Elon Musk and Mars

Posted on March 23, 2021 by wslopes
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Anyone who has been on Twitter, or the internet, for the matter, in recent years is sure to have come across the antics of Elon Musk. Whether it be because of his marrying of hyperpop/ electric grunge artist Grimes, his being a billionaire, Azealia Banks breaking in and hiding in his mansion for several days, his son’s name being X Æ A-12, or, most relevant to this blog post, his plans to colonize Mars by 2050, you are sure to have heard of him (there is so much more on top of this too). By 2026, he plans on having put the first human on Mars with his SpaceX company. While the idea of colonizing Mars seems super cool and cutting edge, there are many things that make this venture seem nowhere near possible anytime soon. Mainly, it is the lack of an atmosphere. Musk has proposed many ideas that seem outlandish today, but I wouldn’t underestimate the ability of someone as rich and smart as him. Some of these ideas include redirecting small asteroids towards Mars, setting off of nuclear bombs above the ice caps to melt them, living in a glass dome, etc. He does address potential pitfalls, however, stating that the city shouldn’t be inhabited until it is fully sustainable and can survive independent of the Earth. Many other scientists highlight the potential dangers of living on Mars, such as boiling blood or deteriorating muscles. While, again, the prospect of living on Mars sounds cool, until there is an atmosphere that is comparable to Earth’s, I’ll be just fine staying here.

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Space Travel

Posted on March 22, 2021 by 20harriganc

In 1961, Alan shepherd became the first american astronaut in space who was trained and sent to space by NASA. 2 years ago marked the 60th anniversary of NASA and their endeavors into space. During those years, they have sent over 350 people into space and the number will only keep going up. I think it is very interesting to see humans to attempt to conquer the unknown. Elon musk is a person who I enjoy keeping tabs with because he is always actively trying to reach space. His company SpaceX is fully devoted to launching and building rocket-ships. I would love to go to space, but I know it takes a lot of schooling and a lot of time. I admire all the courageous astronauts who explore space. I can’t wait to see what interesting things they find next. This video is a promotion showing what NASA has done so far. It’s very cool to watch.

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Fusion in Warfare

Posted on March 22, 2021 by wslopes
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The world of nuclear warheads and atomic bombs is one best left in the hypothetical. It is scary to think how we are all essentially alive at the will of those in possession of said nuclear weapons. While the prospect of their eventual use is frightening, the fact that we are able to create such profound technology is mind blowing. But just how do modern nuclear weapons work?

In WWII, the bombs the United States used on Japan worked by having a uranium neutron shot at other uranium atoms, reaching “critical mass” and allowing fission to occur, and then setting of a chain reaction of fission with the remaining uranium atoms, releasing unfathomable amounts of energy. This, however, is not how nuclear warheads work today. They mostly work by having explosives surrounding the “pit”, which is filled with uranium or plutonium, and compresses the uranium or plutonium inward. Once the pit reaches critical mass, more neutrons are added and a chain of fission reaction ensues. This is a lot more powerful than the older bombs, but not as powerful as thermonuclear bombs. Also known as fusion bombs, they use fission to fuse hydrogen isotopes together, making so much energy that the war head reaches temperatures in the same range as the Sun’s core. Fusion bombs are so much more powerful and can do serious damage. There are so many more new versions of fusion bombs that use different combinations of elements and engineering, but its safe to say that the advancements we have made are quite scary.

Though it is so cool that we have been able to harness the same energy that is uses in the Sun to create energy (fusion), it is very sad that we live in a world that this insane scientific advancement is stained by its purpose– mass murder. I hope we will see a day when these achievements in science can be looked at for what they are– feats of the human potential, but for right now they are symbols of an ever divided world, in the hands of those in power.

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Space Hotel! Who’s in?!

