On a cold. rainy December morning, the conference room was comfortably warm as the 20 odd people huddled together for the seminar. Everybody was covered in multiple layers and lounging in the chairs when it started. Shobha was in one of the corners, far away from the faculty row and conveniently ducked away from sight, where she could stretch her legs and be almost horizontal. It was a miracle she was awake till the 30 minute mark. With her laptop and mobile precariously perched on her lap, she was initially paying attention to the speaker, a colleague, talking about the recent advances in mining technology. To his credit, it was quite the detailed presentation and the speaker was well informed about all the studies he had included in it. It was clear that he had made quite the effort. Shobha wanted to stay awake and listen to all of it but alas, the conference room was just too darn pleasant as compared to her morning and the night before and even the latest updates on the near infrared satellite scans of the Congo river basin couldn't stop her from slipping into a deep slumber.
She found herself in a dense jungle, the canopy extending a few hundred feet into the air. Sunlight filtered through, shining upon the foliage around her, covering them in a layer of liquid gold. She could hear so many birds, part of a symphony she was too illiterate to understand. In front of her, in a small clearing in the jungle floor, she could see the partially weathered down face of a rock jutting out of the side of small cliff. The magnificent deposits of bauxite could be seen, shining a deep red against the surrounding dirt in the sun. As she extended her fingers to try and trace a vein, the rock withered. She jumped with small yelp. The vein was now gnawed out, as if taken away by a portable drill. As she slowly took her fingers towards the rock, she saw it happen. The rock withered away exactly where she was trying to touch it. She blinked twice, looking at her fingers. She touched her left forearm with her right index finger and ran it down. Everything felt the same. After making a mental note to make a grooming appointment, she returned her attention to the rock. This time, she cupped her hands and moved it across the cliff swiftly. A 3 feet tall gash opened up the rock face with pieces tumbling down to her feet. She picked up a piece and held it up in the sunlight. Something glittered. Shobha grinned.
With her feet firmly planted, she took both her hands and started wildly swaying them back and forth, as if swimming the most graceless breaststroke. The rock face split open, forming a burrow extending into the cliff side. She moved closer, beaming with what seemed to be misplaced pride. She entered what was now a 10feet tall cave and pressed up. Multitude of fist sized rocks were tumbling at her feet. She was so overcome with joy that she barely heard the crumbling sound coming from behind her when she stopped and turned. The cave was collapsing on her. The roof wasn't sturdy enough to support the enormous weight of the jungle above. In less than a second, she realised her amateur mistake as she was covered in falling debris, amidst a rising crescendo which reached its peak with a heavy, metallic bang.
'Fuck me!'
Shobha was standing in the conference room, her laptop and mobile on the ground and her palms stretched towards the roof, it seemed, trying to provide imaginary support to an architecturally sound beam that was 15 feet above her head. She turned, horrified, to find the faculty and her colleagues looking her, the former with disdain, the latter with contained peals of laughter, many of them turning red.
Her departmental head spoke in is stern baritone. 'While that request while not be entertained, what I am interested in knowing is if you have something constructive to contribute to recent advances in surface level mining, apart from expletives?'
Shobha winced. The room seemed too warm now. Her laptop, with its screen open at an awkward angle, seemed to weigh a ton as she groggily lifted it to her seat.
'I'm sorry, sir. I was just...'
'Dozing away like the rest of your worthless lot, I know. For if you had something constructive to add, you wouldn't getting suspended right now.'
A chill went down her spine. She could in no way have a suspension on her record.
'I'm extremely sorry, sir. I was just...'
'Yes? What explanation do you have for this insolence?', growled the professor.
'I was just... thinking about the recent advances.', Shobha bluffed.
'Oh really? You have something more to offer other than this rather detailed presentation you missed in your sleep?'
She took a deep breath. She wiped the sweat on her jeans and moved her hair over her ears. She shivered as she spoke.
"With the advent of better and better imaging technologies, what we really have lacked is in innovation with regards to actual mining technology. We still are using drills operated from massive platforms, drills made in the 1980s using techniques that nowhere are economically or environmentally sustainable. What we should be looking into is the utilization of information technology, computer sciences and robotics to decrease our footprint, increase efficiency and reach remote places while reducing labour costs and the risk to life and limb. I propose a neural network of surface drone equipped with pneumatic or hydroultrasonic drills, controlled by an operator using a HUD with Augmented Reality overlays, perhaps even BCI. Using BCI and VR consoles with micromotors, we can in fact get a tactile response and gauge the hardness in real time. Specialised construction and transport drone can be programmed to automatically secure any tunneling that is done and analyze the sediment on site, during the excavatory process to give us updates regarding yield and feasibility. Human labour would only be needed for inspection and maintenance of the drones. We could move mountains with the sweep of our hands.'
