Author Archives: Mohfai

Notes 12/18/18

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Announcements

Today was the first day of the final presentations. Chris, Tyler, Vishal, Sheng, and Pedro went today. On Thursday its:

  1. Justin
  2. Phoenixx
  3. Sajida
  4. Stanley
  5. Mohammad

We might discuss West World on Thursday if we have time so make sure to bring your notes. Also don’t forget the final course reflection is due on Thursday.

Presentations:

  1. Chris- The connection between Star Wars and China. His presentation talked about how the teachings of taoism is related to the force and how the powers of the force were influenced by teachings of the taoism.
  2. Tyler- Life Extension. He basically talked about life extension is, and the flaws.
  3. Vishal- The cruel truth of Uplifting. He talked about what is Uplifting. The pros and cons of Uplifting, also, gave examples of Uplifting going wrong. 
  4. Sheng- Human Genetic modification. She talked about how with genetic modification you can create a human with whatever gene you want but it is going to cost you a lot of money.
  5. Pedro-The Influence of Science Fiction on the perception of Real World Technology. He talked about how science fiction influenced the inventions of robots and A.I. Also how movies and shows made a negative perspective for robots and A.I.

If you want to check their presentations out you can click on the titles and it will bring you to a pdf version of the presentation.

 

 

Terraforming and why it is important

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Abstract

Science fiction has introduced so many fascinating ideas and topics. One of the most interesting is terraforming. Terraforming is when an hostile environment like mars altered to be suitable for human life. NASA has been trying to find a way to terraform Mars. Terraforming is necessary in the later future. In the future humans will eventually be overpopulated and that will cause a lot problems for humans and the earth itself. So terraforming is very important for human kind and the earth’s survival.

In the later future humans will eventually be overpopulated. This is a big issue for them and the earth. According to Science Alert, the human population is rapidly increasing and by 2050 the population is estimated to be around 9.9 billion. Overpopulation will cause a lot of problems for the future generation. They won’t be able to function as we do today. Overpopulation will also cause environmental issues. There will no clean water, life expectancy will be lower, food shortages, and plants and animals will be extinct. So it is crucial for humans to terraform another planet for their own survival. Even CEO of Tesla, Elong Musk, agrees that terraforming is possible and that it will help humans in the future.

Download (PPTX, 5.92MB)

Mohammad Faisal-Terraforming final cover letter

 

Terraforming

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In science fiction there are many fascinating topics or themes. One of the most interesting topics in my opinion is terraforming. Terraforming means transforming a planet or other bodies to maintain life. Although, this is a hypothetical process, we might be getting closer to terraforming. In the recent years, NASA, has been trying to find a way to terraform Mars. They have been sending Rovers to find more information about the planet. This shows that we might be getting closer to achieving terraforming.

I want to argue why terraforming is important for us, human beings. Terraforming may not be ethical, but we might have to depend on this process in the future as our population is increasing and when we face the issue of overpopulation.

This topic is indeed controversial and debatable among. Elong Musk himself said this is possible and others say it is not possible with the technology we have today and that it is not ethical for us to use planets that is not even ours. However, at the rate technology is increasing, maybe someday in the near future it will be possible, and it will not be just a topic of science fiction. For it not being ethical, I think people will not think of it after it has been done and when they will be able to move in and not worry about overpopulating the place.

Reference:

https://sites.google.com/a/depauw.edu/terraforming-mars/what-is-terraforming

This post talks about what Terraforming is. So, I used it to gain a better understanding.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming

This post talks about how it is not currently possible to terraform Mars with our current technology.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/08/01/mars-terraform-nasa-elon-musk/878404002/

This is post is basically the point of views or argument between Elong Musk and NASA

https://science.howstuffworks.com/terraforming1.htm

This post talks about how terraforming works.

Alternate Future Revised

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In the world of science fiction, the topic Alternate Future is quite confusing and broad. According to Business Dictionary, Alternate Future is a concept that individuals or more suggests using their foresight and by making their decision they can select from many different possibilities to reach where they want to reach. However, that is still quite vague and broad. There are many ways to describe Alternate Future. For example, it is the same thing as a parallel universe and an Apocalyptic world that is similar to ours. These topics are shown in Doctor Who, The Incredibles, Fallout (Series), and Superman: Red Son. All these are set in either a parallel world or an Apocalyptic world that is similar to ours.

Even though, Alternate Future is broad I want to argue why it is important in our lives. With just the idea of Alternate Future we can create better futures for ourselves. It makes us think of the question “What if?”. It helps us think different ways that leads to more solutions. Alternate Future lets us imagine, gives us creativity. People are thinking all the time. Every time we think of something that we don’t do but can do creates an Alternate Future. So, I want to argue how it is important in our daily lives and how it can help us move toward the future.

