Reports on deteriorating conditions of planet Earth come out every day. Of course we just crossed the "Mayan" prediction of an apocalypse, but do we really have limited time on the planet?
Considering a looming catastrophic end, some researchers are investigating a way to design a space in earth's orbit where cities can grow on their own. The project - Persephone - has been conceptualized by Rachel Armstrong, a lecturer at the University of Greenwich and is being led by the Icarus Interstellar foundation. With this project, the experts hope to make interstellar space travel possible by 2100.
Interstellar space travel, touring one star to another, is an astronomical feat man still has to master. While travelling between planets in our solar system takes month and years, star-hopping could take hundreds and possibly thousands of years due to the distance.
The researchers are trying to design living interiors of a starship that can grow on its own and sustain in space to make it inhabitable for humans for long durations during interstellar space travel.
"Persephone is the design and engineering of the living interior of a starship," Armstrong explains to Dezeen.
"This is a world ship. It contains human inhabitants and therefore, the interior of this space needs to support these people for the duration of their journey, and that could be hundreds, potentially thousands of years."
Renderings of the space look just like the insides of a germinating seed. But, how do they plan on building a self-growing city?
Armstrong explains that the space will be "grown from the bottom up" with certain structures extruded from the soil found on Earth. The structures will make the space "lively" and help it grow from within. These spaces can absorb carbon dioxide and pollutants and help create a safe, liveable environment.
Armstrong also notes that catastrophe or not, "biological buildings" are now a necessity.
"In an age when we're faced with repeated flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes, I think that to design for instability is a really powerful thing," she emphasizes.
"This might seem quite esoteric and 'out there' but Persephone is essential for us because it asks us questions about what survivability and sustainability is on our planet right now."
While Persephone is aiming at interstellar space travel, people have come up with several other inter planetary projects that can help mankind survive.
Mars One - a non-profit organization is setting up a human settlement on the red planet and has been soliciting applications for a one-way ticket to the planet.
That's not all. You can also buy land on other planets like Venus and our very own natural satellite - the Moon. Apparently, the real estate market of moon is hotter than the China's property market! Last September, there were talks of building an elevator to the Moon too.
"We can colonise the moon, Mars ... wherever people want, really," said Elon Musk (of Tesla Motors), SpaceX chief executive, to the filmmakers of the documentary "Orphans of Apollo" in a separate interview, reports The Guardian.
