepctive to the way I look at the world today and my projections for its future and using the frameworks that I have learnt today, I am excited to see how next week's lesson will be.
Cheers,
Amanda Tan
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Individual Topical Review Paper
Underwater
Habitats[1]
Amanda
Kimberly Tan Hui Ting (amanda.tan.2013@law.smu.edu.sg),
1st Year student, Bachelor of Laws, Singapore Management
University
Executive
Summary
This
paper seeks to understand the need for construction of underwater cities, the
feasibility of such construction and the viability of adoption of this
alternative underwater living method in the future with the aim of looking at
this as a possible emergency evacuation solution to worsening global warming
levels. To explore these three issues, this paper will look at the historical
development of underwater habitats from the time humans began to dive and use
submarines to Aquarius the last standing underwater research base existing.
This paper will also look into current development of underwater habitats in
which the three of the most notable current underwater habitats will be
considered. Lastly, this paper will examine the future considerations of
underwater habitats in three parts. The first will be the feasibility of
building these underwater habitats, the possible socio-economic and
environmental implications that building underwater habitats will result in and
lastly some future projections that have been made about how underwater
habitats will be constructed and used in time to come.
Introduction
The
world today is warming up and global mean temperature is slated to increase of
between 1-3 degrees Celsius. (NASA, 2013) As
such, parts of our world such as Europe are projected to suffer from a higher
susceptibility of flash floods occurring inland, coastal flooding happening at
an increasing rate and an inflated amount of erosion due to storms and a rise
in the sea levels as well as the mountainous area suffering from incidences of glacial
retreat, all of which would make it increasingly untenable to live on land. (NASA, 2013)
This
paper would like to propose the solution of an underwater habitat as a possible
form of alternative habitat that could be used as an emergency alternative
living space or as a long term habitat should global warming continue to worsen.
This is with the assumption that global warming will be causing a rise in sea
levels and flooding that makes it unsuitable to live on land without taking
into consideration any other possible environmental damage that has not yet
surfaced as an effect of global warming.
An underwater habitat is defined as a physical
structure which enables people to work and live underwater. (Amador, 2012) and this
structure will be equipped with the full facilities to accommodate human life. Underwater
habitats need not solely be used as a solution for alternative living in light
of global warming. They can also be used for scientific research such as Aquarius
or as part of a tourist attraction for those who would like to experience
undersea living such as the Poseidon.
1.
Historical perspectives
The historical
perspectives in this section will be examined in two parts. The first would be to
examine the initial developments of underwater exploration. The second part
will be to understand humans’ experiences living underwater, touching on how we
developed from underwater diving to underwater transport in the form of
submarines to constructing underwater habitats which were habitable for short
periods of time.
1.1 Initial development of Underwater
exploration
The first time that humans experienced life
underwater would be arguably when they started diving. Although there have been
some reports of people in ancient Greek mythology using hollow reeds to breathe
underwater, the first time there was formalized diving for a length of time would
be when people began to use diving bells in the 16 century with its lower
portion exposed to the water and its upper part containing air compressed by
water pressure. This would allow them to breathe the air contained in the bell,
leaving it for short periods of time to explore their underwater surroundings. (Marine Bio, 2013)
Diving equipment was refined and another inroad into
underwater habitation which must be mentioned was the invention and development
of the submarine. Although many inventors had some preliminary ideas regarding
submarines before him, Robert Fulton invented one of the first successful
submarines in 1801 which had most notably, with surfaced and submerged
operations using different propulsion systems. It also contained containers of
compressed air which allowed a two-man crew to remain below the water for a
period of 5 hours. (Bellis, 2013)
1.2 Saturation Diving
A major breakthrough in the development of
underwater living was the development of saturation diving. This was explored
in Dr George F. Bond’s project, Project Genesis which aimed to prove that
humans could be able to subvert the difficulties of deep diving and experience prolonged
times at great depth. (Bedolfe, 2012) This
led them to develop a method of diving known as saturation diving. This is
where the pressure of the atmosphere inside the underwater habitat is equal to
the pressure in the water and creating a system of sustained pressurization,
allowing the divers to be able to be able to move in and out of the underwater
habitat without having to decompress between trips. (How Stuff Works, 2013) It was
also found that decompression could be postponed for a long period of time as
long as the diver had a sufficiently well-equipped habitat. The habitat would need
to have air that was constantly being circulated and that was pressurized to
equal the water pressure outside and an entrance hatch in the floor that allows
the aquanauts to enter and exit the habitat. The diver could go deeper with one
long decompression process when they wanted to come to the surface. Currently,
at Aquarius, another underwater habitat, one decompression process lasts for 18
hours. (Hellwarth, 2012)
1.3 Development of Underwater Living
The development of saturation diving led American
inventor Edwin A. Link to create a tethered capsule which he named
Man-in-the-Sea and lowered a diver in it to a depth of 200 feet (61m) for a
period of 24 hours. (How Stuff Works, 2013) Subsequently,
Jacques Cousteau built the Conshelf I (Continental Shelf Station One), which was
located 10m (30ft) beneath the surface near Marseilles, France and had 2 inhabitants
for a period of 7 days. (Bedolfe, 2012)
Subsequently, Conshelf II, constructed in 1963
continued to use the concept of saturation diving. It was structured with main depth
at a similar depth as Conshelf I with 6 inhabitants for a period of one month.