 

 

Reference:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/alternative-futures.html


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibles

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_(series)

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son

 

https://www.ted.com/talks/anab_jain_why_we_need_to_imagine_different_futures?referrer=playlist-alternate_timelines_of_the_future

 

https://www.ted.com/talks/nnedi_okorafor_sci_fi_stories_that_imagine_a_future_africa?referrer=playlist-alternate_timelines_of_the_future

 

Alternate Future

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When you think of Science fiction, you think of a lot of futuristic things. The most fascinating topic is alternate future. It almost sounds like Fantasy, but when you think about it, it’s actually really scientific and hard to explain. So instead, think of it like this, you have to two choices and you pick one of them and go along with it. The alternate future is basically is if you would’ve picked the other choice. Another way is that it’s the future that is similar to ours but different.

Alternate future is indeed a really confusing and complicated topic. However, that doesn’t stop it from making amazing stories. Some great examples are The Fallout(series), Superman: Red Son, The incredibles, and Doctor Who. These are set in an alternate future where the world is similar to ours but is different in a way where people have powers and some can time travel. 

Reference:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibles

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_(series)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternate_history_fiction

Westworld

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The television series “Westworld” is amazing series. I am almost done with the first season. It portrays science fiction like no other show. It has almost every aspect of science fiction. It is set in the future and have a game with actual androids that can feel and understand everything like an actual human being.

When I saw the first episode I was blown away. This show caught my attention at first with its beginning and how it started but the ending of the episode really made me watch the second one and the ones after. Since it was the first episode it was confusing at first. Everything was shifting around until it all came together at the end of the episode. In the beginning we see Ted riding a train to this town. He looks like everyone, he looks normal, and exactly how a cowboy is supposed to look like. 

When got off the train you can see how the town really looks like. It looks like every other western style or as you would see it in any cowboy movies. There was a lot of going around as Ted was walking to the saloon. As he was drinking he saw a girl, it was Delores. He seems to know her. When they met they talked then started to make out and head to her house. When they arrive at her they see that some people are harassing her dad or rather he is dead. Ted goes for the rescue but some mysterious person comes and kills Ted and everyone except for Delores, he supposedly rapes her. And at the end you can see that everyone is alive. Ted is not a human. 

This is when I started liking the show. I was simply mind blown. To think that we were looking at a game this whole time. Also how the scenes changed from a futuristic place to an old western setting. This television series shows that how video games can advance in the future. From using just controllers and a console to play. We can invent androids to play a game that is like living in a different world where you are a cowboy and you can do anything to the androids.

Back to The Archive

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On Thursday October 18, 2018 we went to visit the archive once again. Unlike last time we visited the archive we were able to stay in the archive for the whole class. We were allowed to touch the books or magazines but we still had to follow rules and be careful with everything we touched. Also we had keep everything in order.

Now that everyone was allowed to stay in the archive for the whole class I could not wait go and see what I did not see last time. Also read what I could not last time. I think I was one of the first person to go inside and immediately started looking for interesting books and magazines, of course I was careful while touching and taking the books and magazines. Anyways, as I was looking through the books and magazines I noticed that there were familiar things. For example, there was a book about batman. I found that a little weird at first but then I realized batman lives in a world where things are more advanced than they are supposed to be, things like his gadgets and overall technology that people use in that world and age. I also saw Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings this I would have questioned but I realized other genres were added to science fiction as time went on. I found that really interesting, because fantasy is one of my favorite genre along with science fiction.

As I was looking through the books and magazines, I saw some really interesting titles. There were a lot of unique and different ideas when I say a lot I mean like a lot. I was really amazed how these authors came up with these ideas since they lived around time where technology was not advanced like how it is now. Think about it, how can these people think of such amazing stories, also when I am saying this I mean no disrespect to all those authors, because they are amazing. What I am trying to say is that things were just getting started around when science fiction stories were being published. Simply I was overwhelmed after I saw how many different ideas and stories there are. As I was looking I found a collection. It was a book containing all the best science fiction stories that was published in that year. There are a few of them and they contain a decent amount of stories. I picked up the 2016 version of those books.

When I was looking through the table of contents, two stories caught my eye, probably because they were peculiar titles. The titles were Wife Stealing Time and The Death of a Sugar Daddy. I did not get read both stories because I wanted to explore more but I did read a little bit of Wife Stealing Time, it turned out to be a story about one of Sinbad’s travels.

Overall I had fun in the archive, getting to see all the books and magazines was amazing. Hopefully we get to go again so I can discover new things in the archive.

The Smart House

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The story “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury is set in the future. The future, where it seems like the human species or really any other kind of species exist anymore. Everything except the house seems to be extinct.

When you start reading the story you can really tell how advanced the technology has become. The technology is so advanced that the house is self-automated. It does all the work for its owner, who is no longer alive. The whole town where the story is set at was whipped out by some sort of nuclear bomb. Everything was destroyed and there was nuclear radiation everywhere. At first, I thought the story was about the house. However, as I kept reading it was clear that the story is actually about the process of what happens after a nuclear bomb hits some place. You can tell how the house was still standing and how there was a dog that was still alive, but a few seconds later it died due to radiation. Then the house started to burn down due to the massive fire it could not stop.

