Fictional Town "Eureka" To Become Real?

Zarath writes "The fictional town of Eureka (from the TV series by the same name) is going to potentially become a real life town as the University of Queensland, in Australia, plans to build a multibillion-dollar 'brain city' dedicated to science and research. The city, hoping to hold at least 10,000 people, is looking to attract 4,500 of the brightest scientists from around the world to live and work there. The city is planned to be built west of the city of Brisbane, in Queensland. While not funded by the Department of Defense (like the [city of the] TV series), the potential for such a community is very interesting and exciting."

Comments

We already have one...

[trailerparkcassanova]

but we call ours Los Alamos...

Re:We already have one...

[CRCulver]

I thought, we call it "Silicon Valley" -- and it didn't need government sponsorship to come into being...

Without DARPA taking the initiative with public funds, there would have been no basis for many of the private companies of Silicon Valley. Even the supposedly private companies that developed innovative solutions back at the beginning relied to some extend on government support, as the US recognized the need to stay ahead in the Cold War.

Re:We already have one...

[osu-neko]

Aye-aye-aye! Name-calling — how sad... Given the government's wonderful successes in education, highway upkeep, and pensions — wanting it to also expand into healthcare — whose mental faculties are we supposed to question?

Anyone who has an "all-or-nothing" mentality. Anyone who points to a few government successes and concludes the government has a Midas touch for making things work is clearly an idiot. Anyone who points to a few government failures and concludes the government never does anything right is equally idiotic. Sane and rational people look at the specifics of a proposal and decide whether it's a good idea or not, rather than immediately conclude it's a good idea or a bad idea based on whether it involves government or not.

welcome to 50 years ago

[bornyesterday]

the research triangle park

goodluckwiththat

[owlnation]

So... you want intelligent people to move to Australia?

This, being the same Australia that's introducing filtering and censorship to its entire Internet?

Yeah, good luck with that... Oh, and enjoy your forthcoming Dark Age.

Why is this a good idea?

[Shaitan Apistos]

I haven't seen the show, so forgive me if the writers have handled my objections in some clever fashion in one of the episodes, but..

I don't see the upside to this, it's easier now than ever before for people to collaborate remotely, negating much of the need for being in the same physical location.

I do see a downside to this, putting all our intellectual eggs in one basket makes a pretty attractive target for terrorists, whether they be Islamic, Luddite, or some other group in the future that isn't particularly keen on progress or reason as a means of dealing with reality.

Not entirely true

[Weaselmancer]

I thought nerds preferred the cold dark of their parents basements or garages, to any kind of socialization?

Not entirely true. Geeks love to be around geeks, and only get awkward in the general population. We nerds are highly gregarious whenever we're in friendly company.

As an example go check out a gaming convention.

BTW, I think this town sounds like a lot of fun. I'm probably not bright/geeky enough to be invited to live there, but it would be cool to visit. I'm betting it would be worth it just for all the little inside jokes you'd see around. I'll bet the graffiti alone would be worth it.

you won't get a town full of smart people

[circletimessquare]

you'll get a town full of people who have a desperate and ego-driven need to be seen as smart

kind of like joining mensa. anyone who needs that sort of attention and reinforcement is not exactly niels bohr

the smart guys in any room are always low key and in the back, not attention whores