D.T. Krippene

~ Searching for Light in the Darkness

D.T. Krippene

Category Archives: Future Trends

Astrobiology – A Universe Wired for Life

30 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, Searching for Light

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Astrobiology, Cosmic Timeline, Jeffery Kluger, Life in Space, NASA, Time Magazine

Astrobiology NASA

Source: NASA Astrobiology Institute

Curricular options for me in college didn’t include subjects pertaining to astrobiology. In my day, most budding biologists were encouraged to focus on earth-bound developmental sciences, provided you could get through university weeding courses in organic biology and biochemistry. Life sciences were about life on earth. Even hinting of life in the cosmos got you the evil eye, a lower grade for being stupid, or a semester of janitorial service cleaning up after freshman lab orientation. Times have changed.

First, a definition. Astrobiology is a branch of biology concerned with the study of life on earth and in space. The earth part of it focuses on finding answers to how life began on earth. As for space, the research has to go beyond the study of fossils and other earthly evidence. Astrobiologists must look for the presence of organic materials outside our solar system, and hypothesize how these materials become the molecules of life.

Jeffery Kluger of Time Magazine wrote an article last February, The Perfectly Sane Case For Life in Space. Kluger tagged along with astrobiologist, Scott Sanford at the NASA Ames Research Center, who demonstrated an updated cosmic primordial soup device that would make Dr. Frankenstein very proud. Sanford filled a chamber with elements you’d find in space (stellar dust, gas), duplicated the chill of space, and instead of lightning, used the same kind of radiation expected in the cosmos. The result yielded thousands upon thousands of chemical products, many of which included molecules needed to spark life. What Sanford stated in Kluger’s article caught my attention.

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Wrecking Balls of Extinction

12 Tuesday Jan 2016

Posted by dtkrippene in Dystopian Subjects, Future Trends

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bolides, Cosmology, Dark Matter, Dystopian, Extinction Events, Future Trends, Lisa Randall, Meteor Shower, Meteors, WSJ Book Review

Meteorite shower on a planet

From: GL0CK – Depositphotos.com

 

Extinction is a fascinating subject to me as a writer, especially if it has a dystopian plot line around a group of humans barely surviving a decimated landscape from any one of natural or manmade calamities. It’s all about the human equation, but what makes it really compelling, is a natural disaster by which we have no control. I’m obsessed with The Apocalypse Waiting Beneath Our Feet, and other earth-based, regularly-scheduled natural disasters mentioned in an article I wrote a couple years ago. Not to say meteor impacts are passé, it’s been a hotly debated subject for decades, but I viewed heavenly body impacts as random events, like chances of winning the lottery (or in this case … losing).

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Message in a Bottle

09 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, Sci-Fi Themes

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Alone in the Universe, Breakthrough Listen, SETI, The Great Silence, Wow Signal, Writing Science Fiction

From: DepositPhotos.com

From: DepositPhotos.com

It’s been an interesting year for SETI and enthusiasts of the famous Wow Signal, which to this day, remains an unresolved enigma. For those unfamiliar with it, a SETI researcher monitoring signals from the cosmos, picked-up a massive radio spike in 1977 that lasted 70 seconds, then never repeated. It became a seed for Carl Sagan’s tale, Contact. Updated technology detecting similar RFBs (rapidly fired bursts) in recent months, along with the Kepler Telescopic discovery of earth-like exoplanets, has rekindled an interest of our place in the universe.

We go through sinusoidal periods of interest, maxing with news of unique cosmic events, bottoming when reality pundits fire-hose SETI as fanatics wasting money and time. The latest Pluto flyby spiked a minor media frenzy (I use that word lightly). Announced on the anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing, a Russian billionaire is now trying to breathe life into the search with a new cosmic dragnet, called Breakthrough Listen, which attracted even Stephen Hawking’s interest.

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No Turn on Red – Futuristic Traffic

01 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, On Writing, Sci-Fi Themes

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Blogger Fair Image Useage, City Traffic in Science Fiction, Concept Art, Flying Cars, Futuristic City, Giles Trans, Tomorrowland, Writing Science Fiction

Gilles Tran © 1993-2009 www.oyonale.com

Gilles Tran © 1993-2009 http://www.oyonale.com

In a city of the future, what is your vision of vehicular transit?  Do you see yourself straddling a flying scooter on the way to school, catching a taxi driven by Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element, or something more realistic, like networked hover vehicles seen in the movie Minority Report?

