Welcome to DISTRICT 9
a gedankenexperiment

I was thinking about if it’s possible to survive 100 years in a 20`000 square meters (three soccer fields) closed space with 12 other people underground the earth. This area is called district 9.

I want to find a good place to survive under the earth. The place is warm and peaceful. Everything that humans need is there. I can go to the nature and smell the flowers. The imaginary sky is wonderful, and I can change it in any way I want. I walk through the floor with an open heart and a positive mindset. The world is in a difficult progress and I’m staying underground until it’s over. Together with others, we are making the best out of our situation. Even if we know it’s not the same to be in a closed room as going outside for a walk, but the way I created our underground world makes us feel alive.

What to do?

To build a lively place underground, I need to construct a whole ecosystem. This is going to be an interesting project. Most of my information is based on philosophical thoughts as well as experiments I have done.

Background Idea

The first steps are to have a minimum subsistence level that every human needs. In fact, we only need three things to survive:

• Water
• Food
• Oxygen

There are several things we also need to live more than 50 years. In our case it’s light, colors, and people around us. Without these it’s going to be very difficult to live 100 years underground. I will show how to meet human needs.

Water

My first attempt to make water was a success. The idea was to heat a drinking glass, so it fogs up. After that, the water starts to drip. This is my idea on how to produce water. I will show you how it’s going to look if we want to do that in large quantities.

Material: tantalum hafnium carbide, melting point: 4215 degrees Celsius
Heat: Heat 2000+ degrees Celsius
Conduit: Platinum/Diamond
Hydrogen => Water

The process basically: it’s a bowl heated by a lighter.
You take the strongest material & heat it.
The heat is controlled and heated by electricity.
Thus, hydrogen is produced and finally flows down to the
tap water. I added a filter (the green line) to it because the water needs to be cooled.

In the end, we have drinkable water that will last forever.

Food

Every human being is dependent on food. I have also thought about it in an emergency. We cannot make food stocks for the next 100 years, but we can eat and breed animals and thus increase our lifespan.

The main three animals include: Cows, chickens, and sheep. Cows produce enough meat and milk so that we also have enough iron in our bodies. Chickens can give us meat and eggs. This is also essential when it comes to pregnancy. Finally, sheep: the sheep bring us not only food, but also enough fur to keep warm in cold temperatures.

Oxygen & Colors

Through trees and plants, we can get enough oxygen to survive in an enclosed space.

The trees are planted and watered with the water we produced. That it has a good growth and thus can bring enough oxygen in circulation, I will produce the light with the self-produced electricity.

I am convinced that with this method some people can manage for a longer time without going above the surface.

Because of the trees and plants, you will have a lot of different colors around you to see. That is very important for our mental health and also for our mood.

Electricity – light

Producing your own electricity is the best way when trying to survive in an enclosed space. Exercise lowers depression and thus produces power to have enough light and heating.

Equipment: light column, about 1.80 m high with 16 levels for about 20 to 800 watts of mechanical power.

Possible displays:

Speed (km/h), cadence (rpm), distance covered (km), current mechanical power (watts), current electrical power (watts), accumulated power/work (Wh or kWh), donation total (€), voltage (volts), current (amps), ranking list with name display (separated by persons/teams), bar charts, picture/graphic overlays, various multipliers (e.g. calories, ml fuel oil, grams biomass, electricity price, light bulb duration …), logo

The light will help us not to live in a dark space. It would be very difficult to live without it.

Source: Stromvelo: Trainieren und Zuhause Strom erzeugen (ebike-news.de)

DISTRICT 9

You are now walking through a corridor with open eyes. There is light on the ceiling and plants on the side. Two hours a day you are going to ride the bicycle to have enough electricity. You can enjoy life underground.

I have tried to satisfy the most important needs of man in one space.

The experiment that I have described in this project cannot be proven 100% and I hope this will never be the case, but if the day should come, we will be prepared for it.

About this contribution

I first tried to find some supporters for my project and doing a collaboration. I was looking for some motivated students that have a similar vision. I was in contact with two students from the Basque Country. The communication was done on what’s app. Unfortunately, the collaboration failed because of communication difficulties. So, I began and finished my project by myself.

Written by Jozef & reviewed by Karla Jovic

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Q59 – Living without electricity

 

 

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