Is This Possible?

[Luminal]

Alright, I'm a bit sketchy on genetics. However, I have this idea... scrutinize it all you want, that's why I'm asking.

 

Let us speculate for a moment that with Genetic Engineering technology 25 years distant, it would be possible to engineer a tree, up to, say, several hundred (or thousand) times it's normal dimensions. Is this remotely reasonable?

 

The reason I ask this particular question, it might just provide amazing solutions to overpopulation.

 

Consider a tree capable of surviving in (or under) saltwater in flooding conditions. A geneticist alters its genes, and triggers it to grow rapidly, without halt for several decades far beyond what it could achieve naturally. If such a tree was planted in Atlantic Ocean, and it continued growing for many years, eventually entire structures (or even cities) could survive on its mammoth branches.

 

Sort of a "natural skyscraper". Thoughts?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

There are physical limits on tree growth beyond simply the amount of time the tree spends growing. At some point the tree will be unable to get nutrients to its highest spots, become too weak to hold itself up, or just blow over in the wind.

[insane_alien]

not to mention the structure itself would likely be too weak to support it. unless it grew as a more solid shape (less branches, REALLY thick trunks) then it wouldn't stay standing if it was several hundred times bigger than any tree today. there is also the problem of nutrition as capn said. if this thing has the structure required to grow to a thousand times the size of a normal tree, its not going to get all the sunlight it need and its not going to get the nutrients it needs from the soil. the area/volume ration is too small.

[JohnF]

So what you're suggesting is that by planting a tree in deep water, the water will help support it and possibly provide a means of getting nutrients from further up the tree than the roots.

 

What will still be important is the amount of tree above the water level; this is the part that you would colonise. The part above the water will still have to contend with wind and would probably not be much larger than current large trees. The tree below water level will also have to handle storm waves and undersea currents. It would also have to be engineered in such a way that it could resist under water invasion and colonisation which could weaken or kill it.

 

Given the amount of water on the planet it seems that if such a tree was viable, one would have evolved; or at least something similar.

[Luminal]

There are physical limits on tree growth beyond simply the amount of time the tree spends growing. At some point the tree will be unable to get nutrients to its highest spots, become too weak to hold itself up, or just blow over in the wind.

 

Certainly these would be problems to overcome to be considered feasible. Some of the possibilities I've considered would be (manmade) pipelines from the ocean surface to the canopy to provide nutrients for the upper regions; changing the genetics of the wood grown in the trees to have greater support; and adding human supports where necessary for stregnth and stability.

 

So what you're suggesting is that by planting a tree in deep water, the water will help support it and possibly provide a means of getting nutrients from further up the tree than the roots.

 

What will still be important is the amount of tree above the water level; this is the part that you would colonise. The part above the water will still have to contend with wind and would probably not be much larger than current large trees. The tree below water level will also have to handle storm waves and undersea currents. It would also have to be engineered in such a way that it could resist under water invasion and colonisation which could weaken or kill it.

 

Given the amount of water on the planet it seems that if such a tree was viable, one would have evolved; or at least something similar.

 

The other reason for planting it in the ocean would be to provide human living spaces and cities off the continents, to ease population densities on land.

 

If this becomes possible, I could envision groves on these trees planted together, in which millions might be able to call home. Hybrid cities between technology and nature.

[Sisyphus]

It's definitely a neat picture (who wouldn't want to live in a giant treehouse in the sea), but population to the point where there's no space left on land is nowhere near a problem. Overpopulation is not an issue of space, it's about energy and fresh water and pollution.

 

Then there's the problems of building permanent structures in living, growing, and eventually dying trees. That is to say, you can't, because the "foundation" is constantly moving. Nothing could last more than a few decades, I would think. And, of course, the technical problems that others mentioned, particularly the upper limits on the sizes of such trees. As size increases, the relative strength of a structure of the same proportions decreases. That's why squirrels are much nimbler than elephants.

[Luminal]

I would like to think that Nanomaterials in 25-30 years might provide many of the solutions, not only to help support the tree itself, but give inhabitants of the tree(s) the types of versatile, flexible and quite resilient materials on which their structures could rest.

 

To provide fresh water, large transparent domes could be constructed near the base to trap the heat (GH effect). The majority of the sunlight would be focused on a certain area within the dome upon a highly thermal conducive material (such as copper or aluminium) that would increase in temperature to boiling points. As water came in contact with the metal, it would steam off into shafts, which lead up into the canopy of the tree.

 

I suppose this method could also provide energy, but that would not be the primary function.

[jackson33]

genetically speaking the idea is plausible; we have Red Woods that have the structure, trees that grow quite large in the Louisiana swamps and the oldest trees are said to date back 2-3 thousand years. so a 400 foot tree, growing out of water that could live 2-3,000 years exist, just not in one unit.

 

purpose, however would seem unrealistic. the planets not over populated, not likely to be for a very long time, even if todays rates continue and there is no shortage of anything to give cause....

[ecoli]

wouldn't building skyscrapers on a tree damage it pretty badly anyway?

[foodchain]

Alright, I'm a bit sketchy on genetics. However, I have this idea... scrutinize it all you want, that's why I'm asking.

 

Let us speculate for a moment that with Genetic Engineering technology 25 years distant, it would be possible to engineer a tree, up to, say, several hundred (or thousand) times it's normal dimensions. Is this remotely reasonable?

 

The reason I ask this particular question, it might just provide amazing solutions to overpopulation.

 

Consider a tree capable of surviving in (or under) saltwater in flooding conditions. A geneticist alters its genes, and triggers it to grow rapidly, without halt for several decades far beyond what it could achieve naturally. If such a tree was planted in Atlantic Ocean, and it continued growing for many years, eventually entire structures (or even cities) could survive on its mammoth branches.

 

Sort of a "natural skyscraper". Thoughts?

 

I am going to say yes, just not for a rather long time though. I think in regards if people fully knew what they were doing with genetics, programming say a specific structure and the related systems and engineering specifics could be met. Such as genes can allow for the expression of so much currently, but evolution has not ever derived at some point the ability to save lemmings for instance when they fall. I personally wonder about the application for say ships in space, or spaceships really, though that could be nothing more then a cool science fiction story already portrayed.

[Gen]

iunno i dont see why not tho, think it would be pretty cool but yeah, true not for a long time i think its possible but more the fact would the base or ground and roots be strong enough to hold it in