On my near-term bucket list is to see the movie, TOMORROWLAND.  The original Disney Epcot version left an indelible print on a much younger me, adding fuel to my infatuation with science fiction. I’d ride Space Ship Earth several times in one day, then lie awake at night, dreaming of a future city where robots, jetpacks, and commuting to space was the norm. To me, flying cars characterized a futuristic metropolis.

As I matured, something that came late in life (some would argue I’ve yet to achieve it), a sciences education and many years toiling in the real world, clouded my childhood acceptance of some futuristic tenets.  I hit the stoplight of plausible reality recently, while writing a scene involving city traffic like the kind depicted above. I needed a little inspiration, and browsed the many concept art sites I frequent for ideas.

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Not Going Anywhere Soon

19 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, On Writing, Sci-Fi Themes

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Tags

Chris Impey, Future in Space, John Gribben, Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Writing Science Fiction, WSJ

Astronaut in the tunnels

Lurii-DepositPhotos.com

Ah yes, we science fiction writers dream of interstellar travel and meeting otherworldly aliens.  Imagine the excitement of a young lad watching Walter Cronkite broadcast Apollo 11’s moon landing. I must have visited the Disney Futureworld’s, Spaceship Earth a dozen times. Can’t tell you how many times as a tyke, I dreamed my real parents were due to pick me up from the star system Yucantgetthrfromhere. As an adult, it’s depressing when we have to face the real possibility, humans can’t get there from here.

The World is Not Enough, a WSJ book review by best selling sci-fi author, John Gribbin summarized a mostly positive outtake of Chris Impey’s new book, Beyond: Our Future in Space, which claims human wanderlust will eventually draw mankind to the limitless unknown. I especially like the book cover; a fully suited astronaut entering an elevator. Going up, sir?

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Your Shirt Just Ratted You Out

27 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, Sci-Fi Themes, The Humor Zone

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Biomedical Monitoring, Remote Patient Monitoring, Remote Telemetry, Textile Telemetry

From: Whitenoise - Depositphotos.com

From: Whitenoise – Depositphotos.com

Thinking back at all the science fiction I’ve read over the years, real-time biomedical telemetry is rarely a major theme in the story line.  Dr. Leonard McCoy of Star Trek fame pioneered scanning tools with computer assisted diagnostic tech, all so he can report:     He’s dead, Jim.

Sure, a few stories touched on “vitals” monitoring.    He’s still dead, Jim.   

Intelligent pills have already hit the test market, ready and able to snitch on you from the inside. Now, scientists have developed textiles that can monitor and transmit wearer’s biomedical info (Sparkonit, December 2014).  If you thought privacy was an issue with smart phones, wait until the healthcare industry starts insisting on textiles with biomedical remote telemetry.

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A Little Progress On My Wish List

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, The Humor Zone

≈ Comments Off on A Little Progress On My Wish List

Tags

Best Inventions of 2014, Future Trends, Futuristic Life, Futuristic Transit, Science Fiction, Time Magazine

From: DepositPhotos.com

From: DepositPhotos.com

Last year about this time, I waxed curmudgeonly on Things I’m Still Waiting For, like interplanetary ion drives, flying cars, hover boards, to mention a few.  Time magazine’s recent Best Inventions of 2014 review, has some interesting items for consideration.

First out of the chutes is a real-life hover board, not unlike the one I drooled over in the movie Back to the Future. Not exactly the fly anywhere version Michael J. Fox used, but it’s a start.  We’re still shooting objects into space via 1950’s style ballistic missiles, but it’s getting cheaper.  India just parked a satellite in Mars orbit for the paltry sum of $74 million.  Hell, that’s less expensive than retiling the old Space Shuttle.  Fossil fuel sourced energy is more popular than ever, but Lockheed’s development of a High-Beta Fusion Reactor, just might get us closer to the holy grail of nuclear fusion.  Molecular X-Rays (images of body at molecular level) might bring Dr.McCoy of Star Trek, back in vogue. The humanitarian invention of the year is a filtration system that scrubs Ebola virus from the blood stream.

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The Apocalypse Beneath Our Feet

06 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, Sci-Fi Themes

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Anders Sandberg, Apocalypse, Caldera, EarthSky Org, Extreme Science Blog, Joel Archenbach, Ken Jorgustin, Ker Than, Lake Toba Caldera, Mount St. Helens, National Geographic, Supervolcano, volcanic eruptions, Writing Science Fiction, Yellowstone Caldera, Yellowstone National Park

National Geographic - Aug 2009

National Geographic – Aug 2009

For those of us who write dystopian/apocalyptic fiction, doesn’t seem to be any shortage of theories on what could steer humanity (and other life forms) toward the extinction exit ramp. Current scare of the year is pandemic disease, aka Ebola, and any evil progeny that mutates. Modern NASA satellite tracking hardware has made us more aware of the many PHAs (Potentially Hazardous Asteroids) with our name on it. Anders Sandberg has an “existential list” compiled of Five Biggest Threats to Human Existence, number one being the ever-popular nuclear war jitters.  I found his fifth candidate interesting, if not thought provoking; – unknown unknowns – or something deadly out there that we have no clue about.

