Subduing nature
Editorial
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
These famous words are from the bible’s first chapter, Genesis. But even before biblical times, humans have made claims subduing nature to their will; the animals for food, the soil for development, the waters for travel and the minerals for technological improvements. While nature seemed resistant at first, we have now entered the anthropocene, the age where our footprints have left a visible scar on planet earth.
“Subduing Nature” addresses some of the issues mankind has met, or will meet in the near future, in how and why we are at war with nature. We keep the fire throughout the magazine, asking ourselves such questions as: If we can change gender to the point that it becomes natural, will it change our perception of what gender is? Our lives are fragile and short, but what if we finally found the fountain of youth, would we then be able to live forever, and would we want to? Will our increasing needs for energy make us chose controversial paths and explore the unknown? And when speaking of the unknown: Does our existence limit itself to planet earth, or can we colonize and subdue the wild and harsh landscapes of other planets? Can we create life?
Teknovatøren won this year’s price for the best student publication at the University of Oslo. This is not only a confirmation of the hard work students at the TIK-center has put into creating this magazine; it is also a testimony to the content we write about. We write about the controversial and the topical. We write across different disciplines, and trough different lenses, and we raise questions about the very essence of our existence. Through previous publications, we have explored both the creative and destructive paths of our relationship with nature. In this issue we will see how we interact in our struggle for subduing it.
Thomas Rye Eriksen
Executive Editor
Articles
- Climate Change: A Numbers Game – Bård Lahn
- Facial Recognition Technology – Linn Renate Olaussen
- Laboratory Burger on the Menu – Kaja Maria Stabursvik
- The Great Divide – Nature on the Cultural Battlefield – Inga Blæsterdalen
- An Interview With Bryan Wynne – Ievgen Bilyk
- Oceanic Black holes – Elise Bjørn-Hansen
- Norwegian Innovators Defying the Malthusian Theory – Vegard Tveito
- Solar Power Upscaled – Maria Kristina Stokke
- How Did We Become So Uncomfortale With Nature – Vegard Tveito
- Need of a Planet(et) B? – Ulrika Marie Eriksson
- Small Solutions to Big Problems – Caroline Grubstad Hoff
- Searching for the Fountain of Youth – Lene H. Davidsen
- Penis in the Making – Miriam Øyna
- Say Cheese! – Elisabeth Cassidy Svennevik
- Thorium – The World’s Future Fuel – Jonas Archer
- Molecular Computers – The End of the Silicon Era – Vegard Torvund
- Biomimicry – Developing From Nature – Ole Kristian Bergheim
- Geothermal Energy at Svalbard – Kristin Margrethe Johansen
- Inventors Under the Threat of Extinction – Ievgen Bilyk
- Confessions of a Lecturer – Magnus Gulbrandsen
- New Innovation – Rikke Mohn Simonsen
- The Social Entrepeneur – Ellen Loxley
- 3 From TIK – Rikke Mohn Simonsen
Board of Directors
Chairman: Eirik Lorentzen
Executive Editor: Thomas Rye Eriksen
Head of Finance: Ulrika Marie Eriksson
Head og Marketing & Innovation: Joachim Bråthen
Art Director: Nicolai Hennum Wendt
Head of Digital Media: Elise Bjørn-Hansen
Contributors
Layout: Nicolai Hennum Wendt and Joachim Bråthen
Photography: Olga Devyatkova, Maria Stokke, Merete Rosenberg, Thomas Torheim og Bård Ivar Basmo
Logo Design: Ulrikke Nordseth
Editors: Lene Davidsen, Inga Blæsterdalen, Jonas Archer, Thomas Rye Eriksen, Renate Olaussen, Vegard Tveito, William Cunningham, Nicolai Hennum Wendt and Elisabeth Cassidy Svennevik