3 superpowers in "Enigma" that you could have
In the next 20 years
I recently read the book Enigma, which is a terrific sci-fi book taking place in 2027. The main premise of the book is that the government had been researching a mysterious immovable artifact presumably left by aliens thousands of years ago. However, at one point the cube had suddenly disappeared and two characters, a scientist named Kelly and a soldier named Justin Boyd who was selected to join an experimental military enhancement experiment, must go through a journey into the past, all the way back when Nazi Germany was alive and well, in order to determine the whereabouts of the cube in the future. But I do not want to focus too much on the plot, and instead focus on the supersoldier named Justin, who went through a series of enhancements and intense training routines that put current Navy Seals to shame (of course this is just fictional though). I wanted to talk about 3 enhancements Justin got, how he used it in the novel, and how scientists are currently in the early stages of producing something similar.
1. Superhuman Stamina
After Justin had successfully passed his training exercises, he went through a series of surgeries where the military had implanted respirocytes in him. These respirocytes are currently a theoretical concept invented by scientists, where small nano-bots act with pressure tanks containing oxygen and carbon dioxide. These nano-bots would emulate their biological counterparts (red blood cells - RBC), but would be able to release 236 times more oxygen than a natural RBC. Justin had used this in the book when a foreign country's commander had attempted to kidnap Justin using sleeping gas, however, Justin was simply able to hold his breath for over 20 minutes, and wait for the sleeping gas to pass. However, in reality, respirocytes can keep people breathing underwater for over an hour! Which means the author had to severely underpower him to make the character's more realistic.
2. Smart Contact Lenses
In the novel, one of Justin's most used device was his smart-contact lenses, which featured "superhuman vision, heads-up displays, video camera, medical sensors, and much more." (404, Richards). The contacts are placed on the eye so that they can harvest energy from both light and the mechanical movement in blinking. Justin used a night-vision feature of the contacts by adding one layer of carbon, which could pick up the full spectrum of light. He used it to his advantage by often turning off the lights and then facing off against hordes of enemies.
3. Brain Stimulation
According to the author, the use of transcranial electrical brain stimulation to enhance performance has "not only been studied, it has been used in the field." (406, Richards). Justin has subconsciously used his brain stimulation many times throughout the book. For instance, at one point three Nazi soldiers had ambushed Justin and tried to knock him out using the head of their gun, however, Justin had witnessed the events in "slow-motion", but in reality, his brain was able to just process the events so fast that it appeared to go in slow-motion. Time was still moving at the same speed. Justin then proceeded to knock the three men out with ease.
1. Superhuman Stamina
After Justin had successfully passed his training exercises, he went through a series of surgeries where the military had implanted respirocytes in him. These respirocytes are currently a theoretical concept invented by scientists, where small nano-bots act with pressure tanks containing oxygen and carbon dioxide. These nano-bots would emulate their biological counterparts (red blood cells - RBC), but would be able to release 236 times more oxygen than a natural RBC. Justin had used this in the book when a foreign country's commander had attempted to kidnap Justin using sleeping gas, however, Justin was simply able to hold his breath for over 20 minutes, and wait for the sleeping gas to pass. However, in reality, respirocytes can keep people breathing underwater for over an hour! Which means the author had to severely underpower him to make the character's more realistic.
2. Smart Contact Lenses
In the novel, one of Justin's most used device was his smart-contact lenses, which featured "superhuman vision, heads-up displays, video camera, medical sensors, and much more." (404, Richards). The contacts are placed on the eye so that they can harvest energy from both light and the mechanical movement in blinking. Justin used a night-vision feature of the contacts by adding one layer of carbon, which could pick up the full spectrum of light. He used it to his advantage by often turning off the lights and then facing off against hordes of enemies.
3. Brain Stimulation
According to the author, the use of transcranial electrical brain stimulation to enhance performance has "not only been studied, it has been used in the field." (406, Richards). Justin has subconsciously used his brain stimulation many times throughout the book. For instance, at one point three Nazi soldiers had ambushed Justin and tried to knock him out using the head of their gun, however, Justin had witnessed the events in "slow-motion", but in reality, his brain was able to just process the events so fast that it appeared to go in slow-motion. Time was still moving at the same speed. Justin then proceeded to knock the three men out with ease.
I think this is a really interesting way to talk about the story. It's really cool to see how fictional aspects of a book may become a future reality. I think the part about the respirocytes was the most interesting. I think the concept of nano bots that defeats its biological counterparts is a really interesting idea but also perhaps a bit scary because the idea of nano mechanical devices inside a person is a little off-putting. The part about the smart contact lenses reminded me of my exploravision project and I think it's cool and scary that we may soon be able enhance our vision as well. Brain stimulation sounds the most unfeasible out of these, but it still is a very intriguing concept. Overall, I think this post was very creative and I definitely enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteGood job on this blog post. I found this to be an interesting way to talk about the story, and I liked how you focused on the thing you really enjoyed about the book. I think it's interesting how in the future superpowers may be a real thing, when it all just seems like a movie to us now. A suggestion I have is to add a conclusion, just to wrap things up. Overall great job on this blog post!
ReplyDelete