Here’s a pretty interesting experiment that directly relates to Marooned. Hey, maybe Captain John did this is the past? Two Europeans and four Russians are going to be locked away for three months – about the time it would take for a flight to Mars – without any contact from the outside world.
They are even going so far as to add a 20-minute delay to all communications, just like it would normally be. The idea of course is to see how the human body and psyche reacts to such isolation and cramped quarters with 5 other individuals. They will be able to bring books and DVDs with them, but there will be no outside stuff allowed.
Sounds pretty interesting, and it will be neat to see how it all turns out. Even though Marooned is just a comic strip, I try to pay attention to some of the science behind what is going on. Of course, it is the future, so there have been some advancements made. But it’s often good to give me ideas for the strip or for tech I can use in the strip. I wonder how these people will do in the experiment.
yeah, a great sociological test that would be.
jaunting is the future. but first we have to learn how to jaunt.
Alfred Bester – great book!
I assume the Russians will be making their announcements after a 20 minute delay?
Seriously though, it sounds like the stock market quotes on the TV or radio.
Cabin fever… Lets just hope that doesn’t turn into a reality tv show. Though come to think of it, it could be pretty funny.
They’ll open the door in a month and there’ll be one guy left alive, covered in blood, muttering “I ASKED nicely for him to turn off the Keanu Reeves movie marathon. I ASKED nicely….I did…”
LOL, yeah a Keanu Reeves movie can do that to you… I’ve seen it… it’s ugly…
I love these kinds of experiments. It is some real hands on science that can actually be applied sometime in the near future. But beyond that, there is such great story potential behind the whole thing.
I was always interested in the Biosphere project, and thought it was strange that people ridiculed it for being a failure. But we learn more from failure than success. If it had been successful, that would have meant we already knew enough about ecosystems to manage them. I suspect that the real reason it got so much ridicule is because it was privately funded.
The point about failure is the one thing that really bothered me about the movie Bio-Dome: Sure, Pauly Shore’s character was an unexpected development, but again, the value should have been in what they learned, not in jury-rigging things to make it work.
Agreed we learn from failure. Heck, I’ve failed a lot on this comic right in front of you folks! I think it’s both a worthwhile and fun experiement.