Cam asked you viewers to share with us your vision of the Future of Humanity, and as usual you blew us away! We received loads of entries in the form of poems, literature, music, art, and more!!

Our winning entry was this masterpiece by antoinedi_art!

Check out our other finalists here! First, the image entries:

A couple song/music finalists:

June – “Open the Pod Bay Doors”

‘https://desertbus.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/contests/June_Avery_-_Open_the_Pod_Bay_Doors.mp3

Elah806 “How We Became”

‘https://desertbus.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/contests/How_We_Became.mp3

And some text finalists below the cut:

C St George
A trolley speeds along a track, to which 6 people have been tied. On another fork in the track is a single man. The track, which is made of tiny robots, reconfigures itself in an instant, freeing the men and allowing the trolley to pass safely. The track-robots then apprehend the criminals responsible for tying the men to the tracks, and in a few short weeks rehabilitate them.

sarcasticKatt
Never looking back but never forgetting.
Going ever forward,
To places none had dreamed.
“Give thanks to the past, but look ahead” are the watchwords.
You, yes you, are the hope.
Up to the redshifting stars,
Never alone again, but so far apart.
Going there was hard, but not impossible.
To one end to another, finding new beginnings.
Let it not discourage you, to find the empty places.
You fill it with hope.
Down to our own world,
Never empty now that we found each other.
Going away, but always returning
To a place we now call home.
Run, dance, sing out loud
Around the spirals of civilization we’re heard
And forever echo in time.
Desert not the dreams you have now
You only have to look ahead.
Now read the first word of each line for an inspiring message.

“Jumper” by Othelbark

Zaffrom took a deep breath of the fresh Venusian air as she opened the eyes of her new physical vessel. ‘Here I go again.’ She thought to herself as she stepped forward pulling her head off the rail and another humanoid vessel moved up to take her place.

She briefly glanced at the trees that towered around her before heading for the launch zone that took up most of the small clearing. Zaffrom checked that the new iteration had been properly applied before clambering into the capsule. As soon as the hatch was locked she jumped into orbit.

She took a moment to adsorb the view with her perfectly engineered eyes. On the dark side of the planet the emerald-green forests that covered most of the surface transitioned from total darkness in the west to glowing with a soft white light in the east. The sliver of lit surface on the western side that Zaffrom could see from the capsule was a specific hue of green that she recognised as the signature of a closed canopy. In stark contrast to that bioengineered system perfectly timed to simulate an earth day in the forest cities and wilds of Venus-Middle the hexagonal city of Venus-North was a patchwork of light and dark zones. The perfectly straight borders between emerald-green forests and the silver-grey spires holding testament to the days when the (then experimental) anarchy of Venus-Middle and Venus-South still needed protection. Zaffrom’s eyes began to flicker between detecting different wavelengths of light in a manner that tricked her consciousness into “seeing” the full width of colours that danced across her view of Venus and the galaxy beyond. She smiled as she jumped out to orbit Earth.

The capsule didn’t shake on the first jump today. ‘This seems to be my lucky day.’ Zaffrom thought to herself as she saw that she had such a clear view of the surface. Only one orbital city blocked her view, it was rare to see less than five. The re-formation of a super-continent was about to begin and Zaffrom wondered whether that might eventually lead to an end for the last few permanent settlements on the surface as she jumped out to Saturn.

Zaffrom felt a slight jolt this time but nothing too worrying. If she used her unnatural zoom she could just make out the two research stations and one hotel that orbited with the the rings. The gas-giant and its rings never seemed to lose its power over her. As she looked upon them once again she felt a magnificent sense of awe, wonder, and insignificance wash over her. Zaffrom paused to pay attention to her own mind as she once again forged meaning out of atoms before jumping to the way-station.

The capsule shuddered violently but suffered little damage. From here the sun was just another star. Zaffrom took just one more moment to take in the enormity of the galaxy before jumping to Proxima Centauri.

Zaffrom saw a mere glimpse of the star before the capsule tore itself apart.

For the first time Zaffrom awoke in the servers of Proxima Station.

“The capsule failed 180 milliseconds after that last jump. An improvement of nearly 300 milliseconds.” She reported to the Proxima team with an almost manic grin on her face. “I’m Zaffrom, it’s good to meet you all finally. Let’s get the next one to survive the return trip.”