When I was young and first started exploring
the universe through reading, science fiction was considered far more fiction
than science. In those stories, ships routinely traveled throughout our own
solar system and to planets far away that were either colonized by humans, had
its own intelligent population, or both.
By now, people are aware that cell phones
were inspired - at least in part - by the communication devices portrayed on
the original Star Trek series. We also now have a space station orbiting Earth,
as imagined by so many sf authors last century. And thanks to the Kepler
telescope, we are becoming aware that our planetary system is not the only one.
In fact, the Kepler telescope has only
examined a tiny fraction of our galaxy, and has already discovered thousands of
planets, including some that are possibly earth-like, of the proper size in the
‘Golden Zone’, within the distance range from their star to support liquid
water. They could be suitable for colonization. Or they might already have an
intelligent species we could trade with. Whether we trade artwork and
merchandise or bullet-equivalents remains to be seen.
It appears that when we are ready to start
exploring outside our own solar system, there will be plenty of places for us
to go, just like there were in all those sf books I read as a kid. Science is
catching up with science fiction.
At the same time, science has created new
branches to explore, which today’s sf writers are using as a springboard to
create their futuristic tales. In a few more decades, we get to see science
catch up with some of those stories.
I can’t wait.
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