It had a further addition of a deep cabin, where 2 men stayed at a depth of 30m
(100ft) deep, permitting their bodies to undergo complete saturation with
breathing mixture of helium. They also had a hangar, containing a submersible
(the Diving Saucer), pioneering an operation of the submersible from an
underwater base. (Bedolfe, 2012)
Consequently, other habitats were built also
for the purposes of research.
One of the notable habitats built were Sealab
I, II and III under the Sealab Program. Sealab I was built almost 200 feet beneath
the water surface, located 25 miles southeast of Bermuda with 4 Sealab
aquanauts living here for 3 weeks. Sealab II followed soon after off the coast
of La Jolla close to San Diego, which put forward the used of a trained dolphin
to run errands. Sealab II which was located at a depth of 600 feet (183m)
however, was discontinued following the death of a diver. (How Stuff
Works, 2013) (Hellwarth, 2012)
Then there was the Tektite program which was
located off St John island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, had underwater habitats
which were only located at a depth of 45 feet but it involved 12 scientific
teams spending 20 to 60 days underwater which was a longer duration than most
other projects. (Hellwarth, 2012)
There was also a West German Helgoland project
which showed significant progress in underwater habitats as it was able to be
located in a colder climate in the waters of the North Sea. (How Stuff
Works, 2013)
Another such habitat was the Hydrolab owned by
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This was a 43-foot
tank that housed a laboratory and started as a project of the Florida Atlantic
University. It was later changed and bettered over time to play host to
numerous scientist-aquanauts in their missions that were run in the waters off
Bermuda and St Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Hellwarth,
2012)
Later, there was Aegir, the mainstay of a Hawaiian
marine research center that was tested by having it placed at the depths of
more than 500 feet. This was constructed with 2 identical chambers in cylinder
shape laid end to end and joined by a 10-foot circular-shaped diving station. The
structure was raised on to a platform and flanked, pontoon-like, by two thinner
cylinders which formed an unique system structure to manage the buoyancy levels
which provided the ability for it to be mobile. Once moved to a specific site,
Aegir could then be submerged and would surface as easily as a submarine would. (Hellwarth, 2012)
Subsequently, La Chalupa consisted of the added
features of system to control the level of buoyancy and a increased ease in mobility.
It was constructed to mimic a barge on the outside measuring 50 feet long and 20
feet wide and containing 2 tank-like chambers which were joined to form living
quarters. It was structured to be able to be able to take crews of five for a
period of a month and could be lowered to depths of a hundred feet. Now, it has
since been converted into Jules’ Undersea Lodge, which currently remains the
world’s only underwater hotel, located in about 30 feet of water in a Key Largo
lagoon in Florida Keys, at a shallow enough depth such that little decompression
is required. (Hellwarth, 2012)
2. Current
situation
There are
currently a number of underwater structures that have been constructed or are
being proposed in the world today but for the purposes of this paper, the three
structures that the author found to be most notable will be discussed.
2.1 Current
underwater structures in the world today
2.1.1
Jules Undersea Lodge
Jules Undersea Lodge, a underwater habitat that was
converted from La Chalupa research laboratory, is located in Key Largo Florida.
