Up high OR Down low

Court

I’ve watched a ton of movies lately and a lot have storylines placed in the future. Something I noticed though is that there’s usually flying cars or super futuristic cars that still drive on the street.

But what also got me thinking was if anyone remembers Elon Musk’s company “The Boring Company” and know that they’ve been working on a network of underground tunnels called HyperLoop.

A movie like Blade runner take to the skies while iRobot went with huge underground tunnels.

What are your thoughts on things like that happening in the future and what do you think is the better option? Obviously we’ve had to create flying cars but also stop and think about trying to dig tunnels under the entire United States or across China.. If you think about it both are insane task to achieve.

Sib64

Court
I watch a number of films, but I read a lot, especially techno-thrillers.
I have just finished a techno-thriller written by a French writer, Christophe AGNUS, and there is a bit of the same principle of a tunnel with a capsule in suspensionn lots of innovative technologies used to kidnap high profile personalities such as the President of the United States, a French CEO, a Chinese advisor, a Brazilian Senator. In short, these abductions have a link with global warming. I don’t know if it will be translated into English, but it is really exciting.

Synopsis:
The biggest manhunt in history begins…
It could change the world.
12:30 am (New York time), location unknown
In the heart of a “war room”, young people, their eyes riveted to their screens, organise an unimaginable operation.
8:04 am, Ubatuba, Brazil
Fernando Pereira de Almeida, senator and businessman, mysteriously disappears while taking his morning swim.
11am, Jupiter International Golf Course, Florida
The President of the United States vanishes before the eyes of his bodyguards and a stunned crowd at the start of hole 1, as if the ground had opened up beneath his feet…
On the same day, twenty prominent people - politicians, businessmen and women, rap and TV stars - suddenly and inexplicably disappear.
Who is behind these abductions? What are the demands of this secret ’Edward’s army’? And what will happen to the disappeared?

Louis ☕️

Court I was reading this last night and it reminded me of this discussion you started. So we’ve got our standalone cruises down low, on the water, which is getting bigger and better each few years (still amazing at the engineering behind some of these).

‘Thanks to nuclear energy, the hotel never runs out of fuel and can remain suspended in the air for several years without ever touching the ground,’

THEN we have this nuclear flying vessel that is proposed to be an autonomous air cruise that never lands!

‘Thanks to nuclear energy, the hotel never runs out of fuel and can remain suspended in the air for several years without ever touching the ground,’

I mean, insane right?! Funny how money can influence such things.

Court

Sib64 I need to start reading way more these days. Not until just know did I know there was a “techno-thriller” like category, I’ll have to check the genre out!

Court

Louis ☕️ I saw this on my Google discover feed.

Doesn’t it just look impossible haha. I can’t even comprehend something like that staying in the air for that long. Or would I even want to be in the air that long! lol

Louis ☕️

Court It does look impossible, not sure how the engineering structure of that thing would allow it to stay in the air for so long lool

RobIgo

The future is so split in so many ways on how it will go. The best solution doesn’t always end up being how it will go it depends on backers, money and brands and money influence. I can remember in the 80s (yes I’m that old) when video recorders come out and there was beta max vs. VHS, the beta max allowed you to record both sides of a tape and was better tech but VHS had more Investors from the big boys e.g. Philips or Sony (I can’t remember which) and after a year or two beta max died. The future could be in the air or below the ground, honesty if I had to bet my mortgage on it I’m not sure where it will go! Great discussion and makes my head hurt

Court

RobIgo Definitely can make the head hurt haha. You could really go back and forth on both sides with theories and how each has a pro or con, what would work and what wouldn’t.

Tamim

I think we’r both going high and low. Right now there is a major drive to reforest and protect the environment, which will mean we will use less space for our cities. As a result, we will inevitably increase the density of our cities because about 70% of the world population is expected to be in cities by 2050 according to the UN.

I think we’ll see a really cool future development of incredible, vegetation filled high-rise cities, full of light, with food production right there in our cities, in our residences. I hope we won’t see a grim Blade Runner future, but something more along the lines of a positive sci-fi.