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Who is today’s cowboy?
It has always been human-kind’s nature to set out in exploration for what we do not yet possess. With much of the tactile world within a grasp, we have shifted our attention to less tangible frontiers. While peering into lenses illuminating the cosmos of big and small, we cannot help but wonder and
theorize what still lies beyond. This new frontier is headed by the scientists; the modern cowboy. But along with their quest requires a suitable place for their collaborative works as they are pushed out to the uninhabited places, unmarked and unforgiving. A place where they will stare into the eyes of the ‘verse in a standoff against ultimate being. A place known as… the modern West.
The Modern West
With this mining of knowledge, a new settlement is formed. Its location set away from civilization in need for clean skies. The Big Bend area of West Texas provides such a place and with that a new town wrapped into a tower among landforms, filled with state of the art equipment. The tower is nested above Terlingua’s abandoned mercury mines, hence its name “QUICKSILVER.” Program is not only labs, but living quarters, halls, a saloon, and stores that facilitate the living population of a small town.
When supporting a small town in the desert, water is the greatest necessity, even more so in the desert. Borrowing from the local nature, Quicksilver boasts a newly developed condenser system to aid in capturing and depositing water. The pleated coils exchange cool air pulled through underground tunnels and up the façade against the warmer ambient air. This causes water droplets to form and drip into cisterns. Artificial rain. One step beyond understanding how a system works is how to effectively utilize it.
“There in lies the singular beauty of science. As we struggle toward deeper understanding, we must give our creative imagination ample room to explore. We must be willing to step outside conventional ideas and established frameworks. But unlike the wealth of other human activities through which the creative impulse is channeled, science supplies a final reckoning, a built-in assessment of what’s right and what’s not.”
-Brian Greene