The solar mirror consists of thin,
reflective film. The light can be
focused in a beam with a
diameter of 10-75km.Underwater city sphere
for 5000 peopleBond villains love their hide-outs, and
Karl Stromberg, villain of The Spy Who
Loved Me (1977), aimed to start a nuclear
war from his underwater city of ‘Atlantis’.
A little more than 50 years after the film – in
2030 – an underwater city could be realised if
the Japanese Shimizu Corporation manages
to build its design for the Ocean Spiral, a
self-sufficient underwater city stretching
from the surface to the ocean floor at a
depth of 4km. The upper part of the
Ocean Spiral is a sphere made of a grid
structure of concrete with a diameter of
500m and room for some 5000 people.
The ball is more resistant to water
pressure than a cubic shape, while
humans, food, fuel and water can be
carried up and down via a 15km spiral
tunnel. Energy for the city is to come
from micro-organisms that convert CO 2
in the water into methane, along with
generators that use water temper-
ature differences to generate power.
Ocean water is to be desalinated and
used as drinking water, and the
inhabitants will feed on fish.VILLAIN
The villain (^) of (^) Die
Another (^) Day ( (^2002)
focused sun )^
light by
means of a satellite
.
The underwater
city of Ocean
Spiral is to be a
4000m-high
structure.
Mineral extraction
Power generator
Reflected sunlight
CO 2 storage
Ocean water desalination
Living quarters
Solar mirror
False moon to light up
Chinese city at night
When Gustav Graves, the villain of Die
Another Day (2002), aimed to shoot
sunlight onto the Earth, he was engaging in a
mission quite similar to a real project that
Chinese engineers are working on. The engineers
aim to save power at night in the city of
Chengdu in Western China by launching a mirror
into orbit around Earth, from which it will reflect
sunlight onto Earth to top-up or replace street
lighting. The local company behind the idea has
calculated that the mirror can save more than
A$250m annually by illuminating an area with a
diameter of 10-75km at a brightness
corresponding to eight full moons. According to
the space institute of Chengdu, the mirror is to
be tested this year at an orbit height of 500km.
Chinese engineers will launch a mirror into
orbit around Earth to save electricity by
reflecting sunlight onto a Chinese city.
Sun
KEN
IKE
DA^
MA
DSE
N^ &
SH
UTT
ERS
TOC
K
RITZ
AU
CAS
INP
X
VILLAIN
From his (^) underwat
comple er^
x, the villain
of (^) The Spy Who Love
( (^1977) ) a d^ Me^
imed to conquer the
world. But did h^
e (^) like fish?
ALL
TAS
(^) PR
UICT
RE
LIB
ARR
UY/
TNI
ED
RTA
TIS
RS/
ITZ
U A
CAS
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U^ C
OR
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ATI
ON
34 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
TECHNOLOGY JAMES BOND