There are a lot of things we will never see in our lifetime. Despite that, I still find it particularly hard to think of something I know exists but will never see because the things that are invisible to us often inspire fascination and I would want to eventually see these things. For this blog post, something I would probably not see in my lifetime would be alien lifeforms from other planets. I would imagine that there could even potentially be aliens living among us on earth. I think that this would be an interesting thing to talk about because there has been a plethora of sightings of unidentified objects on the sky and land but no signs of living extraterrestrial lifeforms.
“Is mankind alone in our universe?” is a common dispute among scientists and astrologists. From the movements of other planets within nearby stars, scientists have discovered several bodies of planets which may possess appropriate living conditions for lifeform habitat. In the National Geographic article, “How many alien civilizations are out there? A new galactic survey holds a clue.”, author Nadia Drake explains there are more than “300 million worlds with similar conditions to earth are scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy.” This further demonstrates the mysteries of other lifeforms on other planets in our universe.
To remediate this, I decided to sculpt a flying saucer digitally and print using a 3D printer. I decided to sculpt it this way because I believe that flying saucers would be a mythical and the most popular method to associate with aliens. Since the thing has not been represented before, I decided to sculpt a flying saucer based on famous movies and diagrams from comic books and the internet. Using a program called Blender and Fusion360, I was able to produce a 3d model of a flying saucer. Subsequently, I was able to use a 3D printer to print the model. I decided to use a gray PETG plastic filament as its material due to the color. I noticed that most depictions of flying saucers are colored gray and have a metallic shine, so I decided to use a glossy gray material. The overall printing time took me 2 hours using 3D supports and 0.16mm layer heights to maintain a high printing quality.
When the printing process of the flying saucer was completed, I decided to create a stand for the saucer to create a floating effect and improve the overall aesthetics of the object. Using the same programs I used to create the saucer, I was able to create a floating stand model. I then printed using a white PETG filament and approximately 1mm thin.
Overall, I think that this project made me realize that there are a lot of things that I would not see in my lifetime. Despite that, I believe that I would eventually see these things in the future. Ultimately, I thoroughly enjoyed thinking about things this way as well as the remediation component of this assignment where I was able to design my own flying saucer.
References
Drake, N. (2021, February 10). How many alien civilizations are out there? A new galactic survey holds a clue. Science. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-many-alien-civilizations-are-out-there-new-galactic-survey-holds-clue