Posted on March 22, 2021 by adisonfields
World's first space hotel Voyager Station scheduled to open in 2027 | CNN Travel
Voyager Station

Recently, reports of a space hotel have been ~orbitting~ social media.  In early March, Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) released plans for the first luxury hotel in space, called the Voyager Station.  The OAC, comprised of NASAN veterans, is a space construction company which claims it will begin construction on this hotel in 2026.  According to CNN Travel, they expect to have the hotel functional and open to the public just one year later.  This futuristic hotel is already taking reservations, at a whopping 5 million dollars for just a three day stay.  Due to the fact that it will take a space shuttle to reach the hotel, tourists will need to undergo some basic training.  It will be Elon Musks SpaceX shuttles that are used for this transportation, but some of the wildest aspects of this hotel come from the experiences that will take place there.  The hotel will spin in order to create centrifugal force to stimulate gravity, about to the same levels as the moon.  Since there will be more weightlessness in the hotel than on earth, the Voyager Station will have recreational activities that use this low gravity to their advantage.  For example, there will be basketball games in which players will be able to jump up to six times as high as on earth.  Personally, I think this would be a blast.  In order to pay tribute to its space location, the hotel will offer foods that are traditionally eaten there, such as freeze-dried ice cream.  Obviously, it is an outrageously expensive trip, but if money were not a factor, let me know if you think you would go to the Voyager Station!  Maybe in the future this kind of travel will not be so exclusive.  This could be the first step toward widespread space travel, who knows!

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The Public Perception of Space Travel

Posted on March 22, 2021 by weatherbysofferings
SpaceX launches 60 new Starlink satellites to orbit, nails ...
Recent Launch of Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket (Source)

In recent times, there is much political hubbub, controversy, and polarization. As someone interested in such things and making sense of them, I began to wonder – how does the American public stand on issues of space travel? Do people tend to value it, broadly, and how do they think it should be approached? I decided to look into the answer.

A few different surveys/polls have been done on the topic, from several reputable sources like GALLUP and PRC among others, which you can view a summary of and get direct links to here. The general takeaway, however, is that there is great positive sentiment for space travel within America! Indeed, 78% of people had a favorable impression of NASA, 71% say NASA is of vital importance to the US, and notably, despite party differences, over 55% percent of both Republicans and Democrats supported a manned mission to Mars. On budgetary issues, roughly 25% of Americans support a budget increase, and roughly 18% don’t. Many either thought it was fine as is, or confessed to not know what should be done. Moreover, many thought that space travel should be a mix of government and private efforts, though government exploration efforts were generally emphasized as more important.

Overall, the public as a whole is very supportive of continuing to explore space and research what lies outside of Earth!

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What threat do Coronal Mass Ejections Pose to Us?

Posted on March 22, 2021 by weatherbysofferings
Captured Image of a Coronal Mass Ejection (Source)

As discussed in class, one of the side effects of the Sun’s shifting magnetic field is that, occasionally, it arranges in an inconvenient fashion that causes the Sun’s plasma to explode aggressively outward. Thankfully, whenever that comes towards Earth, we are protected from any health effects thanks to our atmosphere.

But as Professor Grundstrom mentioned, these CME’s, if they were to reach a sufficient size and hit Earth, could pose a major threat to our electrical system. So it made me wonder – what would actually be the effects if a major CME hit Earth? Here’s what would happen.

Essentially, when CME’s of sufficient size hit the earth at the right angle, they warp our magnetic field due to their highly energized plasma. This sudden change and increase in magnetic intensity causes many wires and other electronic devices to suddenly receive an increase in current (due to the interrelation of electricity and magnetism) that causes many electronic devices to short-circuit, or in the worst case scenario, explode.

This is very, very bad for several reasons. Most importantly, it would likely knock out much of the world’s power grid, and if sufficiently bad, could even knock out areas that are sufficiently prepared for most CMEs, such as Montreal. Moreover, many entirely “locally power” electronics would likewise be disabled, due to their wiring be just as susceptible. It is uncertain whether the effects on the grid would be bad enough to only result in a temporary outage, or permanent damage that could take years to repair. If the former, there will likely be many deaths, in the order of perhaps a ten to a hundred thousands as hospitals, water plants, and other systems temporarily fail, causing breakdowns in supply chains and short-term limitations on travel that would limit aid efforts. This seems more likely, given that most CME’s are rarely of a degree bad enough to cause permanent damage, especially due to increases in preparation technology.

The alternative is much, much worse. In a worst case scenario, all of the issues above would be magnified greatly. Supply chains would permanently break down and refrigeration would be rare and expensive. Millions, and eventually billions, would starve as the world scrambles to repair the absolutely ravaged power grid. This would be an event that could kill a majority of the human population.

