Traveling in a New Dimension

Time travel is something a lot of movies play around with. But time travel is nothing to play with in reality. It can influence the past, influencing the future, and present. If we go back in time, we could mess up the present. If we go forward in time, there is so much unknown that it would be extremely dangerous. So obviously it is a risky and dangerous idea in general. But, plenty of movies capture what would be wrong with time travel, think about it. There isn't a lot of time travel movies where the time travelers don't end up in some sort of predicament, I guess it wouldn't be interesting if they traveled back in time and everything went according to plan anyway.

So what is the point of time travel in general. Well, travelling back in time would be used to study history, prevent something historic from happening, or for self gain, kind of like the plot in Back to the Future movies. Honestly it wouldn't be that hard to make a living traveling back in time. If you just brought your cell phone back to the early 1900's it would amaze everyone. Go back any farther and it might scare people, some may call you a witch and burn you for your cell phone. But dangerous problems also arrive when traveling to the future. How do you know when you travel forward in time, Earth will even be there. What if aliens came with a death star and blew Earth up. You would have a giant problem as your gasping for air out in space.

But that brings me to my next point/problem/confusion about time travel. Say I traveled forward in time, 2 years. Assuming the time machine works the year would be 2016. But where would I be in 2016. When I came out of time travel am I where I was when I began traveling, because with Earths orbit I wouldn't be in the EXACT spot I was, again, I would be floating in space dying. So if a machine were to exist, we would need to make it place you on Earth, but even at that what if you time traveled back in time and you were placed inside of a building that used to be standing there. Not inside the building like in a room, but inside the wall of a building, or ceiling, or floor.

All of this is the confusion I have with time travel in general, and if you know the answers then go ahead and tell me. In my opinion, I hope that time travel never does exist, because if it did, all of these problems are a concern. But if you think about it, if time travel did exist, wouldn't someone from the future have traveled to the past at one point. Maybe there is a rule against it, or maybe, people from the future visit us all the time, we just don't know it. As long as they dressed the part for walking about in 1814 or 2014, there would be no way of telling where they came from, or WHEN they came from.

Flying without wings

I was shown some pretty cool cutting edge technology lately that the engineers are working on today. One thing that impressed me the most was a new display a mechanical engineer mentioned. They were on the subject of light displays like LCD/LED's and such. One said that there is work being made on making those into a heads up display, HUD. They are becoming small enough to bend and make round, we are already seeing this in newer, rounded, TVs. But that kind of technology is being put into a helmet. With said helmet on, the lights could project a virtual image of your surroundings. He gave the impression that there would be cameras mounted on the sides of planes and when flying, the image is brought up on your helmet and boom, youre flying through the air. Obviously this wouldnt be used on commercial airlines but more in the lines of fighter pilots. This would give an easier line of sight while flying and more awareness.

It would be cool to get the sense of flying at the same time, like truly flying through the air. Can you imagine, obviously it wouldn't be for the lighthearted, but technology like this could let us live lives that we never could before, simulating flying would be insane! Almost like Total Recall where you can get memories of doing something, but you didn't actually do it.

Real Life Interstellar

For years we now we have been going up into space, visiting the Space Station, and coming back down to Earth. But I want to ask how long until we can go up into space and not return. I'm not talking about just going up and dying in space, but taking humans another planet. And even more than that, i wonder when we can start colonizing said planet so that it is fit for survival, able to stand the test of time and support human life for centuries.

For a small amount of time now, private companies have tried getting funds for these projects. Mars One is trying but hundreds of thousands of dollars later there has been no news on the project, all that is known is a plan for 2024, and one would think its because it was a scam. That is the problem with fan-fund raised projects like this, not that Mars one is necessarily a scam just the majority would seem that way. But who knows, it could be just the time needed for preparation.

So even though that some are failures, some are legit. Plans to colonize planets exist now but they do take years of preparation. The shuttle to get there, setting up food and power. All of this work for a trip that could backfire in a week because the oxygen supply was too low. This is why only the best of the best are chosen to go. One would need to be smart and a good problem solver, no or little history of genetic diseases, or any diseases for obvious reasons. But how many people would need to be sent on this one way trip to almost certain death? I think the number of people that would need to be sent is around 16 (as to avoid eventual incest...). So if you meet all of these criteria than you would have a chance if a situation like this came up.

With overpopulation being a big problem in the near future, this could be a really cool solution. Would you go on a one way trip to another planet if offered? I would, just to be a part of something that would make history, even if I died within a month I would still be among the first people to die on a planet other than Earth.

Episode VII

It has become increasingly obvious to those reading and myself included that Star Wars is a popular topic of mine. Although this post is a bit different. I am not going to talk about the probability of something or the quality of one of the movies at all. Instead, I am going to hypothesize and ponder things about the new Star Wars movie. So basically what I've been doing lately

The title to Episode VII will be called "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Now as interesting, mysterious, and thought-provoking this name is, it is equally as cool. Stepping back and thinking a minute, it's close to best title for any of the trilogies titles. "Revenge of the Sith," "Empire Strikes Back," and "Phantom Menace" are my favorites to date. In a strange coincidence it just so happens all of those have negative connotations in their meaning. This leads to my next point, could the new title be somewhat negative or evil?