It stands at a depth of 30 feet below the water surface and provides about 600
square feet of living space to host 6 inhabitants. Notably, it stands an
estimated 5 feet from the bottom of the lagoon where it is located and contains
compressed air, which prevents water from rising and flooding the rooms. (Jules Undersea Lodge, 2013)
2.1.2
Poseidon Undersea Resort
Poseidon Undersea Resort is located in and
surrounded by a 7.8 square mile lagoon at a depth of 90 feet. It has not
started to take any visitors yet but is set to promote a revolutionary tourist
experience with the ability to accommodate 7,200 people upon opening of its
bookings, a 9 hole golf course and a
chapel to consecrate weddings. Tourism for the wealthy is likely to become one
of the main functions that underwater habitats will be serving should it
continue to develop. (Poseidon Undersea Resorts, 2013)
2.1.3
Aquarius
The last undersea lab still in operation now is
Aquarius located at a depth of 60 feet (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, 2013) , in Key Largo Florida and houses
scientists who research there on a fortnightly basis from April to November for
as long as the hurricane season allows. (Bedolfe,
2012)
Future
Considerations
In the
discussion of the future considerations, this paper will be considering it in
three parts. Firstly, the feasibility of underwater cities will be examined and
this paper will be looking at it in terms of the various components of the
underwater habitat and the ability to construct it in a manner that is
sustainable to human life before moving onto the other considerations that will
affect its feasibility. Next, the paper will at the implications that living in
underwater habitats will have on society from the social, economic and
environmental perspective and lastly, consider what are some of the future
projections of the structure of underwater habitats moving forward.
3.
Feasibility
3.1
Availability of Food and Water
Food is
likely to be grown using hydroponics as proposed by Phil Pauley in his design
of sub-Biosphere 2 which suggests that an underwater habitat should have a seed
bank to grow hydroponic crops. (Zimmer, 2013)
Alternatively, farming and aquaculture could be used in food production. (Chino, 2011) Cooking of
food underwater is possible but is often avoided because of its smell and that
the fumes seem stronger in static air. (Nuwer, 2013)
This may result in a need to find alternative ways of cooking the food such as
building a vending machine that is able to contain the smell and the fumes in
processing the food.
With
regards to the provision of water, it has been proposed that a viable option
would be to transport freshwater from the surface or create it through
condensation or desalination. This however, may not prove to be a very
sustainable water source and may run out especially in situations of nature
disaster where freshwater from the surface is not readily available. (Nuwer, 2013)
3.2
Availability of a sustainable energy source
There
are currently a number of ways that have been suggested to produce sufficient
energy to be able to power the underwater city sustainably for a long period of
time.
One
such suggestion would be as in the proposed design of the Water-Scraper by
Sarly Andre Bin Sarkum where it creates its own electricity through wind, wave and
solar power and is kept upright using a system of ballasts supported by a set
of squid-like tentacles which produce kinetic energy. (Chino, 2011) The
wave power is likely to be produced by wave energy converters on the surface of
the underwater habitat, through sea-floor heat vents or generated when the flow
of huge currents like the Gulf Stream are harnessed. (Heathcote, 2013)
Another sustainable method of energy production
in undersea habitats would be to use algae that is grown in specifically designed
floating bags at the surface to allow for photosynthesis and then harvested to
produce biofuel which can be used to generate energy as well as form a source
of food. (Heathcote, 2013)
3.3
Availability of the right composition of
gases
When the body is under a certain level of pressure,
it needs different amounts of the various air components and the specific air
composition that is necessary to support any given underwater habitat will be determined
according to the depth of the habitat. Hence,
below a certain depth, more measures may be necessary to maintain a certain
ratio of oxygen to other gases in the air such as that of nitrogen at 500 ft
(150m) and helium at less than 1000 ft (300m). (Nuwer, 2013)
Helium would
be used at greater depths as an oxygen and nitrogen mixture produces harmful
physiological effects but this too has its negative consequences as helium
carries off body heat so quickly that it causes the aquanauts to suffer from
cold and from communication difficulties because their helium distorts their
voices. (How Stuff Works, 2013)
One possible way of maintaining a constant supply
of oxygen could include the abovementioned algae or the growing of plants using
natural or artificial light which can act as a filter of the excesses of carbon
dioxide and produce oxygen through photosynthesis. (Heathcote, 2013)
Underwater
inhabitants would be able to move around the underwater environment by using
hookah lines which are hollow tubes up to 400 feet long which is connected to
their face masks or helmets and their living quarters. This allows both
breathing and communication. Alternatively, scuba tanks can also be used. (Nuwer, 2013)
3.4
Removal of human waste and other waste
products
Human
waste can be treated and released into the environment or cooked down to a fine
ash. The feasibility of such methods of disposing of human waste however, would
be dependent on the size of the colony as a large colony may result in an
inability to manage the substantial amount of waste created. (Nuwer, 2013)
Moreover, if the people staying in the underwater habitats were to produce
waste at America’s current level of waste production, which is estimated at 220
million tons of waste a year (Duke, 2013) ,
this rate of waste production is likely to be unmanageable. It is necessary
therefore to have education and environmental awareness programs such that the
people who live underwater would be aware of the need to reduce, reuse and
recycle and conserve resources, such that waste is not produced at a rate where
it cannot be effectively disposed of and significantly pollutes the surrounding
environment.