I have my own list, which includes that which bubbles beneath our feet; – millions of tons of molten Mother Earth, looking for an exit. No finer example of it is right here in North America, a super-caldera beneath Yellowstone National Park.

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Your Brain’s PnP Driver Has Been Hacked

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by dtkrippene in Future Trends, Sci-Fi Themes

≈ Comments Off on Your Brain’s PnP Driver Has Been Hacked

Tags

Christof Koch, Dystopian, Gabriel Vaughn, Gary Marcus, PnP, Privacy Breach, Science Fiction, Science Fiction plots, Superhuman Intelligence, Wired Brains, Writing Science Fiction, WSJ

From: vectorguru - DepositPhoto.com

From: vectorguru – DepositPhoto.com

In science fiction, we love the premise of enhanced brainpower. Wouldn’t you like to be Lucy, the main character in a recently released movie, who overdoses on a synthesized drug and ends up stimulating access to over 90% of her brain capacity to become a superhuman?  Or how about Gabriel Vaughn in the TV series, Intelligence, an operative with a super-computer microchip in his brain and the first human directly connected to a globalized information grid.

We’ve been tinkering with the brain for centuries. Ever since cave dwellers discovered certain plants instilled feelings of euphoria, mankind has been on a quest to unlock the mysteries of our human processor, find ways to upgrade its abilities, repair and improve upon original sensory input devices.  A recent article on the future of “wired” brains had me wondering if we were pushing a concept destined to backfire on us.

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Bride of Frankenchicken

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by dtkrippene in Dystopian Subjects, Future Trends, Sci-Fi Themes, The Humor Zone, Writing Dystopian Themes

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Allentown Morning Call, Animal Husbandry, Climate Change, Dystopia, Evan Halper, Featherless Chickens, Future Trends, Futuristic Food, Global Warming, GMO, Modified Foods, Movie Matrix, Science Fiction plots, Writing Science Fiction

From: amusingplanet.com

From: amusingplanet.com

Anybody out there think last year’s weather was normal?  Bounty hunters are still looking for Punxsutawney Phil.  Or is it Phyllis now?  Who can keep up with the changes anymore?  Harder still, I’m unsure what’s considered normal. What I do know, based on the regularity of Chicken Little teeth gnashing, much of the world is warming, and farmers have been encouraged to rethink industrial agriculture.

A recent article in a local paper by Evan Halper, described how food scientists are Hot on the Trail of New Food Sources better suited to endure the hazards of climate change.  You had me at “new food sources”.  I love it when geneticists and agrobiologists talk shop, especially over cocktails, and think of ways to further jigger the natural world.  It gives us writers of dystopian fiction new fodder in a currently overcrowded, literary genre.  I had a little fun on the subject last year with the idea of synthetic meat, How Do You Like Your Schmeat.  Never mind that we’ve have thrown in the towel on global warming, for a new arena of carnival freaks about to make their debut, I can’t wait for the ticket booth to open.

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About DT

dtkrippene

dtkrippene

A native of Wisconsin and Connecticut, DT deserted aspirations of being a biologist to live the corporate dream and raise a family. After seven homes, a ten-year stint working in Asia, and an imagination that never slept, his muse refused to be hobbled as a mere dream. A member of the Bethlehem Writers Group and Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, DT writes apocalyptic science fiction, paranormal, and parallel universe science fantasy. DT has published several short stories. “Hell of a Deal”, in the paranormal collection, Untethered, and most recently, “Man’s Best Friend”, in the 2021 Best Indie Book for Fiction, Fur, Feathers, and Scales. He also appeared in the Write Here – Write Now short story collection with his middle-grade paranormal, “Locker 33C”. An active member of the Bethlehem Writers Group, he’s been a featured author in the BWG Writers Roundtable Magazine, and will appear in the July 2021 Summer Issue with “Hot as Sin”. His latest project is an apocalyptic tale of humans on the edge extinction, and a young man born years after surviving humans had been rendered sterile. You can find D.T. on his website, Searching for Light in the Darkness, and his social media links on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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