This contest has ended. Thank you to everyone who submitted and congratulations to all the winners!
Seeing into the Future is a Project Rosalind science writing contest held during July and August of 2021.
Elementary Division Winner Ethan Huang Mars is a wasteland. The terrain is harsh and untamed, and teems with deep craters and humongous volcanoes, all of which are rusty-red. It may seem strange that scientists have thought of establishing cities in this desolate place. But Mars is not what it appears to be. In reality, Mars is very valuable for scientific research because it is completely unexplored. From the mystery of aliens to the composition of Martian soil, this planet holds many secrets that are yet to be revealed. On top of that, Mars works as sort of an insurance to Earth, for if something bad were to happen on Earth we could go to Mars. This would make humans as a species much more advanced and resilient on top of all the other benefits. Additionally, Mars has a lot of space for residential expansion. The possibilities of living on the red planet are limitless - from hanging off of cliffs, to burrowing deep underground - living on Mars would be a unique experience from living on Earth, and it would be really exciting. Exploring Mars will not just be interesting, but it might also help humans uncover the mystery of aliens. For decades, scientists have believed that some life forms exist on Mars. It would be so cool to meet aliens, or to see the beginnings of a new species of life. Mars’s soil may also have valuable resources; experts believe that Mars could have underground concentrations of lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, niobium, europium, molybdenum, lanthanum, tungsten, and gold. All of these are very valuable elements that could be shipped back to Earth. This would make a significant impact to our planet’s supply of rare elements, as the current supply is dwindling. It would be beneficial to humanity, and it would be useful to examine the composition of Martian soil! Another useful attribute of Mars is its use as a “Plan B” for humanity: if our planet has something bad happen to it, whether it be global warming or a new disease, we could flee to Mars. The ability to retreat to another planet would be an important milestone for humanity! We could use Mars because of its close proximity to Earth. Last but not least, since Mars is unoccupied it would create new land for cities; Mars has nearly 56 million square miles of land! It would be fascinating to explore the craters and volcanoes of Mars! Imagine what a city built on this terrain would be like! Mars may seem useless but it is actually very important. Its unique attributes make for groundbreaking research: Mars’s proximity to Earth makes it a useful backup plan for Earth, and its large size leaves room for expansion. While others may say that Mars is boring and that it is pointless to explore it, I am looking forward to humans colonizing Mars! Middle School Division Winner Veronica Yu It has been suggested that an asteroid impact on earth millions of years ago changed the climate and caused dinosaurs to go extinct. What if this happens again and the earth gets destroyed? Can we find another planet to call home? With advances in science, we may see that to happen soon when one day humans successfully land on and colonize Mars. Landing on Mars is not only a huge opportunity for mankind, but also a big responsibility to nurture a ‘virgin’ planet.
Landing on Mars is a huge opportunity in our lifetime. We could find so many new things there. I look forward to learning about the weather on Mars. Is it stormy or sunny? Does it rain? I am excited to see those gigantic dust storms. What does it feel like inside one? Is it more scary than exciting? We may find new animals with unimaginable features. Maybe I can find animals living there that had disappeared millions of years ago on earth? I am also looking forward to exploring the landscapes of Mars. It may appear to be a complete desert, but there has been ice spotted on recent research. What if underneath Mars, we find a gigantic ocean? Perhaps even find fish or animals living in that ocean? If I dig around, maybe I can find a gem that is very valuable and useful? How about a mineral or chemical element that has never been found on earth? It is beyond my vast imagination what this opportunity will bring to us.
I am also excited about the responsibilities calling upon us by landing on Mars. Responsibility means to plan well before anything. Not only it is our privilege to explore this planet, but also our duty to take care of it. Mars is like a young sapling. If no one weeds or waters the planet, it will die. We need to weed and water for young Mars for it to ‘grow’ into a strong and wise tree that we can enjoy its shade. It’s our job to thoroughly learn about the planet. Even if we may find many useful resources and want to mine them, we must think before doing anything and be gentle. We need to guide it in a carefully planned path to avoid mistakes we have made on earth, such as global warming and pollutions. The fate of Mars depends on us to either keep it as a shining star or ruin as a dark planet.
Landing on Mars sounds so far away from us, but also so close within our time. I am excited to see this extraordinary opportunity and the deep responsibility. If we continue to explore, in the near future we could have a community of people living on Mars. Will I take the first flight to go there? Absolutely! OK, my brother can come along too so we keep each other company in this breathtaking journey.
Runner-Up Suri Li On a Friday night, I was in my cozy bed dreaming about my first trip to the planet, Mars. In my dream, I experienced a number of amazing things, ranging from visiting the tallest volcano in the Solar System - Olympus Mons to sightseeing the largest canyon - Valles Marines.
I blasted off my massive “Twilight” spaceship at the NASA space station. After a couple days of enjoyable flying, I landed on the mystical Red Planet safely and smoothly. I cannot wait to explore this vast planet! I quickly removed my astronaut suit and changed into a fresh pair of clothes made of a special material that is meant to last a lifetime.
