Library+of+Imagination

//__ Library of the human imagination __//

Our imagination library would be made of glass nothing else, there wouldn't be any right angles and it would look completely abstract from the outside. It would be two stories tall and centred in a garden which would play on its beauty. The glass would vary from clear, speckled, one way and any other type of glass you could imagine. The two floors would all be different, for example the first floor would house inventions from the past such inventions would include those which were ahead of their time and those which could have changed the world. On the first half of the room the glass would be older and there might even be some stained glass all this would help to show just how old some of these inventions are. The other half of the room would house all of man's failed inventions and be completely abstract to show what life may have been like. The second floor would have all the inventions that are currently changing the world therefore the second floor would have modern day glass including speckled, sandblasted and even multicoloured glass. The floors would be one way glass so you could look down onto the previous floor or you could look up to get a different view of yours. Around the outside there would be a multi-storey deck with models of the world’s greatest feats of architecture in a chronological order. In the center of the garden we'd have a fire pit to remind us of man's greatest and oldest invention: fire.

On the first floor there'd be two categories of inventions: inventions that were ahead of their time and inventions that are changing the world. Inventions that were/are ahead of their time:

[|BLOOD TRANSFUSION] The principle of blood transfusion was understood as early as 1665, when an Englishman, Richard Lower, transfused blood between two animals. Two years later, Jean-Baptiste Denys, King Louis XIV's personal physician transfused one litre of blood from a sheep to a young man. But since they didn't understand the four blood types, a transfusion was rarely attempted at the risk of a patient receiving blood incompatible with his own. . Although Dr. James Blundell of Guy’s Hospital gave human blood to a patient in 1818, transfusion did not become safe until 1900, when Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian identified the four different types of human blood. He developed the groupings (known today as the ABO system) that made it possible to match donors and patients. This relates to the human imagination just think about how someone would have come across this idea? What were they doing? Well they didn’t read it in a book they were using their imagination.



[|DNA PROFILING] DNA (Deoxyribonucleic nucleic acid) profiling (also known as DNA testing, typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to aide in the identification of individuals based on their personal DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a person's DNA makeup, which can also be used to identify that person. DNA profiling is used in, for example, parental testing and rape investigation. Although 99.9% of human DNA sequences are the same in every person, that 0.01 is different enough to distinguish one individual from another. DNA profiling was first reported in 1984 by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in England. DNA profiling relates to the human imagination because it is a creative and accurate solution for many problems.

 [|PORTABLE PHONES]

The first portable phone was invented in 1973 by Motorola and was much bigger than today's cell phones which can fit in your pocket. The first portable phones were also a lot less sophisticated and were used primarily used for verbal communication unlike today’s phones. This invention changed the world and continues to change the world one call at a time. The portable relates directly to the human imagination because the inventor Dr. Martin Cooper was inspired to create the first cell phone after see a Star trek episode where they used a portable communication device.   The biggest challenge we face today is one we created our selves. We provoked global warming and now we’ve got to stop it be for it becomes irreversible. Here are some inventions that are changing the world by solving the biggest problem man has ever faced:

[|CLOUDSHIPS]

John Latham came up with the idea for these ships after explaining to his son how clouds acted as mirrors for incoming sunlight. He thought what if we could create artificial clouds that could block out the sun light? Would it slow down global warming? If you were to ask him he would tell you yes. If we were to artificially create 2% more thin low-level clouds called marine stratocumulus it could slow down or even stop the effects of global warming caused by the high levels of CO2 in our atmosphere. Latham’s idea is to have a robotic fleet of these ships which could create these clouds by spraying sea water in to the air navigating around the world's oceans to help slow down the effects of global warming. 

[|COILGUN] Roger Angel an astronomer know for coming up with dramatic and even revolutionary ideas he is most know for his new large binocular telescope and has now started thinking of ways to combat global warming. One of his newer ideas the coil gun which would launch sixteen trillion glass shades in too deep space. Angel says that if these shades were to impede 10% of sun light directed for the earth it could return the earth's temperature to what it was before the era of carbon emissions. Unfortunately this project would be extremely expensive plus each shade is made by hand and takes about a week to make.  [|ARTIFICAL TREES]

Kalus Lackner a professor at the Columbia University and like a growing number of scientist he thinks that we won't find a way to combat global warming before it becomes irreversible. We all know that leaves and needles from evergreens absorb CO2 from the air to make sugars and starches through photosynthesis. His idea is to create an artificial tree that would do the same. Artificial trees would be much more efficient at removing CO2 from the air as they would have more "leaves" (or filters) and be active during the winter. As the air moves over the filters/leaves the CO2 is trapped and turned into sodium carbonate. Lackner’s goal is to create an artificial tree the size of a football goal post with several thousand leaves which could absorb the equivalent amount of CO2 of four thousand cars! If such a tree was built we'd need only 250000 of them to achieve a carbon neutral world. The big problem is what to do with the CO2 once it's been trapped it could sent to the bottom of the ocean, buried or even combine it with hydrogen to make hydrocarbon which could be used as fuel. 

