Paul Raven @ 06-08-2008
Things are heating up in the Arctic Circle - and not just because of climate change. The prospect of as-yet untapped natural resources lurking at the crown of the globe may cause a resurgence in territorial disputes, as various nations attempt to stake their claims to jurisdiction over the area.
In an effort to inform policy-makers, researchers in the UK have used specialist geographical software to create a map that lays out the potentially disputable regions in detail. Whether the map becomes a focal point for reasoned discussion or a template for military operations rooms remains to be seen. [image courtesy Durham University via linked BBC article] [hat-tip to Darren@Orbit]
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Tomas Martin @ 10-10-2007
Last week here on Futurismic there were some great comments over the future of space seen from a resource rather than an expedition point of view. I mentioned in my post my hope that asteroids may in future be a good source of precious metals such as platinum. Today I stumbled across an example of how that may be done. Aside from the cheesy music and voiceover, this video from Space.Com shows Nasa planning of how to utilise the new Orion Moon landers to travel to Asteroids passing near to Earth’s orbit. By combining this style of approach with a few unmanned surveys of the composition of the NEO (near earth object), it may be possible to start harvesting precious metals that even a few tons would greatly increase current levels.
[via chris mckitterick, image by Don Eastwood]
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Tomas Martin @ 04-10-2007
In a move that will excite many science fiction fans, a political scientist from Norway has suggested there may be a third way to solve the coming environmental problems of the21st century: Space. He posits that there are two theories for sustainable development. One, Ecologism, aims for a post industrial era of lessened use of carbon and requires a change in the way our current political and social climate works. The other is Environmentalism which aims to keep life much as it is, only using funds to develop, repair and nurture the environment. However, he thinks that by tapping into the resources offplanet, it may be able to solve the Earth’s issues. Reading the brief it seems like very much a political rather than scientific hypothesis but there’s definitely a place for space in the coming time when resources become scarce - we just have to know where to look.
[from science daily, photo by Hubble Creative Commons]
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Paul Raven @ 02-08-2007
I think I’m largely preaching to the choir when I plug the benefits of space exploration here at Futurismic, but I’m not going to let that stop me. And we’re not alone in our beliefs - the former President of India says that the vast energy resources that space technologies can exploit make the price of admission well worthwhile.
Meanwhile over at Space.com, Al Globus explains how space colonisation is a viable alternative to war (here’s a hint - resources again), and points out that repurposing the military budgets of the world into space habitats would make the necessary budgets look tiny. I agree with him entirely, but I doubt he’ll have much luck convincing the hawkish types who make decisions of that kind. Still, fingers crossed. [Image from NASA]
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