Meet Our Futurists

The Starchild from *2001: A Space Odyssey*

US Represented considers the future beautiful and significant. Hence, we seek and find visionary writers who study the future with fertile imaginations and are willing to share intriguing impressions of what might come to pass. To name a few, Jonathan Read discusses the inevitable necessity of urban rooftop gardening in “Cities Going Green.” He points out that these gardens create their own fascinating ecosystems. For instance, “Large rooftop gardens provide wildlife corridors for birds and insects, as well as shelter from predators and difficult weather conditions. The pollen and nectar from flowering plants also provide a source of food for these creatures.”

Lindsay Deen

Along very similar lines, in “Growing Sustainability,” Lindsay Deen examines urban gardening strategies for eradicating or shrinking food deserts. FreedomWolf speaks to a broad range of topics. His “Are You Ready for the Future” is a manifesto that defines the futurist and lets people know what to expect from the Futurist Movement. “The World as Will and MIT Ingenuity“ touches on the life and work of Hugh Herr, a double-amputee MIT professor who created state-of-the art bionic legs that are changing the way we think of artificial limbs. “Of Mice and . . . More Mice” discusses recent stem cell research that will probably lead to a solution for infertility problems.

Another of our writers, Kyle York, underscores current food production inefficiencies and injustices and offers a practical remedy in his article “Lab-Grown Meat: Your Dinner of the Near Future.” Kyle even explores the possibilities surrounding the end of all things in “Guessing the Fate of the Cosmos.” Lindsay Deen overviews Space Lab, “A High School Laboratory in Space.” In “UFO Traces,” Mark Eberhardt offers one way of looking at possible extraterrestrial visitations. He notes that “it would take only one [alien visitation] case to be legitimatized by science and government to transform human awareness, consciousness, and behavior in the most profound ways ever,” but he doesn’t suggest this event is likely to happen anytime soon.

Michael Greenker

Michael Greenker takes us into space, too, exploring a new economic frontier in “Wealth Beyond the Horizon: The Coming Asteroid Mining Boom.” He also examines the possible ramifications of longer life expectancies in ”The Changing Face: Extended Longevity.” Finally, Lisa Hewitt and Jonathan Read both discuss 3D printing in separate articles. In “Imagination Harnessed: A 3-Dimensional Dream,” Lisa notes that soon, ”A dining room table might be printed, or even the Barbie doll that Scruffy just tousled with and left unceremoniously on the ground.” In “Additive Manufacturing Is Printing Your Future,” Jonathan notes that 3D printing already plays a pivotal role in certain medical practices: “One man had 75% of his skull replaced with printed material. Another woman had her entire mandible replaced with artificial bone printed from titanium.”

We hope you enjoy these writers’ works, and note that USR will continue to publish visionary writings on a regular basis.

Best,
The USR Staff