Now I was so ready to start my tour of Mars. The first stop on my tour list is the Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the Solar System! I suddenly saw lots of flying cars zooming by. They seemed to either use thermal energy from the surface of Mars, or absorb the carbon dioxide to get fueled up. The cars here looked totally eco-friendly, running without gasoline. I hopped onto one of the flying cars and headed towards the Olympus Mons. After about one hour of flying in the car, I was already able to take a glimpse of the seemingly infinite peak of the volcano. It was the biggest volcano I had ever seen! It was three times as high as Earth’s highest peak, Mt. Everest! I sped toward it to get a closer look and enjoyed the grandness of the volcano.
Next, I drove my flying car towards Valles Marines, the largest canyon in the world. The vast area expanded over 3,000 kilometers. It was four times longer than the Grand Canyon in Arizona. My breath was literally taken away by the magnificent beauty of the Red Planet!
All of a sudden, I heard a growling sound from my stomach and I realized I haven’t eaten anything for a few hours. I spotted a few interesting restaurants around the block and stepped into one of them. I surprisingly found that they serve a wide variety of greens and vegetables including microgreens, lettuce, spinach, peas, garlic, kale, onions and even dandelions. These plants have a high nutritional value and flourish quickly on Mars.
While I was roaming on the street after lunch, I noticed gigantic balloons floating in the air. It turned out those gigantic balloons were the home to residents on Mars. I walked into one of the parked balloons and saw a control room inside. Then, I realized that I could even fly the balloon wherever I wanted to go. Another interesting thing I found in the balloon was that money is a big waste, because everything is FREE on Mars! The mystique of Mars is one that humans can’t seem to resist for centuries. I have long been obsessed with the dusty red planet, so let us countdown to our first human mission to Mars!
Special Award: Most Creative Leonard Yu My dad told me fifty years ago no one could have thought that people could watch a movie on a phone. Fifty years later it has become a reality. These are some inventions that I think are going to help the world.
The time-traveling machine is one that I am looking forward to. It can help you travel instantly in the blink of an eye. There is a possible way to time travel, but right now nobody knows how to make it happen. According to BrainPOP, Einstein's Theories of Relativity says if you travel at the speed of light, time will slow down. That means you can experience things otherwise not possible now. It does not have to be super quick to make this work. Clocks on planes tick slower than clocks on the ground. The time-traveling machine can be a huge rectangular box with a small room for you to stand inside. I like the color of a light blue with an indigo tint. If you want to time travel you can press a button and say where you want to go. Boom! You are there to see whatever, like shaking hands with George Washington or meeting an extinct Penguin King named Binky. Time travel can also help reduce air pollution. It can reduce Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect by lowering the amount of Carbon Dioxide and Methane on the planet. Time travel can help reduce air pollution, travel faster, and go miraculously to the past or the future. Another invention that I want is a microorganism or a plant that sucks in pollutants and turns them into a non-pollutant in the ocean or on land. Pollution is made of bad stuff like dirt, grime, chemicals, dust, and many more. They can pollute the air and water and make it dangerous and poisonous to breathe or drink. The microorganisms or plants that I want to invent can take up pollutants, surround them, eat them up, and turn them into non-pollutants. The invented microorganisms and plants can make our planet cleaner.
Lastly, I want to produce a special vaccine that makes people immune to all pathogens. It can prevent future pandemics and epidemics and keep us healthy. It can prevent diseases like the anti-virus software for computers. So, when it comes your way, the body can immediately destroy it. I want this to happen because the coronavirus is spreading fast, and coronavirus mutations keep popping out now. Now lots of people are getting sick. This vaccine can solve the cases of Sars and many other viruses like the common cold and the flu.
Inventions that I am looking forward to are to make a time-traveling machine portal, a plant or a microorganism that can suck pollutants away, and a special vaccine to immunize people to all viruses. These inventions can help us to travel to time and places we cannot do now, make our planet cleaner, and make people healthier.
Special Award: Young Author Christine Liu The future of science is a very dependable one-- young entrepreneurs roam the earth, and new minds that are brewing fresh ideas minutes a day. There are many things to look forward to, with adolescence making ideas that would have never seen the light of day if it weren’t because of the bases that we have been provided beforehand. There are many things that we see as exciting for the future-- one of them being hacking the big and scary concept of “space.”
As far as science is concerned, space works itself into the seams of.. Everything. Everything around you is some culmination of the galaxy and it’s doings. Gravity is inescapable. So as to say the universe is big-- would be largely undermining its size. As much as an astronomer would even hope to touch the barren land of Jupiter, we are talking about the mess that is the milky way. The hazy little semi-transparent light does not do it justice; we are talking about a 13.51 billion yeared spiral, with so many stars that you would never even try to see, even with an eyeglass. For the future of science, it must be almost impossible to explore even a small fraction of this place, right? Wrong. Kind of.
Recently, astronomers have took it upon themselves to headstart themselves into exploring Mars. The place is not as much of a wasteland as it looks like-- research shows that life is sustainable on the barren land.
Unsurprisingly, our exploration has gotten much more persistent throughout the decades. New technology has made it much more convenient to move around, through the use of robots and technology. Everybody has heard of Apollo 11 now-- it’s old news, but it’s actually not that far from our present. We have gotten so much farther in terms of exploration, it’s almost like we’ve mapped out a lot of what we have to do. It’s astounding how far we all have gotten in just a few decades-- nothing could express how amazed I am by it.