This story tells us a lot about how people will live in the future. Almost everything seems to be revolved around technology. Everything in the house was done by some sort of a robot or an A.I. It seemed like people did not really have to do anything at all. The house knows who its owner is but does not have the ability to know if they are actually there or not. In the study an artificial voiced asked what to read, since it did not hear anything it just read the favorite poem of its owner. The house also knows when things should be done. Things that were set by its owner at specific time throughout the day. For example, have breakfast ready at seven or tell the kids to go to school when it is time to go to school.

The house did its job, but no one was there to eat or go to school. This story really shows how lonely things are and how bad it can be without humans or any other species around to maintain the equilibrium. After reading this, it occurred to me that this might actually happen sooner than we think. If things continue to be how it is, surely this will definitely happen. The idea of a nuclear war keeps popping. It even did when this story was being written and that was around 1950. Maybe this was a message to people that we should keep our world clean and how we should improve things for the future generation so what happened in the story does not happen. It’s just a guess. Regarding this topic I did like how the author described things throughout the story and how the little mice got mad at the dog when it brought mud into the house. It would cool to have little robot mice clean your house every time there is a mess.

Walk into The Past

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Thursday October 4th, 2018, we went to the library to see an archive. It was not anything kind of archive it was a science fiction archive. Before we were allowed to go in the archive and look around, we discussed about the archive. How it was brought to city tech and who donated all these science fiction magazines. The person who donated this actually wanted to stay anonymous. Talked about few rules, such as, what to touch and what not to touch. Also ask before taking anything that looks like it’s going to fall apart.

When the professor was explaining the archive, I felt as if I was going to walk into the past through some sort of time machine. I did not really know what I was going to feel. To me it just looked normal and plain when we were watching the video about it. However, when I entered the room it was like I was in a museum, except this is only for books and magazines. The smell I found kind of interesting, because I thought the smell of the magazines would be really strong like you can smell without going near it, that was not the case. I had to physically go and try to smell the magazines. I only thought this, because of how old the magazines were. Everything was organized and safely stored away. Some of the magazines looked absolutely destroyed. Since some of the books were in bad condition due how old they were they were wrapped in plastic. I was not expecting the magazines to be in chronological order. I found that pretty cool, since they were in chronological order you can almost feel like as if you are traveling through time. The reason being is that inside the magazines there are ads and from those ads you can see how things have changed over time. You can actually tell a lot about that year or time just by looking at the ad. The magazines were also organized in according to series. They had few different kinds of series. Some of the series were, “What If”, “Fantasy and Science Fiction”, “Analog”, and “Amazing Stories”. Out of all the series I found “Fantasy and Science Fiction to be largest, since there were so many magazines or issues for that series.

Overall, I unexpectedly liked the archive. When I was listening and watching about it I did not think I would like it. It did not really sound that interesting. However, walking inside was like a whole another world filled with all the imagination of people had before and how it was expanding over the years. Who would’ve thought that people had this kind of imagination. People really were thinking far into the future and how things would become. These magazines or issues are proof of what people thought like and how they were, because these magazines or issues are actual time relic. Lastly, I found the fact that someone actually collected this many magazines and were kind enough to donate it to somewhere else, where people from all over the place can have access to it.

Class Notes for 10/2

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WE ARE MEETING IN FRONT OF THE LIBRARY FOR NEXT CLASS

Announcement:

Rest of the blogs that were not graded have been graded. If you did not receive a grade for a blog it might be in the wrong the wring category so, please check that.

The whole class we discussed the movie, Metropolis. We were going to discuss “The Rise of Science Fiction from Pulp Mags to Cyberpunk” by Jeff VenderMeer, but we ran out of time. If you have not read it yet please do so, because we are going to discuss it soon.

Notes:

Beginning of class everyone who did the H.W went up wrote a scene that they found interesting. Then we went to the movie and discussed the scenes.

  • (00:16:03) “Machines looking like a monster”
  • (1:13:33) Freder avoids the thin man using the elevator, this scene shows that Metropolis uses state of the art technology while the workers use old style technology.
  • (1:33:40) Worker acts like a clock on machine.
  • (1:25:59) Rot Wang creates a robotic version of Maria.

Vocabulary:

  1. Doppelganger
  2. Doubling
  3. Cyborg
  4. Prosthesis
  5. Hedonism
  6. Capitalism
  7. Cinematography
  8. Dicatami
  9. Mad Scientist
  10. Hierarchy
  11. Robots
  12. Android
  13. Uncanny

Difference between the workers and the people above:

Workers

  • Robotic
  • Same clothes
  • Head down
  • Dirty clothes
  • No emotions

Clubs of the Suns

  • Different clothing color
  • More light
  • Smiling
  • Energetic
  • More space

Eternal Garden

  • Luxurious
  • Pleasurable
  • Freedom
  • Beauty

 

  • Maria’s eyes are significant because they are different from evil or android version of Maria. They are used to tell the difference between the two.
  • Freder questions class and his reality after seeing Maria
  • We see doubling happen a few times. For example, Maria and evil Maria. Also, When Freder changes his life with a worker.

For next class go to the links in Openlab. Those links will help you for next class.

Also if I missed anything please feel free to add by commenting.