Larry Niven is a celebrated science fiction writer well known for his “RingWorld” series. In 1966 he also wrote the story,” Bordered in Black”. Traditionally a message bordered in black is used to announce death. In this story two astronauts reach a planet deep in space in the Sirius system. This planet was known from a previous robotic exploration to include an earth like atmosphere. During their orbit they find that a continent of the planet is bordered in black. After exploring the edges of the smaller continents and discovering that the ocean hosts only one life form, a single species of algae, they decide to closely examine the large continent with the curious black border.
To their utter shock and dismay they discover that the black border actually is an enraged mass of trapped human beings feeding off the algae and feeding on each other. The story, however, ends on a hopeful note, with the project leader believing that Earth can help the humans at Sirius. Crewmen however strike a fearful note by speculating that the humans on our earth were seeded by those same cannibalistic aliens!
Science fiction sometimes comes true! The United Nations defines "major wars" as military conflicts inflicting 1,000 battlefield deaths per year. The new millennium began with much of the world consumed in armed conflict or cultivating an uncertain peace. As of mid-2005, there were eight Major Wars under way with as many as two dozen "lesser" conflicts ongoing with varying degrees of intensity.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/index.html
Most of these are civil or "intrastate" wars, fueled as much by racial, ethnic, or religious animosities as by ideological fervor. Most victims are civilians, a feature that distinguishes modern conflicts. During World War I, civilians made up fewer than 5 percent of all casualties. Today, 75 percent or more of those killed or wounded in wars are non-combatants. From Afghanistan to Syria and from Pakistan to Palestine; Egypt; Congo or Yemen; it is the same story being repeated again and again. We are killing each other for little “algae”; and feeding off each other. In the animal kingdom there is an established food chain. Worms are food for a small bird, that becomes food for birds of prey and it goes on along various groups. Animals kill too, but for food. When they attack and fight it is for their survival. They have left it to the worst animal on the planet; Humans; to kill; maim; assault and tear other innocent humans apart just for the fun of it! As they did the other day in a moving bus.
If an alien ship arrived in the earth’s orbit today it would certainly see a black border around burning continents and they would be smart enough to realize that the earthlings are so far gone that they can not be helped . Afraid that we’ll contaminate their world with our depravity, they do not touch base with us. The message in the black border is clear to everyone but us. Science fiction has come true as our nightmare.
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