Thankfully, however, such an event is very unlikely to occur, especially at that scale. It can keep one up at night though…

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Radioactivity

Posted on March 22, 2021 by 20harriganc

Radioactivity can be described by radio active decay. The ultimate goals of the atom are to become stable, and when the numbers of protons and neutrons are not ideal, they release some of them. This is the atom changing the nucleus to a new nucleus, which is known as radioactive decay. A half-life is a measurement that tells us exactly how long it takes for 1 half of the sample to decay over time. Calculating the half-life allows us to determine how long it will take for a given sample to decay. Radioactive decay occurs when a nucleus has a higher energy level and wants to decrease to a more stable level. In CrashCourse, Hank Green does a great job of explaining how this works.

Radioactive dating is a method some scientists use to determine the age of materials on our planet. It is based on the comparison of naturally occurring isotopes and the remains of those Isotopes after they decay. They can determine this using half-lives.

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Blog #4: Saturn Losing it Rings

Posted on March 22, 2021 by mattj3

Saturn’s iconic rings, the largest and most apparent in the solar system, are disappearing. Data produced from the Voyager One and Voyager Two missions observe its rings, rings synonymous with the image of the planet, disappearing at an extremely fast rate.  Saturn’s rings are formed from water ice ranging from microscopic dust to boulder size. As ultraviolet light from the sun collides with its orbiting ring the energy exchanged electrically charges the ice, allowing for Saturn’s magnetic field to act upon the charged ice particles, which were previously orbiting around Saturn due to its gravitational pull and the orbital velocity, moving them towards Saturn resulting in its gravitational force pulling the dusty ice in along its magnetic field lines. This process results in what is called “ring rain” or the icy debris raining into Saturn’s upper atmosphere. This is happing at a rate of 10,000 kg per second a rate fast enough to fill an Olympic-sized pool in half an hour. If this rate continues it is likely that Saturn’s rings will completely disappear in 100 million years (a relatively short time on the astronomical calendar). This discovery also led to new theories on the formation of the rings. As it was previously theorized that the rings were created due to leftover debris after the formation of the planet or that they were created from two colliding moons near the being of Saturn’s formation. However, the rate at which the rings are disappearing indicates that the formation of the rings began no more than 100 million years ago, a very different estimation from the previous 4.5 billion years ago (or the creation of Saturn).

From NASA
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Climate Change – Act Now!

Posted on March 22, 2021 by adisonfields
Impacts of Climate Change on the Economy and Society - Iberdrola
Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change has already had many significant impacts on our world.  Ice is melting globally, with glaciers shrinking and ice caps being broken up, causing rising sea levels.  This alone is devastating for plants and animals.  In case anyone would like to cry, here is a video of a starving polar bear on what is now iceless land.  There is no doubt that climate change, specifically global warming, is already causing irreparable damage, yet unfortunately, it seems that the long-term effects are not discussed nearly enough.  For example, there will be significant changes in precipitation patterns over the next few decades.  Where some areas in the United States may begin to get more rainfall, many others will get much less.  In the Southwest specifically, more droughts and heat waves are to become more intense, as rising temperatures and reduced soil moisture will inhibit agriculture.  In the Northwest, rising sea level and acidity will lead to more wildfires and insect outbreaks, killing off trees on a large scale.  This, obviously, can only make the issue at hand worse, since trees are vital to the slowing of climate change.  Even though there has not been a uniform temperature rise so far, due to the varying climate in our country, it is clear that it is happening.  Here is a great link to give you an idea of ways you can help begin to make a difference, because each and every person really does matter!  Like Dr. G says, melt hearts, not ice caps. ❤

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The Great Red Spot

Posted on March 22, 2021 by derrick37027

The Great Red Spot refers to a gigantic storm on the planet Jupiter. Imagine the largest hurricane you can think of, multiply that by 1000, then make the entire vortex the color of a penny. In fact, this hurricane is so big that, at one point, it was three times the diameter of Earth.

The Great Red Spot

First observed in 1665, the Great Red Spot is one of the most defining and iconic planetary features in our solar system. Assuming that the storm observed in 1665 is the same as our current Red Spot, this storm has been continuously brewing for over 350 years. Honestly, this is the extent of our knowledge on this cosmic mystery. Since we are so far away, we have no current methodology to retrieve more data about this phenomena. Scientists postulate that the gaseous nature of the planet, as well as its incredible size, leads to gigantic scale storms on the planet, and that the Great Red Spot is the combination of several of these.

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