Think Twice

Dasha Zerboni

Description

Ten magical science fiction stories tackling global issues, presenting creative ways to solve world hunger, the dangers of neurotechnology, solutions to antibiotic resistance and more.

Creative thinking is the key to problem solving. In this compilation of short stories, author Dasha Zerboni tackles big global issues and imagines a future world where solutions to these problems are possible. In Think Twice, she questions whether these solutions always make the world a better place.

This collection explores a variety of subjects, including a world where eating insects solves world hunger, and viruses cure people of infections, a world where water is recycled for human use, and a world where technological advancements to the human brain allow us to see through time and space.

These thought-provoking stories seek to spread awareness of big global topics like world hunger, antibiotic resistance, water supply, and neurotechnology, and to initiate discussion on these topics.

Sujets

• Science Fiction
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 11 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665731751
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THINK TWICE
Little Stories that Tackle Big Issues
DASHA ZERBONI


Copyright © 2022 Dasha Zerboni.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3174-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3175-1 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919093
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/8/2022
CONTENTS
Water Supply
Human Environmental Impact
Sleep Patterns
Terraforming
International Travel
Gamification
Neurotechnology
Insects
Antibiotic Resistance

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Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI) is a non-profit program and competition where students in grades 5-12 compete in local, state, and international writing competitions by evaluating and analyzing fictional future scenes on real-world topics. The program focuses on five big global issues per year, then looks at how the environment, technology, and societal and political trends may impact those issues forecast 20–30 years into the future.
There are different FPSPI categories of competition. In the Scenario Writing competition, students write a short 1500-word fictional story, set at least 30 years or more in the future, using one of the competition topics. The Scenario Performance competition is similar to Scenario Writing, but instead of writing a story, students tell their stories through oral communication and are judged on both their content and storytelling technique.
The stories in this book each won FPSPI California State or International awards for Scenario Writing and/or Scenario Performance on the prescribed topic.
Visit www.fpspi.org for more information.
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WATER SUPPLY
Fresh water is in short supply in many parts of the world. Men, women, and children around the world walk miles to water . Often, dams are built to provide water to dry inland areas, and streams are diverted to fill reservations as populations grow. Even when there is access to water, families must spend hours to make the water potable. Currently, it is estimated that more than two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and more than four billion lack proper sanitation services.
Women and children often suffer the most when the water supply is scarce since they are typically the ones responsible for collecting it. As a result, children, spend less time in school, especially girls. This impacts their educational performance and outcome. The physical burden of carrying water long distances can also put children at risk of exploitation. When there is limited access to safe water for drinking and basic hygiene maintenance, people contract diseases. This puts an increased burden on families with limited means, as illness can put them out of work, and overly burden them with medical expenses.
As available water supplies deplete globally, how can clean water be more easily and readily obtained? Could government regulations shape the future of access to water? Will this be more of a benefit or a burden?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE JOURNEY TO WATER
There’s an old Cree Indian prophecy, spoken long before the existence of elite corporations with their satellite computers and broken promises. “When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.”
On the first day of creation, God gave us light. But, on the second day, God took the water above the ground and separated it from the water on the ground, inserting the blue sky between the two so as to give life the opportunity to form. And since then, the sky has been like a protective blanket of gasses, keeping us safe. Because of the sky, the ever-mighty, hot sun does not burn us to death, and we do not freeze of cold when the sun sets at night.
It is possible that there was more water on Earth at that time than what we have in our atmosphere today. I am almost certain of it. One possible explanation is that the thin layer of water vapor above the ground, high up in the atmosphere created a “greenhouse effect” that trapped the heat of the sun and resulted in an acceleration in the growth of trees and plants, protecting the Earth and its inhabitants from the damaging UV rays of the sun. This protection explains, in large part, the extraordinary longevity of Earth’s first people, and also the volume of water that spilled from the sky during that infamous Noachian flood. But the flood was long ago, and the Earth we live in now has a sky void of the protective atmosphere of yesterday.
The ozone layer has waned until the UV radiation is so strong that you can get a sunburn in under 5 minutes. In equator states, it’s required to wear special clothing before spending time outside, if at all. There’s not much reason to go outside anyways. The beaches have been taken over by saltwater distilleries, the number one source of clean water now that nearly all the rivers have dried up. The plants suffered after the ozone hole appeared, and most have dried up. And it’s not like you can just go to your local pool. Not after the new mandate, requiring all available water to be dedicated to the “Drinking Movement” after the world was placed in a state of national emergency.
The one thing that hasn’t changed drastically in the past five years, at least, is my own life. I wake up early, as I do every day before school, to walk the 3.7 miles to the river for water. Mom and dad are usually working by then, dad as a schoolteacher and mom taking care of my four siblings, and so the job usually falls to me. We all live together at the top of Mount Hermon, more than 9000 feet in elevation. Up here, the air is thin, but clean, far from the inky grasp of the pollution down below. That’s where the river is. Down below. There used to be a forest around it, but a new corporation just established its headquarters there last month. Some sort of new logging business, and the rest of the trees fell, just like that.
I attempt to go my usual route, cutting through the steep cliffs and under the sharp overhangs of our mountain. My siblings have a nickname for it, “Cobbles,” named for the slippery rocks that have marked the path, a result of the years of erosion. Today, the rocks tumble down as soon as I set foot on the ground, the earth beneath me giving way to dust. I stumble, but don’t fall, catch myself, before taking a new path. The long route, through the town that snakes around the mountain. I’ve been there before, a long time ago. It was humongous and bustling with people, so many you could hardly squeeze through the crowds. I would travel down to get freshly caught fish at the market. You could hear the merchants from a mile away, shouting out their catch of the day over the cacophony of the square.