The Future is Green and Bright: A Vision of Technature

Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine the year 2050. What do you see?

Do you see a city covered in grey metal? Do you see robots marching in the streets? Do you see clouds of smog blotting out the sun?

For a long time, movies and books told us that the future would be "Cyberpunk"—dark, rainy, and full of neon lights and concrete. They told us that nature would die and machines would rule.

I don't accept that vision. And neither should you.

I see a different future. I see Solarpunk.

What is Solarpunk?

I see cities where the skyscrapers are covered in vertical gardens, cascading vines and flowers down the sides of glass towers. I see streets where cars are quiet and electric, or better yet, replaced by fast, clean trains and bicycles.

I see energy that comes from the sun and the wind, free and endless.

I see robots, yes. But not scary soldier robots. I see gardener robots.

• Tiny drones that buzz like hummingbirds, checking the health of plants.
• Robots that swim in the ocean, filtering out plastic like whales eating plankton.
• Satellites that watch over the rainforests to protect them from illegal logging.

This sits at the intersection of Technology and Nature. We call it Technature.

We Don't Have to Choose

People used to think we had to choose. "You can have factories and money, OR you can have forests and clean air. You can't have both."

That was 20th-century thinking. That was the old way.

The new generation of builders (that's YOU!) knows that we can have both. In fact, we must have both.

We can use our biggest brains and our fastest computers to figure out how to live with the Earth, not against it.

Biomimicry: Copying the Master

Nature has been researching and developing for 4 billion years. Nature is the best engineer in the universe.

• Termite mounds stay cool in the hot desert without air conditioning. Architects are now studying them to build better office buildings!
• Birds fly efficiently without burning jet fuel. Engineers are studying their wings to make better planes.
• Plants turn sunlight into food with 100% efficiency. Scientists are trying to copy photosynthesis to make better solar panels.

This is called Biomimicry. It means "copying life." It is the future of technology.

You Are the Gardeners

The future is not something that happens to us. It is something we build.

If we want the Green and Bright future, we have to plant the seeds now.

You are the gardeners of tomorrow.

• When you learn science, you are learning how to understand the Earth.
• When you learn coding, you are learning how to build the tools to save it.
• When you create art, you are imagining the world we want to live in.

Don't be afraid of the future. Don't let the scary movies get you down.

The future is a blank canvas. Grab your green paint. Grab your blue paint. Let's make a masterpiece.