When Science-fiction Becomes Reality

According to Wikipedia, science-fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. There are many movies featuring events, gadgets, creatures and people that are very unlikely to encounter, meet or happen in real life. But as time passes by and science and technology keep on advancing and improving, many elements which are considered belonging to science-fiction movie are now coming to life.

The most popular science-fiction elements are extraterrestrials. In this category we have E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounter and Independence Day. It’s still unclear if there is life on other planets despite many claims of UFO sightings, alien encounters, abductions and let’s not forget The Roswell Incident. NASA detected what seems like methane on Mars’ atmosphere which means possible life on the planet. – I hope that they look like us and not small, green with big headed people, coz that would bring back nightmares which will turn out to be real this time. What I fear most if there is life on Mars that for some stupid earthling reason we’ll decide to attack them and turn this into Earth Attack. I hope that the Mars mission won’t turn into Capricorn One.

One of the most beautiful magical science-fiction elements is space traveling. There is a 1902 black and white silent French movie titled Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A trip To The Moon). Boy, that movie must have seemed so silly and unbelievable back then – The trip part, not all the freaky stuff that happened up there - until July 20th 1969 when man first walked on the moon. Now, not anyone can go to space unless you’re an astronaut –Duh! - a star, wealthy or a VIP. There some companies such as Virgin Galactic, one of Richard Branson s’ Virgin Group corporations, which will be offering spaceflight to passengers. But it doesn’t come cheap, the first 500 flights are between $200,000 and $100,000 – Seems like only some of the people mentioned above will be able to afford them - and the next ones, $20,000 – Start saving.

Another science-fiction element is disaster. The type where the earth or mankind is about to disappear – I wonder which animal would miss us the most – and someone has to set up to save humanity; or some kind of disease and survival of the fittest comes back in style. We have Armageddon, I Am Legend and The Day After Tomorrow. The real life natural event which easily comes to mind is global warming. Temperatures are rising, ice in the artics is melting, pollution is on the increase and animals are going instinct. If Mars is unoccupied and that it is possible that earthling can live on it, I hope that we will take better care of it.

Huge scary monsters destroying everything and terrifying everyone are also science-fiction elements. The most popular ones are King Kong and GodZilla. In a decade or two, monsters 16 feet tall and weighting 6 to 12 tones may be walking amongst us. I’m talking about Manfred’s brothers and sisters. Yes, mammoth. Scientists have found wolly mapped with mammoth DNA which they intend to use to clone mammoths; like in Jurassic Park. Mammoth went extinct because of food scarcity and rise in temperature. With Global warming and the increase of food price, I wonder how and where they will live. Good thing that they were herbivore.

The technology in science-fiction movies always makes us dream and wonder if it will one day come to life. The dreamiest are flying cars like in The Jetsons and The Fifth Element. I’m going to be honest and say that it is one invention I though won’t be coming around any time soon, but turns out that I was wrong thanks to Parajet Skycar. It drives like a car and flies like a plane. Don’t get carried away yet. The flying car hasn’t been tested yet but there are plans of it flying from London to Timbuktu by the end of January.

Last but not least, we have robots and artificial intelligence. There are many movies such as I, Robot and Terminator which feature metals held together with bolts and nuts looking and behaving like human beings. We also happen to have some in real life like the robot suit which can assist people by lifting heavy loads and assist people with disabilities climb stairs and the kitchen assistant robot which can take care of house chores and robotics pets (mostly dogs).

So far, there isn’t any time travel machine – that I have heard of – like in Back To The Future and that’s probably for the best because whichever individual or country manages to create one will most probably use it to change history in their advantage or maybe even make it worse.

A few days ago, a US Airways plane which was bird stroked, an engine caught fire and crash-landed into the Hudson River. All the passengers and crew survived. Everyone believes that it is thanks to the pilot and hero Robert Bea who handled the situation amazingly. Now if this was in a movie, it would have been seen as a great plot, exaggerated and not likely to happen. Now that it has, if the crash appears in a movie, people will say “Great just like the landing on the Hudson River.” But the movie won’t leave such a big mark in viewers mind because it has already happened.

I wonder if gathering the courage to throw shoes at a world leader should be consider as a science-fiction event come true.

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