She didn't realise she was panting by the time she finished. The faint hum of the projector was the only sound in the room.
'Class dismissed.'
She found herself in a dense jungle, the canopy extending a few hundred feet into the air. Sunlight filtered through, shining upon the foliage around her, covering them in a layer of liquid gold. She could hear so many birds, part of a symphony she was too illiterate to understand. In front of her, in a small clearing in the jungle floor, she could see the partially weathered down face of a rock jutting out of the side of small cliff. The magnificent deposits of bauxite could be seen, shining a deep red against the surrounding dirt in the sun. As she extended her fingers to try and trace a vein, the rock withered. She jumped with small yelp. The vein was now gnawed out, as if taken away by a portable drill. As she slowly took her fingers towards the rock, she saw it happen. The rock withered away exactly where she was trying to touch it. She blinked twice, looking at her fingers. She touched her left forearm with her right index finger and ran it down. Everything felt the same. After making a mental note to make a grooming appointment, she returned her attention to the rock. This time, she cupped her hands and moved it across the cliff swiftly. A 3 feet tall gash opened up the rock face with pieces tumbling down to her feet. She picked up a piece and held it up in the sunlight. Something glittered. Shobha grinned.
With her feet firmly planted, she took both her hands and started wildly swaying them back and forth, as if swimming the most graceless breaststroke. The rock face split open, forming a burrow extending into the cliff side. She moved closer, beaming with what seemed to be misplaced pride. She entered what was now a 10feet tall cave and pressed up. Multitude of fist sized rocks were tumbling at her feet. She was so overcome with joy that she barely heard the crumbling sound coming from behind her when she stopped and turned. The cave was collapsing on her. The roof wasn't sturdy enough to support the enormous weight of the jungle above. In less than a second, she realised her amateur mistake as she was covered in falling debris, amidst a rising crescendo which reached its peak with a heavy, metallic bang.
'Fuck me!'
Shobha was standing in the conference room, her laptop and mobile on the ground and her palms stretched towards the roof, it seemed, trying to provide imaginary support to an architecturally sound beam that was 15 feet above her head. She turned, horrified, to find the faculty and her colleagues looking her, the former with disdain, the latter with contained peals of laughter, many of them turning red.
Her departmental head spoke in is stern baritone. 'While that request while not be entertained, what I am interested in knowing is if you have something constructive to contribute to recent advances in surface level mining, apart from expletives?'
Shobha winced. The room seemed too warm now. Her laptop, with its screen open at an awkward angle, seemed to weigh a ton as she groggily lifted it to her seat.
'I'm sorry, sir. I was just...'
'Dozing away like the rest of your worthless lot, I know. For if you had something constructive to add, you wouldn't getting suspended right now.'
A chill went down her spine. She could in no way have a suspension on her record.
'I'm extremely sorry, sir. I was just...'
'Yes? What explanation do you have for this insolence?', growled the professor.
'I was just... thinking about the recent advances.', Shobha bluffed.
'Oh really? You have something more to offer other than this rather detailed presentation you missed in your sleep?'
She took a deep breath. She wiped the sweat on her jeans and moved her hair over her ears. She shivered as she spoke.
"With the advent of better and better imaging technologies, what we really have lacked is in innovation with regards to actual mining technology. We still are using drills operated from massive platforms, drills made in the 1980s using techniques that nowhere are economically or environmentally sustainable. What we should be looking into is the utilization of information technology, computer sciences and robotics to decrease our footprint, increase efficiency and reach remote places while reducing labour costs and the risk to life and limb. I propose a neural network of surface drone equipped with pneumatic or hydroultrasonic drills, controlled by an operator using a HUD with Augmented Reality overlays, perhaps even BCI. Using BCI and VR consoles with micromotors, we can in fact get a tactile response and gauge the hardness in real time. Specialised construction and transport drone can be programmed to automatically secure any tunneling that is done and analyze the sediment on site, during the excavatory process to give us updates regarding yield and feasibility. Human labour would only be needed for inspection and maintenance of the drones. We could move mountains with the sweep of our hands.'
She didn't realise she was panting by the time she finished. The faint hum of the projector was the only sound in the room.
'Class dismissed.'
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