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The End of Climate Change?; As well as a leap into the future...
Topic Started: Aug 27 2009, 05:51 PM (1,495 Views)
Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8223528.stm

It's not much of a big thing now, but anyone with an IQ above that of a fifth grader can tell you that this technology has huge potential. Artificial trees? Sure, they just catch the carbon dioxide rather than actually convert it to oxygen, but that's half-way to mankind's biggest leap in technology since Apollo 11. Think about it, if we can make them more efficient and actually able to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, they'd be one of the greatest things we've ever made. Why? Well, if they take the useless carbon dioxide from the air and make it into life-giving oxygen here on Earth, what about someplace like Mars or Venus? Especially Venus; we could use this technology to terraform the planet, given that it currently removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. We could remove enough of it to make the atmosphere similar to Earth's then just flip the switch from "Store" to "Convert," so to speak. And Mars, though it lacks much of an atmosphere now, could be given the carbon dioxide from Earth and Venus and, again, flip from "Store" to "Convert" and you have two perfectly terraformed planets in only a few centuries!

I also read an article (that I can no longer find, damn you Propeller News!) about scientists attempting to create artificial chloroplasts, which would be exactly what the artificial trees need. We're on the verge of a revolution, I just hope that the people working on it actually see the potential in combining the two creations and improving their efficiency. Of course, if history has taught us anything, it takes centuries before anyone with common sense figures out how to put two complimentary inventions together...
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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KayKay
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I just hope this doesn't affect incentive to keep or plant trees, or make people less hesitant to destroy natural habitats.
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lamna
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Hurrah, finally a better solution than "Stop civilization and eat crap from the woods"
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Hooray!

Yes, I think the artificial trees could be used to terraform Mars and maybe Venus, but we still have to get them up there first.
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Yorick
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Quote:
 
I just hope this doesn't affect incentive to keep or plant trees, or make people less hesitant to destroy natural habitats.


Agreed
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colddigger
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why would it? most people buy trees and such because they look nice, unless you're like one those whites from the book ''stuff white people like'' you're not going to think that your tree is that significant in the CO2 O2 conversion thing...
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Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

Trees make a yard look nice. Big hunks of metal? Not so much.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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Yes, it is very unlikely that people would get rid of real trees just to replace them with metal ones.
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

I like this idea and the technology will work. But it still won't solve climate change.

Maybe I'm being cynical or misanthropic, but when this technology comes on-line, people will produce more carbon emissions. They'll think: "Hey, this 'tree' will clean it up for us. Who cares how much I produce?". So this, while helping a little, won't solve climate change. It will terraform Mars and Venus (both of which we'll need when the Earth goes out-of-control with climate change), but it won't save Earth.
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ATEK Azul
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This will also encourage fossil fuel which we need to get out of other wise Civilisation is doomed with in the next 200 years at most and that is an over estimate by far most likely.
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What do you mean this won't save Earth? Venus is in a terrible state right now, with lots more carbon dioxide than on Earth. And to think that humans will stay in this irrational state of "get what what you want, however you want, it no matter what bad it do, as long as it benefit you, it good" is simply conservative. Humans aren't that stupid and unwilling to exuviate this mindset! Sure, they are usually very greedy and arrogant, but as humans learn that the ecosystems are what perpetuate their very existence at the moment, they will be encouraged to research cleaner methods of obtaining energy. Seeing that humans did not discover that burning coal for powering their factories and other machinery threatens their world as it pumped CO2 into the atmosphere that traps heat until relatively recently, they will learn from this mistake and after they suck it out with these artificial trees, they will rely on cleaner methods of energy. But the world dosen't exist just to keep you alive, it is there for you to admire, love, and enjoy. Who would want to see a bland world with no robust ecosystems and many interesting fauna are extinct, anyway?

