Of course, before beginning, we are confronted with the most basic, existential question. Do we humans, the single most known sentient beings in the universe, have a right to eternal survival? Existence here, of course, refers to only until the time, the universe exists and inside it, it remains possible to live. Tesseract, Surviving Dimensional Mutilation & Black Holes etc aren't in the scope of this article.

Viability of our survival is definitely possible in the human long run. Humans in their civilized forms have barely existed for 5,000 years in total and surviving for the next 5,000 years doesn't seem too difficult seeing the exponential rise in our technology and lifespan of our sun, which is over a few billion years.

Ethics of our survival, in my opinion, point to a definite yes. Even though there might be life in other planets, if humans are technologically advanced enough to expand into other planets, it isn't very tough to assume that humans won't be socially mature enough to preserve the diversity of other planets intact. And if assuming the opposite, meaning if there is no one out there, the basic superiority of sentient life over non-life and un-sentient life proclaims a go-to signal for vivid expansion. The key points to remember in this case is that the negative, wasteful, corrupt, violent and intolerant aspects of our characters need to be either grounded or forcefully kept away from the colonies, at least in the beginning, to provide a moral argument to human survival and expansion.

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However, before we think of expansion and long term survival, we need to clear off some pressing concerns regarding our survival on our own planet, long enough to think of science fiction colonization ideas. For long term survival and planet-hopping, we need an optimised, sustainable and accelerated rate of exploitation to fuel growth, industrialization and research. We would also need a progressive and compassionate welfare system alongside an uncorrupt political system to deal with the growing population and their care. Population's welfare is not only required for a quick expansion but also is an ethical duty. What use is expanding to Mars if earth denizens are starving and sad?

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1) Social Inequality

One of the greatest pressing concerns of Earth primarily because of the extreme nature of this particular factor. Some people enjoy their days in luxury apartments, super-fast cars and expensive holidays. While others live in slums, refugee camps and on the street. Removing this inequality, through socio-political overhaul is both a necessity and an ethical duty. Necessary because

1) Human productivity can greatly benefit the growth of our species. Machines theoretically can replace the human workforce, but my intuition says that it will take many more decades to perfect Robotics and Artificial Intelligence than to be off into space. On top of that, Sentience and Intuition, two non-logical aspects of our brain can enable human workers to perform "miracles" while robots can do simple things "quicker". And more than assembly lines, we need geniuses for exploration.

2) Disgruntled citizens can take down massive corporations and empires without breaking much sweat if they become enraged. And intra-human conflict throughout history has retarded the progress of humanity more than any other factor. 

Solutions to this problem are fourfold, each can occur independently: -

I) Corruption Removal Program [ Religio-Political Indoctrination of Anti-Corruption propaganda on a segment of test subject population who are still young; Fanaticism ]

II) Empathy Infusion Program [ Genetic Engineering through water-food contamination/unsuspecting vaccines to increase the prevalence of empathy causing genes ]

III) Energizing the Have-Knots [ Empower the worst affected folk by anti-corruption propaganda, high protein diet & inciting them to protestations for the right causes]

IV) Ruthless Population-Control [ Vasectomy, Tubectomy, Strictly Enforced Rules/Fines to reduce the number of children ]

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II) Wastage/Recycling

Wastage is a pretty common term present in our textbooks since primary school. Although, the type of wastage we perceive most strongly depends on our background and geographic location. Desert Nations view the wastage of water as the most blasphemous thing on earth, while prosperous temperate nations think that the wastage of fuel is the most catastrophic. Going by intrinsic human morality and common sense, food and drinking water wastage are the biggest concerns of our planet. Fuel, Utilities, toiletries, metallic products, gadgets, chips and other products come next in the chain. The major negative consequences of wastage are: -

1) Human/Animal Starvation [ Vegetable/Fruits Skins for the Herbivores; Leftover Prepared Meals for Poor Humans; Bones & Leftover Meat for Dogs ]

2) Poverty [ Excess Toiletries, Plastic Bags, Toys, Electronics etc for Poor Children, Destitute Students & Homeless ]

3) Urban Filth and Squalor [ Foul-smelling organic products & inorganic products like plastics & papers contaminate and ruin the aesthetics of our neighbourhoods ]

4) Quick Finite Resource Depletion [ Wasting less used products puts more pressure on the earth's finite resources & causes short term deprivations like famine, drought & outages ]

Waste collection, Recycling &  Toxic-Treatment can cut costs, repurpose waste into usable products, give livelihood & reduce squalor by a large amount. Although it may not be cent per cent profit-driven, it still has tremendous potential for profit. Roadblocks for nation-wide implementation of this phenomenon are:-

1) Corrupt & Inefficient Regulations/Bureaucracy 2) Lack of Will amongst the Population 3) Mafia Control of Land/Resources 4) Loss-Oriented Tone

 

3) Pollution

Most urgent factor amongst the listed as this reduces the chances of long-term survival on our planet as a backup base for interplanetary conquest. And it's a very new problem that emerged with the increasing industrialization across the globe in the 20th century. Primary benefits of Reducing Pollution can be summarized as follows: -

1) Disappointing Quality of Life 2) Pressing Concerns for Extinction of Life 3) Unworkability of Research and Industrial Production Requisite for Launching IPC. 

Tackling pollution can be summed up in the following points: -

1) Factory-Waste/Sewage Treatment

2) Paving up Streets with Concrete

3) Reforestation/Paving streets with grass

4) Setting up Dustbins across streets

5) Fine litterers heavily/Enforce patrolling

 

b) Predictions for the Time-Limit unto the Supposed Optimisation

1) Scientific Startups

2) Optimisation Implementation across Developed vs Developing Nations 

3) Social Activism/NGO Revolution

4) Prosperity Improvement/Maintenance

5) Individual Cultural Change

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4) Future Potential Areas for Advancement

Material Science is a hidden jewel of modern engineering & applied science. Advancement in this tech is required for not only help advance other technologies but also for petty improvements in basic necessities of life. Space shuttles, electronic circuits, super-conductors, nuclear containment centres, photovoltaic cells, mobile phones chassis etc all need materials which exhibit exceptional properties, not commonly found in ores and other materials lying around. Uses of Advanced Material Science can be described below: -

1) Conducting Properties [To transfer energy seamlessly and quickly, ensuring 

2) Tensile Strength & Hardness 3) Malleability/Ductility 4) Shock Absorbance 5) Optical Properties 6) Acoustical Properties

Conventional materials like Metals, Ceramics are now superseded by Nanomaterials, Polymers, Biomaterials, Semiconductors, Condensed Matter, Crystals & Alloys. 

Physics, Chemistry & Biochemistry are fields dealing with these advancements and the associated research. 

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5) Inexhaustible Energy Sources

For crossing planetary distances, we would need massive fuel backups and humongous amount of energy to power space shuttles crossing celestial distances. All that energy needs to come from high-quality sources. Fossil fuels would not work as they would not even last long enough to make it to the time period when such advancements are possible. Solar, Nuclear & Oceanic Energies are the main contenders with both renewability & magnitude, while biofuels, geothermal, compost & wind energies are smaller and thus compatible for only planetary domestic needs.

Dyson Sphere, Hydrogen, Controlled Fusion are certain futuristic examples that

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