3.5
Possible effects on medical health
There
may be a risk of suffering from a condition known as the bends which can cause
pain and even death, should underwater divers return to the surface without
decompression. The time needed for decompression extends in direct proportion
with the amount of time spent underwater. This can be solved by constructing
the structure to have a pressure of 1 atmosphere[2] which is
the same as that on land. (Heathcote, 2013)
Living
underwater also limits the inhabitant’s access to sunlight. Sunlight is
necessary for the human body’s absorption of vitamin D which enables the body in
its absorption of calcium from food and supplements, strengthens the immune
system and prevents the elderly from suffering from osteoporosis. (Office of Dietary Supplements,
National Institutes of Health, 2013)
In
light of the deficiency of sunlight due to living underwater, solar lamps could
be used to provide inhabitants with the sunlight that they need to obtain the
necessary minerals and nutrients.
3.6 Durability
and maintenance of the underwater habitat
The
underwater city is likely to face structural deterioration and decay and would
have to be built to be robust to withstand water pressure, storms and
hurricanes. It is suggested that the best material to be used would be
polymethyl methacrylate or Plexiglass, which is able to withstand the pressure
of water better even than steel. Also, its curves provide the material with
extra rigidity. Currently, one underwater habitat prototype known as H2OME was
constructed to have a 25-year lifespan but it is likely to last longer due to
the reduced amount of oxygen at greater depths of the ocean. Cleaning and
maintenance, however, would pose a challenge due to the need to lift the whole
structure from beneath the ocean using heavy lifting gear. Instead, a more
viable solution would be to not clean the habitat and instead allow marine life
to grow around it, which would protect the structure. (Heathcote, 2013)
3.7
Finding the optimum depth in which to build
the structure
The
best depth to build the structure would be about 15 meters in depth because
about 97 percent of all ocean life is in the top 10 meters. It would be
possible to reach a depth of 200 meters this would require extremely heavy-duty
viewing ports and there would be no light. (Heathcote, 2013)
Moreover,
building these underwater structures at a level building deeper than 1,000 feet (300m) would cause
the structure to experience very high pressure at such depths (Nuwer, 2013)
and would be less feasible as it would need to be enhanced with very thick
walls.
4. Implications
Next,
this paper will examine the implications that having an underwater habitat will
create in terms of the social, economic and environmental implications.
4.1 Socio-Economic Impacts
4.1.1 Increasing the Income Gap
There
is a higher cost associated with living underwater as the underwater structures
are still very expensive to build. A site off the coast of Florida would cost
in the range of $10 million to build and transport the materials as well as
another $500, 000 to $1 million to install the structure at the desired
location. (Heathcote, 2013) As a result,
underwater living may later become the preserve of the rich and the poor would
have no choice but to live above ground and suffer from the increasing levels
of pollution and the threat of the harmful effects of global warming. This
would essentially widen the gap between the rich and poor and would be heavily
socially divisive.
4.1.2 Lack of public support for such programs
When
countries such as India decided to invest in a space program, there was
difficulty in sustaining public support for these programs because the people
were not able to draw the links between the space-based assets and the public
services that they can render to the population, being hampered by a lack of
scientific literacy. (M. Ansdell, 2011) Similarly,
people may not be able to appreciate the severity of the threat of global
warming which may cause them to feel that their governments are investing in an
unnecessary expense and not investing sufficient resources in more pressing
concerns such as trying to alleviate the widening income gap by investing in
distributing resources to the poor. This would cause displeasure and dissent in
the population which may lead to strikes and protests which would affect the
smooth running of the country.
4.2 Environmental
4.2.1 Ability to obtain better environmental
research
Having
an underwater habitat could lead to a significant increase in the amount of
undersea research. According to Tom
Potts, director of the Aquarius Reef Base, divers from the surface have about
an hour-and-a-half per day to do all their work. However, if they were able to
inhabit the bottom of the ocean for 30 to 60 days, it is likely that their
productivity could increase exponentially. (Nuwer, 2013)
Moreover,
there may be significant environmental resources that can be tapped on under
the sea. Recent research produced showed that hot streams of water spewed from
undersea vents produces a rich mineral mix emerging from beneath the seabed
which could be collected and “mined”, accessing minerals much easier than
traditional mining methods. Also, looking into aquaculture and the processes
and chemical transformations in undersea organisms may reveal new resources for
essential human needs such as medicine and fuel. (Heathcote,
2013)
That
said, there have been recent advances in the field of diving technology in
areas such as development of circuit re-breathers, devices that recirculate the
divers breathing gas. These devices are able to sustain the divers for extended
depths prolonged durations in excess of four to six hours which will facilitate
their exploration of the sea floor without the need for an underwater habitat
to provide a base from which one would carry out this research. (Amador, 2012)
This
could negate the need for underwater habitats in research in the future as one
would able to conduct all the necessary research using these devices. However,
there may still be health risks in the usage of these devices and hence it may
be more prudent to continue to have a underwater habitat to form as base which
the divers could return to should any mishap occur with regards to their diving
equipment.
