Sci-Fi Science: Ender's Game

Ever wondered how the artificial gravity in battle school works? Or how the battle rooms can change gravity at will?


Part One: Artificial Gravity

Above is a photo of all the Ender's Game gravity secrets. The way the "artificial gravity" works is simple. You see the giant ring in the picture? Inside that ring is where all of the various rooms such as bunks, mess hall , etc are placed. The rooms are all attached, according to this orientation, sideways. Then the ring spins super fast and experiences a type of kinetic energy that is known as centrifugal force. Have you ever done the trick where you grab a bucket of water, spin around, and nothing falls out? It's the same principal. The only difference is that it's people inside, not water. This type of ship is called a Stanford Torus. Voilà! Artificial gravity! Fast Fact: Did you know that astronauts experience 90% of Earth's gravity when in orbit? To find out how this works Click Here.

Part Two: Battle Rooms

An Ender's Game Battle Room would probably be something of circular shape and consist of walls made of powerful magnets. Instead of the hub that you see in the center of the stanford torus picture above, the battle room would be suspended in a sphere of electromagnets that would repel the room; therefore not letting it into the "centrifugal energy well" of the rest of the torus. When someone wants to enter the room, the sphere of magnets would somehow change their polarity, and the room would extend a collapsible corridor towards the opening in the torus.

The Singularity: An Uncertain Future

The Singularity is approaching, and there is no way of telling what it means for humanity. The singularity is a theoretical time when computers will become just as smart as humans, and then even smarter. The singularity is based off an idea that originated in the 1970s, widely known as Moore's Law. Moore's Law states that every two years, the processing power of the CPU will double. This creates an exponential increase in computer intelligence and capabilities, and studies show that CPU transistor count has and probably will continue to follow this rule. When computers reach this singularity, they will not automatically be as intelligent as us, because they will need to be programmed. But, once they are programmed with a fully functional artificial intelligence, no one can tell what will happen. Some people believe that robots should be programmed with a variation of Issac Asimov's Three Laws, which state that:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Spacetime, Black Holes and Wormholes

Since the time of the Incas, there have been theories of space and time existing as a single continuum. This "Spacetime", as scientists call it, is the result of countless mathematical theories. Spacetime works like this; imagine a stretched piece of suspended fabric; this represents Spacetime. If you place a marble on the fabric to represent a planet, the fabric will create a small divot under the marble. This is a major principle of Spacetime. If you place smaller marbles near the large "planet" marble, they will fall towards the planet because of the divot in the fabric. This is how gravity on Earth works. The Earth creates a divot in Spacetime, attracting smaller bodies. But, because of the fact that space and time are a single fabric, the Earth not only distorts space, but also time. This is why astronauts in space are slightly younger than what they would have been on Earth. Time works much like gravity; where it is distorted, it will flow faster. Spacetime is also a principle behind wormholes. Imagine a piece of paper with "point A" on one end and "point B" on the other. Instead of traveling across the paper between points, a wormhole is a way of folding the paper in half, and jumping from A to B. A black hole is created when something with a huge amount of mass, such as a star, collapses into a single point; Thus creating so much gravity that it rips a hole straight through the Spacetime. This creates infinite gravity, which should be impossible. Some scientists believe that this black hole is a gateway into another parallel universe, while others believe it is a form of wormhole. I hope you enjoyed! I'm only eleven :P

In Vitro Meat: Truth or Fiction?

In Vitro Meat

Possibly a solution for global warming? In vitro meat is an idea proposed by scientists to grow 100% of the world's meat in a lab. It may sound like a scam, but Peta, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has announced a one million dollar fund to the first lab to get in vitro chicken and sell it in supermarkets. However, critics suspect that since chicken would be hard to make because it contains skin and fat, that this is simply a marketing ploy to raise awareness for the "Testube Meat". Whatever the reason, I strongly advise you to watch the above video, for it may clear up some things.

Mind Upload: How it Works and Why

                                           Mind Upload

The thoughts on mind upload are mostly a mixed bag. Aside from ethical or religious views, it is largely regarded as one of the biggest "question marks" about the human brain. The reason for this is because it addresses a huge problem in science: what is consciousness? Some believe that it is simply a complex network of electrical data that functions much like a computer. Others believe that it is a soul, which is not tangible and cannot be transferred. Another large question is this; if you transferred your mind, would your same consciousness stay intact, or would you just be a copy of yourself, with the same memories? These are all intriguing questions asked in the above video by acclaimed theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku.