"In 2017" - a Soviet filmstrip ahead of its time

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the Soviet Union, they loved to dream about the future. And it always seemed bright and cloudless. The peak of forecasts about the future fell on Khrushchev's "thaw", when the formidable general secretary "Kuzkina's mother" was still echoing around the world, and Soviet citizens believed in the coming of a communist paradise by 1980.

A striking example of such fantasies was the film strip "In 2017", released in 1960, already distant for us. And, if many of the authors' assumptions not only did not come true, but even today seem somewhat utopian, then some of the predictions did come true or are about to come true.

The filmstrip was in the public domain just a few days before the New Year 2017 after digitization. The plot develops on the eve of the centenary of the October Revolution. In a scene at a geography lesson, students are shown how the Soviet state developed and what it achieved in more than fifty years. Further, the plot focuses on the boy Igor and his family: on the example of one of the days of the life of a young pioneer and his parents, the achievements of scientific and technological progress in the USSR are shown and their application in various spheres of life - from simple everyday situations to solving global problems. We already have some of these achievements, something may appear quite soon, but some predictions have remained exclusively the author's fantasy.

Multimedia technologies in education

The creators of the film strip showed the use of multimedia and interactive technologies in the field of education. According to the plot, at a geography lesson, students watch a film panorama about the development of the state over the past decades. The technology was named "Time Loupe". And here the authors were not mistaken: today no one is surprised with projectors and laptops in schools and universities.

The use of technical means has long gone beyond the computer science classroom. Teachers suggest familiarizing yourself with the lesson material by watching a documentary or taking notes from the presentation. Students also digitize their reports. And sometimes even filming homework to show later in class. This unusual practice is used if at home it was required to perform laboratory work in physics or chemistry in the form of practical experience.

Suspension bridges

Another prediction of the authors of the film strip, which came true: the appearance of suspension bridges without additional support along its length. The plot shows the construction of a modern-type crossing in hard-to-reach places - through gorges and mountain ranges.

Suspension bridges, in fact, were built in the thirties of the last century, including on the territory of the USSR: according to Novate.ru, the first was a bridge in Georgia. And after decades, people have learned to build huge metal ferries through wide gorges and canyons. The most popular type of suspension bridge is the cable-stayed one: for example, such as the Golden Gate in San Francisco or the Crimean Bridge in Moscow.

The turn of the Siberian rivers

The filmstrip tells how Soviet engineers turned the Ob and Yenisei rivers, and the positive consequences that this idea brought. So, now the waters of these Siberian "arteries" would fill the Aral Sea, thereby saving it from drying out. There is nothing surprising in such forecasts - the idea of turning the river flows to Central Asia existed even in pre-revolutionary Russia. And during the creation of the film strip, the project was actively developed in the USSR. Here are just one of the most ambitious projects of the 20th century and remained unrealized.

The project of turning the Siberian rivers - first of all, this fate was to affect the Ob and Irtysh - was to fill the Central Asian deserts with life-giving moisture. This idea was seriously developed until its official closure in 1986. In the difficult "perestroika" period, when the USSR was engulfed in a serious crisis, it was somehow not up to the implementation of such a grandiose project.

And with the collapse of the state, the situation has become more complicated - in the same Kazakhstan, water policy issues are more nominally involved. And although in recent years specialists have increasingly come back to the issue of restoring the project for turning the Siberian rivers, no real steps have yet been taken towards its implementation. In addition, the fate of the Aral Sea has already been decided - it has dried up so much that it was decided to plant a forest on the former territory of the reservoir.

Directed atomic explosions

The editors and artists who worked on the filmstrip lived during the peak of the nuclear fever. The powers of the atom, which they did their best to make "peaceful", were tried to be introduced into many spheres of human activity. Most success has been achieved in geographic engineering. Therefore, for the authors of the story "In 2017", creating the necessary channels and cutting off unnecessary hills with uncontrolled atomic explosions was only a matter of time.

At that time, mankind still knew too little about the degree of danger of both nuclear explosions themselves and radioactive contamination. Therefore, at first, projects to artificially create channels with atomic bombs were actively developing in the United States. But in the USSR at that time they did not yet possess the technology of underground detonation of projectiles, although they also tried to work out this mechanism for the same purposes as the Americans.

However, the increased awareness of scientists about the consequences of nuclear experiments, as well as a general decline in interest in the ideas of the widespread use of a peaceful atomic explosion, led to the closure of projects in both superpowers.

Nuclear trains and a dam across the Bering Strait

And this slide demonstrates at once two grandiose projects of the USSR - the creation of atomic trains and the construction of a dam across the Bering Strait. Both ideas seemed to the authors so close to implementation that they had no doubt that in fifty years they would become reality. But the projects remained only on paper, and, as scientists now understand, this is only for the best. After all, the implementation of these ideas could lead to disasters on a planetary scale.

The project of the atomic train, or atomos, was very real and was developed as part of the creation of the Combat Railway Missile Complex. The essence of the work of such a composition was to use a nuclear power plant to set it in motion. In 1985, a constructive version of the atomos was even developed, but in the same year the project was closed. The reasons for the termination of the development of nuclear trains lies in their exceptional danger to the environment and humans. Moreover, in several aspects at once.

First, the power plant itself - in fact, a miniature nuclear reactor - is far from the safest type of so-called "engine", and it was necessary to solve a number of problems so that it could be operated in motion without consequences. In addition, such a train can be an ideal target for terrorist attacks or seizures - the train itself becomes a "nuclear barrel". However, despite this, sometimes modern scientists return to the issue of creating an atomosis, but today all such ideas remain not fully implemented.

As for the dam, the design of this grandiose project was really done in the late 1950s. The author of the development, Soviet engineer Pyotr Borisov believed that mankind was able to successfully control the climate on Earth and dreamed that it would be possible to “grow oranges” in Yakutia. The essence of his idea was that the dam would block not so much the strait itself as the cold Anadyr current, which cools the warm Gulf Stream just off the coast of Chukotka. According to Borisov's calculations, the grandiose structure 86 km long was supposed to completely block the access of the Anadyr Current to the south, which would allow the Gulf Stream to “warm up” both Siberia and Alaska, and even melt the glaciers of Canada.

But the project, fortunately, did not materialize. First, the implementation of this idea would require the consent of almost the entire world community. And secondly, the consequences of the construction of such a dam would lead to climatic changes on the planet of such force that they would acquire the scale of a global catastrophe. Many scientists agree that a violation of the natural direction of the Anadyr Current and the Gulf Stream instead of "oranges in Yakutia" would result in a sharp cooling throughout Eurasia, at least, and as a maximum, a new ice age would await us.

Volcanic wells and "mole boats"

Further, the filmstrip tells us and the “pioneers from 2017” how, with the help of “mole boats” made of special heat-resistant materials, Soviet people got to a new source of energy - volcanic. Similar ideas at that time were quite vividly discussed in the scientific community, however, if all projects of underground boats were closed and did not go beyond the design drawings, then in the matter of drilling volcanic mines, humanity recently took a small step in curbing the heat from the bowels of the Earth.

Underground boat projects have been developed almost since the 1930s, and there are dozens of them in different countries. The farthest advanced in this matter in the USSR and Germany. Today, historians and scientists are aware of mentions of many projects related to the development of an autonomous underground boat, but there is very little information about them, and all of them were ultimately not implemented, or attempts to implement them were not successful.

As for volcanic mines, for a long time this idea was akin to a fantastic scenario, but Icelandic specialists were able to come closer to fulfilling the dream of Soviet citizens from the film strip - to use the energy of volcanoes. So, on the Reykjanes Peninsula, they drilled the deepest volcanic well and reached the magma level of 4659 meters. The temperature inside reaches 427 degrees. The authors of the Icelandic project want to use the thermal energy of the Earth in the form of steam from a well to convert it into electricity.

Space flights to other planets and stars

Perhaps every Soviet citizen dreamed of how Soviet spacecraft would “plow the expanses of the Universe”. And, although at the time of the creation of the filmstrip even Gagarin had not yet flown into space, our parents and grandparents already fully imagined how humanity would get to the Moon, Mars and, of course, Alpha Centauri. However, in reality, we were able to fly only to our own satellite.

So far, man has been able to deliver only space stations to other planets, and also leave his artificial satellites in their orbits. With regard to space exploration directly by man, the most daring and at the same time promising plan is the program for the colonization of Mars. And on such a grand scale, as was done in the Soviet Union in 1960, perhaps hardly anyone thinks.

Smart Cooking Machine

The fantasies of Soviet citizens about the future did not stop only at global changes. When the focus of the filmstrip plot shifts to the morning in the family of the boy Igor, you can see the image of everyday life as presented by the authors. So, they dreamed that the kitchen would cease to be a place where the Soviet hostess could spend the whole day trying to feed the household. After all, now she is helped by a smart kitchen machine, which is able not only to prepare the chosen dish from scratch, but also to “read” the order written on a piece of paper. In reality, of course, such a miracle technique has not yet been invented, however, the described technologies can be found separately.

So far, modern food processors are not able to master the process of preparing a particular dish from beginning to end, but the same multicooker can replace several old "culinary machines" at once. In addition, humanity is gradually learning not only to cook, but literally to print food.

So, in 2017, two Ukrainian amateur inventors designed a 3D printer that will treat a sweet tooth with chocolate, and today there is even a whole restaurant in London where a smart machine works alongside the chefs. So far, the range of dishes offered by the 3D printer is small: in addition to the aforementioned chocolate, it will print meat, hummus, pizza dough and goat cheese. But it will still be.

Underground city

According to the plot of the filmstrip, after breakfast, the Soviet schoolboy Igor in 2017 leaves for an excursion to the underground city of Uglegrad. Moreover, despite its location in the Arctic, it maintains a constant climate and weather, as in the Moscow spring.

Today, no country in the world can boast of a fully rebuilt and functioning city underground. However, several projects are already underway. So, near New York, a working city called Lowline is already being built. And in Montreal, they plan to convert one of the most durable bunkers of the Cold War into a comfortable residence. A similar project has been developed in Finland in recent years.

Televidephone

Several times during the film strip Igor talks with his mother, who is hundreds of kilometers away from him - on the Black Sea. And at the same time, the boy not only hears, but also sees it in real time. Perhaps this is the only fantasy of the authors that has been fully realized.

Today you won't surprise anyone with video communication - it has long become available to everyone who has a gadget with a camera and the Internet. You can talk with a person at a great distance from you and see him at the same time in a number of applications and social networks. Moreover, both in everyday life and at work, videoconferencing has been successfully practiced by hundreds of workers around the world for more than one year.

Flying Weather Control Station

For a Soviet citizen of the early 1960s, it was apparently quite obvious that in 50-60 years his descendants would be able to easily and accurately not only predict weather conditions for the near future, but also change it at will. So, in the filmstrip, the authors depicted a flying weather control station, which is not only able to temporarily change weather conditions, but even save the world from devastating hurricanes and tsunamis.

So far, mankind has not learned how to deal with tornadoes and waves as high as a house by pressing a couple of buttons on the miracle station. However, we are already able to disperse cloud clouds over the city. In our country, such events are held in Moscow most often three times a year - on May 9 on Victory Day, June 12 on Russia Day, and on the first Saturday in September, when the capital celebrates City Day.

Of course, smart weather control machines are not launched into thunderclouds, everything happens a little more prosaic - special reagents are sprayed into the clouds with the help of aviation, which cause heavy rainfall. So we can say that over Moscow on the eve of the Victory Parade or another big holiday, the clouds are not so much dispersed as they are "squeezed".