Peter Thiel, the billionaire, has a track record of backing and investing in concepts and projects that have gone on to become hugely successful like Facebook and Pay Pal. Thiel was angel investor to these successful start ups. He has now funded a venture by Seasteading Institute who are working on an unusual concept of floating islands which could be built up like small but independent entities and could keep floating in international waters where they would not be covered by the laws of any nation. The concept sounds extremely farfetched and rather impractical.
However, since Thiel has invested in the idea people are relooking at the concept more seriously. The Seasteading Institute aims to create new spaces and new societies where governance is vastly different from any other place on earth. The approach at the moment is to create floating pieces of land which are exactly like any other stationary island. Peter Thiel has been backing this idea for some time now and has provided substantial funding to the project. The prototypes and floating architecture are ready but constant work is going on to improve the facilities on these experimental floating islands.
The prototype is a 12,000 ton structure which is quite similar to an oil rig and is fitted with diesel engines to move it in the sea. Experiments are on to make it sustainable and more eco-friendly. The prototype presently has the capacity to accommodate 270 people but projections made by people behind the project put the figure in millions by the year 2050. Petri Friedman who is a pioneer working on the concept confirmed that a commercial office building or a floating hotel could be built on a similar concept near San Francisco. The concept is very exciting but the actual roll out needs huge investments and time.
Via news.yahoo, theweek
