Tsunamis versus Rogue Waves – Future Security

Japan’s recent earthquake, tsunami and ongoing nuclear meltdowns got me to thinking if Man will ever conquer Mother Nature? It also got me to thinking which is more powerful, a tsunami or a rogue wave? If the two were to clash would they cancel each other out?

My tendency is to think they would be like two ships passing in the night barely noticing each other. Rogue waves, as in the movie “Perfect Storm” tend to be far from shore. A tsunami, on the other hand, can also travel far from shore as witnessed in Northern California from the recent 9.0 Japanese quake.

But, and this is a big but (to go along with my own big butt that consumed too many calories on a late night binge on chicken nuggets last night – but I digest) the advice given for boaters at least is that if a tsunami is coming then take your vessel 3 miles out to sea away from shore. For rogue waves, the closer to shore you are the safer you and your ship are. At least this is the conventional wisdom. Not that I’m into convention or wisdom.

So, the point I’m trying to make and doing a bad job in getting quickly to it is will there come a time when Man can overcome Mother Nature using science and technology. For instance here are some things I’ve thought about in regard to future technology to deal with catastrophic natural events:

1.      Pre-emptive strikes of explosives along volcanic plates to ease the pressure.

2.      Use of laser beams along fault lines for the same purposes.

3.      Instant early warning systems tied into our cell phones, laptops, PCs. There must be an app for that? Or perhaps there will be.

4.      In the future, say 50 or so years from now, there may be flying cars, buses, or even buildings for high level emergency evacuations.

5.      Having lived near the Mississippi River for a while I know that some houses are built on stilts to deal with occasional floods. Perhaps in the future, hydraulic stilts on future homes would be an option to deal with flooding, tsunamis and even the shaking from 9.0 and above earthquakes.

These are just a few ideas I came up with off the top of my head. I regularly put a mirror above my head to see small light bulbs going off and “word ideas” coming and going like drops of water in a hot frying pan. So, if you have an idea for how we can try to protect ourselves better from Mother Nature in the future using technology, then leave a comment. As for me, I’m going back to my mirror since I think I see a bald spot and there may just be a few new ideas ready to pop.