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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
 Posted - 04/24/2006 : 23:34:28
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In 5 Billion years or so the sun will become a red giant and cook the earth unless something is done about it.  An astronomer from Saskatchewan has proposed some solutions to this pressing problem.
Listen to Dr. Martin Beech of the University of Regina - MP3 Format.
It is just an engineering problem now.
Amazing what an Astronomer can think of during a Saskatchewan winter.
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"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
 Posted - 04/25/2006 : 02:06:59 [Permalink]
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Without having listened to the mp3-file, I'd say that the need is more pressing than you state. The sun's increase in diameter is going on today, and some astronomers are talking about only a billion years until the temperature on earth has pushed the climate irreversibly progressing to Venus as it is today.
Only 10-20 Kelvin rise in temperature will increase the water-vapour in the upper atmosphere, where UV light can photo-dissociate hydrogen from the oxygen. The hydrogen will then dissipate into space since the Earth's gravity isn't strong enough. The process will be slow, but in a billion years, water will become scarce on Earth. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2006 : 02:25:09 [Permalink]
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| Only a billion years DrM? I better add a bit more water to my earthquake supplies. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2006 : 06:40:52 [Permalink]
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| That's the old Carl Sagan story, about a professor giving a lecture to a lay audience about the solar system, and talking about the Sun going red giant and swallowing the Earth in five billion years. An audience member approaches the professor afterwards and says, "excuse me, but did you say the Sun would swallow the Earth in five billion years?" The professor replies that he had. The person responds, "Oh, thank God! I thought at first that you'd said five million years!" |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2006 : 08:36:29 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
Without having listened to the mp3-file, I'd say that the need is more pressing than you state. The sun's increase in diameter is going on today, and some astronomers are talking about only a billion years until the temperature on earth has pushed the climate irreversibly progressing to Venus as it is today.
Only 10-20 Kelvin rise in temperature will increase the water-vapour in the upper atmosphere, where UV light can photo-dissociate hydrogen from the oxygen. The hydrogen will then dissipate into space since the Earth's gravity isn't strong enough. The process will be slow, but in a billion years, water will become scarce on Earth.
We can probably deal with these problems by changing things on the earth. Perhaps we could speed it up and thereby move the orbit further out. I think we should start small before we modify the sun.
The physicists have saying "That's just an engineering problem" - meaning "We know something could theoretically be done, but we don't have a clue how". |
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2006 : 10:35:49 [Permalink]
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There is also an idea* that as our sun expands to become a red giant, its gravitational field weakens due to a corresponding loss of mass. As it expands, it might therefore push Earth and maybe Venus and Mercury out into wider orbits. This seems unlikely but I thought I'd mention it.
Also, other nasty stuff might happen to a star before becoming a red giant, and that could affect earth.
I recommend a variation on filthy's advise: Stock up on can goods and ammunition, but also evolve into more intelligent life-forms, terraform or colonize Mars and eventually leave to other solar systems. 
* Sorry, I read this somewhere but have not located the source of this idea, so consider it anecdotal.
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Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2006 : 12:28:42 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Ghost_Skeptic
We can probably deal with these problems by changing things on the earth. Perhaps we could speed it up and thereby move the orbit further out. I think we should start small before we modify the sun.
The physicists have saying "That's just an engineering problem" - meaning "We know something could theoretically be done, but we don't have a clue how".
Ah, but there is...
I present to you: World Jump Day.  |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2006 : 06:39:26 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by Ghost_Skeptic
Perhaps we could speed it up and thereby move the orbit further out.
The physicists have saying "That's just an engineering problem" - meaning "We know something could theoretically be done, but we don't have a clue how".
Ah, but there is...
I present to you: World Jump Day.
I think this would only work if the people jumping reached escape velocity. This would also solve the overpopulation problem if they could acheive this. |
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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