Postscript

Making Fantasies Come True

Aasha Mehreen Amin

Science has advanced so much in this century that hardly do we consider the miraculous inventions that it has given us, making our lives so much more convenient than that of our ancestors. Scientists these days are on a roll coming up with the most mind-blowing innovations that promise to solve many of our modern day problems.

If it wasn't amazing enough that they had invented a machine that could almost replicate the brain but also allow it to forget about boring tasks such as remembering how to spell, calculating percentages and square roots and even give you alternatives for words you tend to tediously repeat, now they've found a way to use bacteria to power PCs! These special little bacteria actually eat iron and become magnetic; hence they can be made to power hard drives, effectively creating the biological computers of the future.

And now these human geniuses have found that the fruit drink that NASA gives it's astronauts to help them ward off radioactive effects of out-of-earth experiences (see it's not just a bed of roses up there) can actually reduce the effects of aging. So move over all your anti-aging, wrinkle-smoothing creams, here's a fruit drink that may cost hundreds of Pounds but can make people look younger by rejuvenating damaged skin and providing antioxidants and other good things. What's more, this fruity concoction contains all sorts of exotic ingredients, like a fruit from a Brazillian plant of the cacao family (we always knew chocolate which is made from cacao was good for us) and something called 'yumberry' which must be great if it has such an inviting name.

But it's not just about making us smarter and more beautiful that scientists are so busy with. Sometimes they come up with getting the job done when no one wants to do it. The Zero Liquid Discharge may not mean much to most people today but it is in fact, one of the most needed invention of our times. It actually evaporates sewage from boats, airplanes and RVs (modern day caravans). Could there be a greater blessing than something that just magically makes all that stinky stuff just vanish into thin air and even leave just a harmless odourless aerosol of nothingness? Would this not be a dream come true for our plumbers and manhole labourers who no longer would have to inhale those noxious fumes of human waste and shovel out all that ugly black sludge that they dump on the pavements? If anyone should get a prize for trying to clean the world the Zero liquid Discharge team should get it.

It doesn't always have to be some grand invention that can change our lives for the better, forever. Even small creations should be applauded with enthusiasm. There are no statistics but one can assume that there are millions of people all over the world who are constantly plagued by that almost-invisible pest – the bedbug. Unless of course, they are entomologists or belong to strict faiths that abhore the killing of creatures no matter how infuriating. Aside from these individuals, most humans will welcome the Bed bug Detective –a device that can sniff out those horrible creatures very quickly, allowing for prompt extermination. Even happier news is that this wonderful device can be developed to find other pests like mice and cockroaches.

There is no end to the amazing innovations that scientists keep coming up with –even mundane devices like laptops and smart phones or even washing machines and TV sets were once in the haloed halls of fame wowing audiences and wooing the paparazzi. But for all their genius, scientists have not been able to find a solution to one thing that threatens human existence – the pathological hatred of political opponents. Instead, all kinds of inventions –television, internet, mobile phones etc – are being used to host mudslinging contests at the expense of the reluctant bystanders – the people.

Yet science has proved over and over again, that even the wildest of fantasies can come true – humans can fly, go to the moon and back, have paperless offices and see their loved ones on the other side of the world or even out of it, on a screen, in real time. Would it be too much indulgence of the human imagination to look forward to a scientific innovation that will diffuse pettiness and hunger for power and wealth into an odourless, harmless, vapour? No harm in dreaming right?