4.2.2 Change in the ecological balance
Although
current experiments with underwater living have not surfaced any distruptions
to the ecological balance, there could also be a severe environmental and
ecological impact especially on the marine life because by introducing a
foreign component to the ecosystem, it may disturb the balance of the ecosystem
and conversely increase the likelihood of natural disasters of the sea and the
ocean. This may however, only surface after an extended period of underwater
habitat as distruptions to the ecological system do not surface the problems
immediately. This is something we need to keep in mind when building such
habitats and should identify any effects we may have on the marine ecological
environment and develop solutions to limit the amount of damage created as much
as possible.
4.3 Others
The
implications analysed in this section do not fall under any particular category
and constitute some of the author’s own thoughts with regards to other possible
implications that could surface which have not been raised in the sources from
which this paper took reference.
4.3.1 Inaccessible to people with special needs such as the elderly and the
disabled
The
elderly and the disabled are unlikely to be able to stay in these underwater
habitats as they would require to scuba dive into the underwater habitats which
they may face limitations due to their lack of mobility.
However,
Sue Austin, a disabled lady, has been able to use an underwater wheelchair to
perform a range of acrobatic maneuvers underwater which looks like underwater
ballet. (Austin, 2013) The underwater wheelchair
supports her body completely. This could be the solution for people with
limited mobility to eventually begin living underwater.
4.3.2 Solving problems of overpopulation
Although there is currently ample
underwater space as this space is still untapped, having a limit to the depth
that can be built for the underwater space would result in the space
constraints that countries experience on land to be translated to the
underwater space. Moreover, as every country would want to capitalize on this
underwater habitat to build an alternative living space in times of disaster,
this will exacerbate the problem and we may be merely moving the overpopulation
problem from above land to below land.
5. Possible future developments
In the
future, we are likely to use rapid deployment portable inflatable habitats to
facilitate our deep decompression dives, which have been projected to be able
to conduct even deeper dives.
Future
habitats could also be equipped with satellites to facilitate clearer and more
efficient communication. Moreover, underwater habitats were really to be
used as future emergency evacuation solution as according to Ian Koblick,
further technological advances may be needed to expand the current
infrastructure to be able to support a larger population as this will be
required to expand the systems for evacuation in emergencies and how air supply
and humidity is environmentally controlled. (Nuwer, 2013)
Future
habitats should look towards having increased depth and allowing for humans to
be able to spend a longer duration of
being underwater whilst being disaster proofed. Getting funding for support of
further development of underwater habitats may be difficult in the current
economic climate with foreclosures on homes on land in countries such as
America. A large part of exploration programs even in healthy economic climates
may also be considered unusual and may not be funded. Conversely, the way in
which funding bodies provide instant reviews and promote projects with high
risks that are aligned with current industry trends will be the driver that
promotes exploration in the field and will continue to spark off innovation in
this area.
Conclusion
In conclusion, people often fear what they do not
know but understanding the unknown is the first step to create innovation. In
light of the research found in this underwater habitats are likely to be a
viable alternative emergency and
evacuation habitat in light of the global warming problems in our world today
or even as a habitat used for tourism and maybe further in the future as a
permanent alternative habitat. However, more must be done to research into the
future implications that such underwater habitats. People may not be initially
receptive to such ideas as they might such an expense unwarranted but it is
through improved awareness programs they will be able to understand the
benefits of having an emergency evacuation strategy in the form of an
underwater habitat. The paper believes that it will only be a matter of time
before underwater habitats become our home.
Bibliography
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(2013, 09 30). BBC. Retrieved 10 2013, from bbc.com:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130930-can-we-build-underwater-cities
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www.oneworldoneocean.com/blog/undersea-labs-50-years-of-living-underwater#.UmHX8RBI6V
Zimmer, L. (2013, 10 28). inhabitat. Retrieved 11 2,
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