As for the technology itself, this is just excellent! But the surface area could be increased in order to increase efficiency, but still, this is a marvelous new invention! But I actually read about it earlier though it didn't emphasize the amount of potential this new technology has.
Edited by Giant Blue Anteater, Aug 28 2009, 11:13 PM.
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colddigger
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agreed, this invention would be mind bogglingly useful, not just for cleaning the atmosphere of various planets but also for deepsea diving, space exploration, and possibly even for firefighters.

personally i feel a specific mindset shouldn't be applied to humanity, since every individual has its own way of thinking and it will likely be that people who care about the environment and understand its importance and people who do not realize how significant it is and will cause more destruction than needed will always exist. If these machines are ever made in large enough numbers and are efficient enough then at least we will be able to balance out the air pollutants produced by clearing rainforest and burning fossil fuels.

also, the planet isn't dying, so there's no need to say ''save the planet'', it's doing fine, just changing due to various influences, some directly connected to mankind, some not. a better thing to do is to be more specific, such as ''save the many kinds of whales that are endangered, they are quite pleasant to watch and their dead bodies produce a variety of interesting ecosystems at the bottom of the ocean'' or ''cease destroying so much of the South American rainforest, perhaps maintaining what space you have at this moment and making better management decisions would be best''. i'm just saying, ''save the planet'' seems more appropriate when a large meteor is heading for Earth or some kind of nanobot apocalypse is about to occur.

as for the surface area thing, they can base it on what many organelles do, lotsa wrinkles and nooks and whatnot, but they can work that out once the process itself has been...perfected...for lack of a better word...
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lamna
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It seems like "Humanity" for some people is a totally different species to them, for them "Humans" are at best stupid, and generally selfish, malevolent and generally out to be evil. But they skip over the fact that they are humans too.

Civilization is not doomed. The Renaissance happened as the world's climate became colder and harsher, the USA's wealth and power comes from getting Europe back on it's feet after WW1, and getting of it's lazy ass in WW2. Civilization has lived though plague and war and will keep doing so.

Besides right now what we need is time. Building atomic power plants takes time, and changing public opinion takes longer. We don't have the ability to stop using hydrocarbons for fuel right now, we simply don't.
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

I knew that sounded cynical.

I'm not saying that humans aren't in and of themselves good. There are a few good people out there (Mother Teresa). But there is always the occasional evil person that can basically turn the world on its head (Adolf Hitler).

I hope we wake up (in fact, I pray we wake up). And, while there is a large supply of good people out there that could solve climate change, there is always that one guy looking for a route to his own satisfaction, the guy looking out for number one. And it's usually this guy who screws the world over.

Yes, this is a great technology. Yes, it could solve climate change (which is in no way endangering our planet. It's endangering life (humans probably), but not our planet). But this technology (combined with the arrogance of all but a few humans) could destroy our species.

I try to always give humans the benefit of the doubt and see the good side in humanity's actions, but sometimes I just go into misanthropic fits. By that, I mean I just hate humanity. I would go out and shoot up the town, but I'll rant about it.

And I know I'm a human. I'm not placing myself on a higher pedastel than everyone else. I'm human, like you all. I'm not better than anyone. I've got the potential for greatness, like every human does. But I, along with every other human, also have the potential for destruction.

It's not whether a technology will solve all our problems. It's how we choose to use, or respond to, that technology. We can either listen to our potential for greatness, or we can let destruction swallow us whole.

I know we can bounce back from this. Maybe we could come out of it stronger than ever. But there's always that chance.

Hence why we will never develop utopia. We could develop something close, but utopia is a far-off dream that will remain out of our reach.
Edited by Canis Lupis, Aug 29 2009, 03:44 PM.
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Canis Lupis
Aug 29 2009, 03:43 PM
Hence why we will never develop utopia. We could develop something close, but utopia is a far-off dream that will remain out of our reach.
What do you mean by utopia, exactly? If it means no violence, then no, that may never stop. But if you mean a united planet Earth, then that is totally possible, as humans will learn that sticking together will allow them to accomplish more as a species. But violence, namely the crap that's going on in poverty-struck regions of Africa, may never stop entirely. But with a united world, it could be heavily reduced.
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