What I mean by this is that is the Force Awakens, the same as the Beast Awakens, or the Kraken is released or something else along those lines. Could something have happened that the dark side has turned into something bigger/more threatening. We already know that 0 sith will appear in the movie, but jedi hunter-like people will be a threat. Maybe the force has become stronger and accidentally harmed some people and now the jedi's are to blame, like an uncontrollable power. Therefore hunters are after them. Luke may have to recruit new jedi to help combat the new threat but it could be hard because the force may have negative connotations along with it. A plot line like this is possible, or something that somewhat resembles it. Although this obviously isn't the only possibly outcome, it could just as likely positive as it is negative. The Awakening could be like the religious

Another thought I had from the title is that the (light) side of the force is making a comeback. Think for a second, back to the prequels. In the prequels, jedi were abundant. There were masters and padawans, large temples for them to study, and a council. The original trilogy only featured a Obi-wan who dies, Yoda who dies, and Luke. So the universe is technically left with one jedi. Now, with the darkside defeated, Luke could possible recreate what the prequels inspired. A jedi sanctuary/ home if you will, where Luke teaches new Padawans. He starts gaining followers and new jedi thus AWAKENING the force. Again though, all of this is hypothetical. I'm not sure what the actual movie will pertain at all. Take everything I have said here with a grain of salt because it is just analyzing a title... A title this fan is excited for.

Leverkusen out of UEFA

The game happened a little while ago and if you are a Leverkusen fan you may not want to relive it, but i am going to give my thoughts on it.

First off the game was boring. Hardly anything happened in the nearly 2 and a half hours that it lasted. Not because the teams played bad, but the opposite. Both teams had great defense and really put all they had into the game. The only goal scored was because it bounced off defender Topraks leg and into the goal. Leno would have had it had it gone the trajectory it was heading. Upsetting yes but he had good intentions.

That goal was fairly early on. The rest of the game had maybe 4-5 more chances but not much. Extra time eventually led to nothing. If you are familiar with the two teams, you know who was already going to win in PK's. Athletico missed their first kick surprisingly but Leverkusens Calhanoglu fired it straight down the middle, easy for the keeper. Griezmann scored, Rolfes scored, Suarez scored, then Leverkusen had Toprak go up, probably feeling like he needed redemption and he whiffed bad. That mistake and subbing Son off instead of Calhanoglu were the two big mistakes of the game. Kokes kick was blocked by a great save and Castro scored aswell. Finally Torres scored leaving Kießling with too much pressure, leading him to miss. Devastating to all Leverkusen fans when they had such high hopes coming off a 1-0 victory after the first matchup. If they continue to do well in the Bundesliga, they will get another chance next year, where hopefully they can make it to at least semi-finals.

Smart Watches

I'm not sure if smart watches are becoming a fad or not. I've never seen a single person wearing one, I don't know many people who would want to wear one, but yet every tech company out there is feeling the need to make one. I think the lack of need is a reason I don't see them around. If we didn't already have smartphones than sure, these would be huge! But we do. Why would you buy an overpriced gadget that does everything your phone does, except instead of putting it in your pocket, it goes on your wrist. The price really isn't that big of a deal. Every new tech is insanely expensive when it first comes out. Phones were, tvs were, and nowadays VR headsets are. Eventually they will all drop in price once enough are on the market. A good question to ask is will everyone be picking them up once they become affordable, or will they never completely catch on. The I-Pad is a good example of a product that nobody needed, yet it caught on. Nobody would have bought an i-pad if the tagline was "your phone with a bigger screen and without the ability to call." It was sold as something new and a must have item. Can apple pull the same with the smart watch or are people smart enough not to fall for the same kind of product twice. My opinion is that it will catch on when the price drops, but not as much as companies want. It will be kind of big but you may just seem rich and snooty if you decide to purchase one and wear it in public, if it can shred that connotation that it has with it then it will get bigger. If not, it will stay as a cool idea but not something people need, unless they want to talk into their wrist like Buzz Lightyear or in Star Trek...

Goal-line Technology

In recent times, newer technology has been used in the world of soccer. One of these devices is a measurement system around the goal, called goal line technology. It lets refs check and see if the ball has passed the goal-line and constitutes as a goal or if it was cleared beforehand. It is a bit controversial in soccer for one main reason. Referees have always been the deciding factor in this sport. If someone is pulled down or fouled, the ref intervenes. This is the reason why players often flop on the ground, they are trying to fake out the ref, hoping to get a free kick. The same goes for offsides. The ref may sometimes call things that are wrong, and that is just how soccer is, it is why it stays entertaining, it keeps the game human. Controversial calls are great fun to watch and experience so why take them away. This is why so many fans are upset about this technology, it would eliminate one of the human elements of soccer. In soccer one goal can turn it from a win to a loss, so this is a huge talking point. It's terrible when a team loses because of a goal that wasn't really a goal. An example can be pulled from a Bundesliga match recently. Stefan Kiessling had a header that looked like it missed the goal, but ended up inside the goal. As confusing as it was the referee called it a goal, only to later find a hole the ball had made on the outside of the net! Even though it was found DURING the match, the goal still counted. Bayer Leverkusen ended up winning off of that goal, even though it wasn't technically a goal.

That is why I am afraid of new additions to soccer like this. Events like that could easily go away if new technology like goal-line is added in. One of the cooler parts of soccer is that calls like that can be made, even if they are wrong, but I can see both sides of the argument. Do you think this tech is OK in soccer and is necessary to keep everything fair, or do you think it destroys something that soccer has always had, tradition. Feel free to leave a comment.