[|WAVE DRIVEN OCEAN UPWELLING SYSTEM]

Sir James Lovelock and Chris Raply, head of the science museum in London, announced a desperate plan to remove CO2 level in our atmosphere. His heir plan is to lower groups of huge tubes tethered together down 600 feet into the ocean. These tubes 10 meters in diameter would be equipped with a one way valve near the bottom (like the valves we have in our veins that prevent blood from slipping back into our heart in between beats). The tubes would bob up and down in the waves causing colder and richer water from the depths to rise until it reached the top. This nutrient rich water would inspire the growth or phytoplankton which takes up vast amounts of CO2 as they bloom. The phytoplankton would then die and sink to the bottom of the ocean trapping the CO2 with them.  [|WIND TURBINES]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A study in England found that wind turbines were generating an average of 35% percent of the energy of what the public was told they would generate. A Canadian research team turned to nature for the answer. And found that the humpback whale is incredibly agile for its size and this thought that maybe it had to do with their fins which have bumps on the back. One would think that this would cause more drag because of the added surface area but it actually has the opposite effect. They found using a wind tunnel that with these bumps humpback whales fins could generate lift at angles 40 percent steeper which would also grip the water to help the whale to make sharper turns. Wind turbines work the same way, and if they could "grip" the air this in turn would cause them to turn faster and generate more energy.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">These five inventions all relate to the human imagination because they are all creative and intelligent solutions to one of the world’s most difficult problem. <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">On the second floor we'd have failed inventions such as:

[|THE HINDENBURG] <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The Hindenburg crashed on Thursday, May 6, 1937; the German passenger airship caught fire and was destroyed as it was attempting to dock with its mooring mast. 35 of the 97 people on board died in addition to one fatality on the ground. The actual cause of the fire is still unknown, although many theories have been put forth for both the cause of the ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire. The accident served to shatter public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship, and marked the end of the airship era. Had the Hindenburg safely landed who knows what the world might have been today? We might take cruises in the air and not just on water. It may have taken a week to fly to Europe, but why is it airplanes that rule the sky’s today? After all more airplanes have crashed than airships. media type="youtube" key="cIO1AJgnBMg?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

[|ELECTIRC CAR]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The electric car did not fail just once but twice first in the early 1900's and they again over one hundred years later. The car powered by fossil fuels won both times even though the electric car was quieter didn't need to be hand cranked to start (where cars powered by fossil fuels in the early 1900's did) and still got great mileage on a single charge. The only reason it failed the second time was because it would cost car companies more money in the long run because it didn't need to be fixed as often. Imagine what the world would be like today had electric cars not failed the planet would be quieter, cooler and a more peaceful place. <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">These two inventions relate to the human imagination because they suggest what the world may have been had they not failed. <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">In conclusion all inventions are products human imagination because that is where they are all born. <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">In my opinion, the three items that best represent the human imagination are in ascending order: aliens, cloudships and music. Aliens might just be the greatest story ever. Whether it’s fictional or not, I personally believe that intelligent life forms capable of space travel were born inside our heads and not on other planets. It’s the same principal as heaven; we don’t want to believe that this is all we get. There must be more, right? That’s how heaven started; the same is with alien. We don’t want to be alone so our imaginations create aliens. This is why aliens are the third best representation of the human imagination. They were created on a subconscious level. Cloudships are second best representation of our imaginations because it is the most creative solution to any problem that has ever been posed to man. The idea of a trimiran with smoke stacks that geoengineers artificial clouds to reflect the sun’s rays is pure imagination. Music is the best representation of the human imagination because it is a link. It’s the only thing that all our imaginations have in common. We all have a musical part of our brain within our imaginations to a degree. It’s how active this part of our brain is that separates someone who doesn’t play an instrument from a great composer like Beethoven. Music is inside everyone’s imagination. This is why it’s the one universal language, the one language we all understand.