One of the most appealing things about fiction - videogames, comic books, films, or anything else - is getting to remotely experience things we couldn't possibly do in real life, and go places most of us can't reach. Our massive and intricate universe is a bit of tease like that. Here are what I think are some of the coolest places (real and fictional) that, for now, we can only dream of visiting.
#5 Luna (the Moon)
Although space tourism is poised to take off (sorry) and become a more common occurrence, reaching Earth's only natural satellite is still far out of reach for the rather-wealthy-but-otherwise-normal person. Orbital and sub-orbital flights will become commercial attractions that are more widely available in the near future, which is itself an exciting prospect, especially if you're in the earnings bracket that could afford it (in the near future, that is; no doubt there will be budget flights for visiting family on Mars in more distant years).
But Luna is still infuriatingly out of reach. There are obvious reasons for this, of course. It's one thing to sit in a spacecraft and enjoy the view and experience of weightlessness; quite another to leave the craft and walk on another world. The equipment and training are on another level altogether, not to mention the associated expenses. The biggest hurdle, though, is arguably the distance involved. Looking up at it from the Earth on a starry night, well, the Moon is right there. It doesn't look that far, but it is - and no words can make it clearer than this brilliant interactive animation. It also quite clearly answers the question 'why haven't we reached Mars yet?' Space is BIG.
On the upside, Nasa is working on fusion engines and are even thinking about whether warp drives might some day be possible. So don't give up all hope.
#4 Pandora (from Avatar)
Avatar was okay. The visuals were nice, though I'm not a fan of 3D cinema. The story was effective, though it should be, as it has to be one of the oldest ever told. I won't contest that the world of Pandora itself was very nicely designed, although it may have taken heavy inspiration from other sources. In any case lot of viewers absolutely adored the film, and fair play to them. Many people fell in love with the world of Pandora and again, no problems here – the purpose of this article is to look at places we only wish we could go.
However, some folks seem to have taken things way too seriously. A small minority of people who saw the film claim to have suffered depression and suicidal thoughts due to the fictional nature of the film's main location. I really do sympathise, but while there's nothing quite like Pandora on Earth, it's worth noting that we have some places which are pretty darn close. For instance, the Huangshan mountain range in Anhui province, China, seems to have been a pretty big inspiration for the mountain ranges in the film and you can go visit it now. I think the lesson here is that, no matter how cool these fictional places are, there are equally awesome places right here on Earth.
#3 Heaven Lake, North Korea
Maybe this entry is cheating. There are ways to holiday in North Korea, which looks to be expanding its tourism sector when it isn't threatening to engulf the world in nuclear fire. I would still advise anyone thinking of visiting North Korea to really think about it first. In any case, visiting Lake Garda is pretty easy and is especially so for we European nationals. Getting to Heaven Lake (Cheonji) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a little more challenging/terrifying, which is a shame, because just look at it:
Heaven Lake even comes with its own legend a monster beneath the waters, and the late "Supreme Leader" Kim Jong-il was supposedly born near on one of the mountains around it (although Soviet records show he was actually born in Vyatskoye, USSR). There are actually quite a few beauty spots in the North, such as Mount Kumgang, which attracts a number of Chinese tourists every year. But the DPRK remains a pretty scary place to visit, with a very strict tour regimen and the requirement that you be escorted by a handler at all times. Vice has managed to penetrate the country known as the Hermit Kingdom, which gets across the bizarre aspects of North Korea, but it's worth remembering that it is also one of, if not the, world's most repressive countries. If you're interested in reading about what real life is like for North Koreans, I'd highly recommend 'Nothing to Envy' bu Barbara Demick, which you can buy here (paperback and Kindle versions available).
I'd stick with South Korea.
SNSD fighting! (Yes, I am SONE)
#2 History
Who wouldn't want to travel in time? You could see what incredible things the future holds, and discover the mysteries of the past! But one of those things is much easier than the other. Making a time machine that could visit the future is an engineering challenge only; there is no particular scientific reason it couldn't work. Time is slowed down by gravity, so all you need to do is build a room where a massive gravitational force slows down the rate at which it experiences time, which would pass much faster on the outside. All you need to do is spend a bit of time in your time machine, and step out into the future. (This is based entirely of my understanding from reading A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, which is another recommended read.) Thanks to general relativity you could also travel at near the speed of light for a while, if you had a very cool spaceship. Ah, but then how do you get back home?
Travelling back in time is an obstacle that physics seems to have built up pretty high. Though there are plenty of hypotheses about how travel back in time might be possible, the scientific hurdles that would require to be hurdled to even begin testing these ideas are far, far beyond the point that humanity has achieved so far, and might not ever be possible. And if it is ever possible, it raises a whole bunch of other questions, some scientific (can we make changes to the past? what if that causes a paradox?) and others moral and philosophical (should we change the past? what if we make things worse?). I have to admit, though, even if travelling back in time isn't very likely to happen, the science and ethics behind it are fascinating. Also, The Voyage Home is an excellent movie.
#1 Virtual Reality
This one will have to be taken off the list one day, maybe much sooner than the others. The science-bending holographic worlds of Star Trek might not quite be ready to come to pass, but technology is edging closer and closer to bringing us virtual reality. You might even argue that a mix of Xbox Kinect and Oculus Rift meet the requirements to be called true virtual reality. They are, at least, fairly big steps in that direction. Skype is even working on making Star Wars-esque full body holocalls a reality. Yes, really.
So how long until we can make massive holographic virtual worlds that we can interact with as if they were real? Well, that's probably still a way off yet. That doesn't mean it won't ever be possible. And when it comes, it too will bring problems and possibilities. A holodeck would be the ultimate way to play videogames, but would it replace real life? Could it? We'll just have to wait and see.
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