Two very short bits of science-fiction
Genesis and Soul Bot
by Andreas Wannerstedt
We're not here to have a serious discussion about science today folks. Nor are we here to discuss the plausibility of the events that take place in either of the following ultra-short films. According to the artist, Andreas Wannerstedt, they live squarely in the realm of science fiction, and should be treated as such.
Sure, a reference is made in one of the shorts to the pseudo-scientific claim that the 'soul' has been shown to have real, physical mass, but let's not get too serious on a Wednesday morning. If you'd like to get into that idea a bit more, feel free to read Massimo Pigliucci do so here.
No, let's just sit back and lose ourselves in some entertainment that we can at least call science-ish. (If one was permitted to do such a thing with our language) They're both very stylishly done, set to ominous pieces of music, and are totally watchable scientific flights of fancy.
Andreas' descriptions of each film from can be found below. Enjoy!
GENESIS
Track: Detritus "Haunted (remix by Niveau Zero)"
Taken from Detritus's album "Things Gone Wrong" (adn121) , remixed by Niveau Zero
originally released by Ad Noiseam
In 2010, scientists succeeded in recreating a miniature version of the Big Bang.
Within a few years, some of the universe's deepest secrets may be unlocked.
Genesis is another self-initiated personal project that I've written, designed and animated single handedly. It's a 3D short film with a story that revolves around a machine that has the power of creating new, miniature universes. By controlling the universe rotation, it can speed up the time and evolution of the miniature worlds, and with the help of a fancy search engine it can pin point and extract terrestrial planets. Well, it's not very scientifically correct by any means.. Or is it..? You might live in a manufactured miniature world.
Anyway, what would mankind do if they possessed the power of creating new worlds? Probably use it for creating some kind of decorative snow globe. Guaranteed gift of the year.
Well, it's not all science fiction, I actually got inspired after reading some interesting articles about the European science agency CERN, who designed the world's biggest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider. This accelerator shoot beams around a freezing 27km concrete ring underground near Geneva, smashing atoms together in search of the elusive "God particle" believed present at the Big Bang. Since it began operating at the end of March 2010, CERN engineers and physicists have created billions of miniature versions of the Big Bang, revealing fundamental insights into the nature of the cosmos.
Also, at Lancaster University in UK, physicists unraveling the secrets of how to build a universe. In fact, they have already formed one, or something very much like it. This scientific breakthrough lies in the bottom of a chamber no larger than a pinky finger, filled with helium and cooled to 0.0003 degrees Fahrenheit above absolute zero.
There's a short "behind the scenes" here: andreaswannerstedt.se/motion/genesis/breakdown/
SOUL BOT
Track "Inquisition part III" by Matta, taken from the "The Lost" record released by Ad Noiseam (adn126)
They say that we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of death. They say that it's the weight of the human soul.
Well, it was Dr. Duncan MacDougall of Haverhill, Massachusetts who first attempted to weigh the human soul. In 1907, he placed 6 dying patients on a homemade scale, which also acted as a bed for the patients. More recently in Dan Brown's novel, "the Lost Symbol", there is a segment that explains how "The Institute of Noetic Science" uses noetics to weigh the human soul. After tests on terminally ill patients, it came across that immediately after death, a person's weight dropped.
So, what would happen if they found a way to contain this invincible mass.. this soul.. Obviously the only reason to do this would be to put it in some kind of awesome robot.. yeah!
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